San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
TRANSIT CENTER PLAN UNDER REVIEW
Project would feature 547 apartments, hotel, office building, stores
Preliminary environmental documents have been submitted to the Oceanside Planning Division for housing, a hotel, offices and retail shops to be built at the Oceanside Transit Center.
The Toll Brothers mixed-use project would be the largest transitoriented development in San Diego County, with up to 547 apartments, 165 hotel rooms, a multistory office building, retail stores and three parking garages at the train and bus station on Tremont Street.
“Following city review, we anticipate that the draft environmental impact report ... will be available for public review in the next six to eight weeks,” said Arlene Tendick, a representative of Toll Brothers, on Friday.
North County Transit District officials also received a copy of the preliminary documents, Tendick said in an email. Other agencies and interested parties will receive copies when the draft is available for public review, probably in late September.
Some modifications have been made in response to community feedback at public meetings over the past year, she said. Circulation, mobility, and pedestrian crossings have been improved, landscaping has been increased, and the station plaza has been reconfigured.
“We’re also in the process of designing a standalone customer service center to provide a traditional terminal experience and add to the sense of arrival,” she said. “We’ll continue to explore opportunities to refine the project and incorporate community input when able.”
NCTD’S board of directors adopted a policy in 2016 to pursue development of some of its properties as way to increase ridership, jobs and affordable housing. The board approved an exclusive negotiating agreement with Toll Brothers in 2020 for the 10.2-acre transit center property.
As part of the project, the transit district plans to move its administrative offices out of the former bank building it occupies a few blocks away on Mission Avenue and into the new building to be built at the center on Tremont Street. The Mission Avenue building will be razed to make way for a residential structure with 206 apartments.
“NCTD is reviewing the draft document as it relates to our facilities and operations,” Chris Orlando, the agency’s chief planning and communications officer, said Friday.
Both the Tremont Street and Mission Avenue locations would include 15 percent affordable housing designated for low-income residents. Oceanside requires a minimum of 10 percent affordable housing to be included in all new residential development.
The transit center project is one of several mixed-use developments that NCTD is pursuing at its Coaster and Sprinter train stations in Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, Solana Beach and Escondido, all of which are in various states of planning.
Earlier this year, the district’s board approved exclusive negotiating agreements with developers for projects at Carlsbad’s two Coaster stations. West Village Partners could begin construction as soon as 2025 at the downtown Village station, where 184 market-rate apartments, 50 affordable units, a 110-room hotel and more are planned. At the smaller Poinsettia station, Raintree Partners could begin building 146 market-rate apartments and 31 affordable units by 2027.
Transit-oriented development is encouraged by state policies that address issues such as the housing shortage, freeway congestion and climate change by building affordable apartments in locations where people can conveniently use mass transit.
The environmental impact report, or EIR, is a key part of the planning process. It looks at how the project could affect things such as traffic, noise, air and water, and how those effects might be reduced or mitigated.
Oceanside’s Planning Division is reviewing the administrative draft of the EIR for the transit center and could suggest further changes before the document goes public.
“An administrative draft is the initial rough draft of the EIR prepared by the applicant’s environmental consultant,” Principal Planner Rob Dmohowski said in an email Thursday.
“As lead agency, the city is responsible for the preparation of the EIR,” he said. “It is reviewed by city staff to ensure the EIR is accurate and thoroughly evaluates all environmental factors required by (the California Environmental Quality Act.)”
The administrative review typically lasts about 45 days, Dmohowski said, and a second review could be needed before the draft document is ready for public comments.
“The public release date will ultimately depend on when the city deems the development application complete,” he said.