Supervisors approve Fallbrook Oaks

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the Fallbrook Oaks subdivision during the county supervisors’ December 7 meeting.

Although the county’s Planning Commission has the authority to approve a tentative map and a site plan, a portion of the 27.2-acre property at the northwest corner of Ranger Road and Reche Road had C36 general commercial zoning and any rezone must be approved by the Board of Supervisors. That C36 portion was changed to the A70 limited agricultural zoning which covers the rest of the property. On October 7 the Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend approval of the tentative map and site plan.

The parcel will be subdivided into 18 lots with one-story and two-story residences; the gross size of the lots will range from 1 acre to 3.3 acres. The subdivision will also include 5.6 acres of permanent open space. An administrative permit which was also approved allows for lot area averaging; easements reduce the smallest lot size to 0.9 net acres. The semi-rural residential land use designation allows for up to 24 dwelling units.

The property is owned by RP Manager, LLC, and Rosetta Family Investments, LLC. Most of the site was an abandoned orchard prior to the 2007 Rice Fire, and that land has reverted to non-native grasses since the fire. The site is relatively flat; approximately 90 percent of the land has a slope of less than 25 percent. A drainage through the eastern portion discharges into the San Luis Rey River, and the biological open space easement over that drainage will include a 50 foot wide wetland buffer on both sides of the drainage with a 100-foot limited building zone easement adjacent to the open space easement. Some of the wetlands will be impacted by the improvements to Reche Road, which will include the addition of a 10 foot wide disintegrated granite pathway.

The project will also improve Valley Oaks Boulevard West and Keystone Oaks Road, both of which are private roads. Most of the homes will be accessed from the Keystone Oaks Road extension off Valley Oaks Boulevard West, while one lot on the eastern portion will be accessed by a private driveway off Ranger Road. Reche Road along the project frontage will be improved to a one-half graded width of 42 feet from the centerline with 20 feet of asphalt concrete pavement over an approved base, a six-inch asphalt concrete berm, and the pathway. An eight foot wide bicycle line will serve as an emergency parking shoulder as well as a bike lane. Ranger Road along the project frontage will be improved to a graded one-half width of 30 feet with 20 feet of asphalt concrete pavement and a six-inch berm. Valley Oaks Boulevard North will be built as a private road and will have a graded width of 42 feet with 32 feet of asphalt concrete pavement: 20 feet on the east side of the centerline and 12 feet on the west side of the centerline. Keystone Oaks Road will be improved to 40 feet of graded width including 32 feet of pavement while terminating at a cul-de-sac with a 44-foot radius including 42 feet of pavement.

The Fallbrook Community Planning Group’s last action on the project was taken in February 2008 and was a unanimous recommendation for denial on the grounds that the grading would be excessive, the lots would be too small due to the biological buffer, and the development was out of character with the surrounding rural setting. The planning group’s design review committee expressed concern with the long, narrow lots. The narrowest lot is 120 feet wide along the frontage, which meets the 3:1 depth-to-width ratio of the county’s Subdivision Ordinance. Approximately 150 parcels within a mile of the site are between one and two acres, a mobilehome park is on the south side of Reche Road across from the project, and the pad areas allow for single-story homes of 3,157 square feet and two-story homes of 4,097 square feet without setback variances. The 92,000 cubic yards of grading will not require any import or export of fill material and all slopes would be landscaped with ignition-resistant plants including coast live oaks and toyons.

The environmental Mitigated Negative Declaration was circulated for public comment in fall 2009. The MND was circulated during a Level 2 drought, under which the Rainbow Municipal Water District will not provide new water service or turn on existing services which have been locked for more than a year, but the water district noted that a service letter would be provided if the drought response condition was decreased to Level 1 or lower or if substantial evidence was provided of an enforceable binding commitment that water demands would be offset prior to new water meters being provided. The Rainbow Municipal Water District has since provided a service letter for both water and sanitation while service letters have also been received from the North County Fire Protection District, the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District, and the Fallbrook Union High School District.

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