OCEANSIDE SELECTS ITS GENERAL PLAN UPDATE

Panel advises industrial development over housing in alternative

Given two alternatives, Oceanside’s Planning Commission this week chose the one with less housing and more industrial development for the city’s proposed General Plan update.

The Planning Commission, at its meeting Monday, also suggested some changes such as keeping North River Road at two lanes. The commissioners said widening the road to four lanes would destroy its rural character and encourage more traffic and sprawl development.

“Four lanes is kind of harsh,” said Commissioner Louise Balma. “That’s just another (state Route) 76.”

“If you build bigger (roads with more) lanes, you are going to fill it with traffic,” said Rob Howard, one of several residents who spoke at the meeting. “That’s just what happens.”

The commission voted unanimously to support the Planning Department’s recommendation that the City Council approve Alternative B as part of an overdue update of Oceanside’s General Plan. The document is often called a blueprint for the city’s growth.

Alternative B assumes the need to accommodate 17,000 new homes in the city through 2050. Alternative A would accommodate 20,000 new homes in the same time frame.

Both alternatives assume future housing and employment growth will be concentrated in areas already urbanized, primarily transit-oriented corridors such as Oceanside Boulevard that have bicycle paths and pedestrian trails, light-rail train stations and major intersections. Alternative B has less of the transit-oriented development, less conversion of industrial land to mixed-use development, and more employment in the industrial sector than Alternative A.

Both alternatives also assume significant job growth over the next three decades, with health care, hospitality, active lifestyle products and services, biological sciences, clean technology and more expanding the

city’s employment, according to a staff report.

Neither proposed alternative includes plans for development in South Morro Hills. An earlier proposed update addressed the construction of homes in the region, which is one of the last areas in coastal North County with rural zoning and large commercial farms.

But because of the widespread interest in South Morro Hills and residents’ opposition to building more homes there, the Planning Department has decided to separate the proposed community plan from the General Plan update, said Principal Planner Russ Cunningham.

“We believe this separation is in the best interests of the (General Plan update) and the South Morro Hills Community Plan,” Cunningham said.

Commissioner Kevin Dodds asked what types of new jobs the city can expect and what levels of pay they would provide within the proposed update. Cunningham said future employment is likely to cross “a broad spectrum.”

“We expect more retail,” Cunningham said. “It’s hard to project a lot of office development ... but we are looking for a real mix. We still want to build our hospitality sector.”

By increasing the emphasis on job creation within the plan, the city hopes to encourage more people who live in Oceanside to work in the city instead of making long commutes. A better jobs-to-housing ratio has many benefits, from reducing greenhouse gases to giving workers more time at home with their families.

Several residents at the meeting praised the Planning Department’s work on the plan and the decision to place South Morro Hills on a separate track.

“The whole process has been a good design,” said resident Joan Bockman. “The things that are going into it are the best of new thinking.”

Within the next two months, the Planning Department staff will complete outlines of all six updated General Plan elements. A draft environmental impact report on the update will be completed and available to the public by the end of the year, according to a staff report.