San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
OCEANSIDE PLANNERS GRAPPLE WITH AGRICULTURAL HERITAGE
City, residents are at odds over preserving land in Morro Hills
Oceanside is updating its General Plan, a road map for growth over the next 30 years. But residents see a red light in the city’s proposal to allow more homes in South Morro Hills, an area long dominated by commercial agriculture.
“South Morro Hills is the elephant in the room,” said Oceanside Principal Planner Russ Cunningham in a recent presentation to the city’s Planning Commission.
The region includes about 3,500 acres, or 5.5 square miles, in the city’s northeast quadrant, an area dominated by farming for nearly a century. Many people hope to preserve the area’s agricultural heritage, despite the increasing pressures on growers to sell to developers because of the rising costs of labor and water, property values and the statewide housing shortage.
City planners have suggested several ways to continue farming in Morro Hills. One idea is to keep the region’s minimum 2.5-acre lot sizes, but allow what planners call “cluster development,” which would place pockets of homes on smaller lots among the farms.
Agri-tourism is often promoted as another way to keep farming viable.
Wineries, wine-tasting and U-pick orchards and gardens would add income, attract visitors and raise the profile of Oceanside’s agricultural products. The area produces avocados, tomatoes, strawberries and cut flowers, and has nurseries for succulents and all kinds of home and commercial landscaping plants, shrubs and trees.
Other ideas are welcome, Cunningham said. But state law requires the city to recognize that growth will continue and more housing will be needed.
“We don’t want to suggest that there is only one way to preserve farmland in Morro Hills,” Cunningham said.
Dozens of people at the Planning Commission’s meeting last week said the city should keep its agricultural zoning throughout South Morro Hills. As a result, the commission voted unanimously to continue the discussion to its April 25 meeting, where more information about possible alternatives will be presented.
City planners also have decided to separate the South Morro Hills Community Plan from the General Plan update. Those two plans now will go to the City Council separately for approval.
“The city has determined that it would be beneficial for both the General Plan Update and the (community plan) to place these efforts on separate tracks,” Cunningham said by email Friday. “We hope to bring the updated General Plan and the Smart and Sustainable Corridors Plan forward for final adoption before the summer of 2023.”
Land use and development plans in the General Plan update outline ways the city could add 3,000 new single-family homes and 1,500 accessory dwellings in existing neighborhoods by 2050.
If the South Morro Hills Community Plan is adopted, it could add 400 more homes. However, the 400 homes proposed there are not necessary to meet the city’s state-mandated housing, so it’s not an essential part of the General Plan.
“Given the current lack of consensus around the future of South Morro Hills, it makes sense to allow the (regional plan) to proceed at its own pace, giving community members more time to assimilate information, get their questions answered, and explore solutions,” Cunningham said.
“City staff continues to believe that allowing clustered housing and some additional residential density in exchange for conservation of at least 75 percent of existing farmland remains the most viable, market-responsive approach to protecting the city’s agricultural heritage,” he said. “We also believe this approach makes robust agritourism more feasible, by providing revenue for necessary infrastructure.”
Some community members have other ideas, and it’s important for them to be heard, he said.
Many longtime Oceanside residents have said for years that the best way to preserve South Morro Hills is to leave it alone.
“We are strongly opposed to any plans or recommendations for dense housing in South Morro Hills,” said Barbara Collins, a Sierra Club chapter officer and 24-year Oceanside resident.
The Sierra Club supports the “smart and sustainable corridors” concept outlined in the General Plan’s housing element, she said.
That concept promotes infill development in parts of the city where services and public transit already are available. It emphasizes encouraging new homes and jobs near major intersections and along the commercial corridors of east-west thoroughfares such as Oceanside Boulevard, Mission Avenue and Vista Way.
“We do not need dense development in South Morro Hills to meet that,” Collins said.
Building homes on land zoned for agriculture is sprawl development and leads to a host of conflicts, others said.
“If you put housing next to farmland, people are going to complain,” said resident Cindy Davenport. “Housing and farming just don’t mix.”
Pesticides, herbicides, dust, tractors and noise are all part of farming, and many people don’t want to live near those things.
Others said the rural area of Oceanside is unprepared for the increased growth. The access is poor and roads are narrow. Water and sewer lines are insufficient. And taxpayers citywide could be billed for a large share of the infrastructure costs.
“Traffic is bad now,” said a Jeffries Ranch resident. “I can’t imagine what it would be like” with more homes.
Wildfire is another concern. During the Lilac fire of 2017, the area was evacuated and thousands of people found themselves stuck in traffic for hours on state Route 76 as they fled the flames.
The blaze burned 4,100 acres and destroyed 157 structures before the winds eased up and spared South Morro Hills.
Most of the city’s General Plan update has encountered little opposition so far.
The City Council adopted a first phase of the update on May 8, 2019, with elements on economic development, energy and climate action, and a climate action plan. Together, those three elements encourage a sustainable approach to accommodating growth.
The second phase of the update will include the remaining state-mandated General Plan elements — land use, circulation, housing, conservation and open space, community facilities, safety and noise.