Supervisors approve Pala Mesa Highlands final map

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the final map for the Pala Mesa Highlands Project.

The supervisors' 5-0 vote Aug. 3 included accepting easements for several roads and approving the secured agreements to ensure payment for the project's infrastructure. The 124 single-family residential lots average 3,141 square feet and range between 2,400 and 3,600 square feet.

"The County of San Diego continues to experience a housing shortage problem. Fortunately the approval of this final map will add some much-needed housing in North County," said Supervisor Bill Horn.

The Pala Mesa Private Development Plan covers a total of 421 acres, including the 84.6 acres of the Pala Mesa Highlands project. The original Private Development Plan (PDP) was adopted in 1973, after the Pala Mesa golf course was constructed in 1962 and the Pala Mesa Village single-family homes were built in 1968. U.S. Highway 395 was the major north-south road transporting traffic through Fallbrook at that time, as the Fallbrook portion of Interstate 15 was not completed until the early 1980s.

The original PDP included the golf course and resort and also proposed additional recreational facilities and lodge units along with planned residential developments for 691 units in eight areas and estate residential development of 18 residences in six areas along the steeper portion of the site. The PDP was amended in 1978 and 1981 to add nine planned residential development (PRD) units and remove two residential estate lots.

Most of the 92 Pala Mesa Village homes are single-story, although remodeling has included some second-story additions as allowed by the site's zoning. The PDP had designated area D as single-family residential but limited the majority of units in Area C and Area E to two bedrooms with a two-story limitation. Pala Mesa Highlands is within areas C, D, and E of the PDP. The developed areas of the PDP include Pala Mesa Greens, Pala Mesa Country Club Villas, Pala Mesa Oaks, and Pala Mesa Fairway Village; of those four only the 28 Pala Mesa Oaks lots are single-family homes.

Beazer Homes purchased the Pala Mesa Highlands property in April 2004. The previous ownership had filed an application for a 145-lot project, although in January 2006 the county's Planning Commission recommended denial of that plan.

In March 2007, the Planning Commission recommended a Specific Plan Amendment, tentative map, and Major Use Permit to allow for 124 single-family lots, at least half of which will be single-story, and the Board of Supervisors approved those changes in June 2007.

The 2007 changes stipulated development of 48.1 acres with the other 36.5 acres comprising an open space lot. The Specific Plan Amendment changed the density from 2.75 to 1.5 dwelling units per acre and the rezone replaced A70, RS7, RV3, and RV4 agricultural and residential zoning with S88 specific plan zoning including a net density of 1.7 dwelling units per acre and a minimum lot size of 5,500 square feet.

Areas C and E had previously allowed for 303 units. The Specific Plan Amendment and rezone did not change the requirement for a PRD and did not alter the "B" and "P" designators which make development subject to I-15 corridor and Fallbrook design guidelines.

Board of Supervisors approval was not needed when the Planning Commission modified the Major Use Permit in September 2015 to reflect the Mobility Element changes in the August 2011 update of the county's general plan, the widening of State Route 76 and associated California Department of Transportation activity in the area, and the obsolescence of several biological mitigation conditions.

(The Board of Supervisors also acts as the board of the San

Diego Flood Control District, and later that month the supervisors approved vacating a drainage easement which was no longer needed.)

Pala Mesa Drive will have a paved width of 28 feet and a graded width of 52 feet, a left turn lane onto Old Highway 395 will be constructed, and Pala Mesa Drive will have a decomposed granite pathway eight feet wide between Old Highway 395 and Alemedra Court.

A total of 1.38 miles of new public roads will be created and the supervisors' Aug. 3 action accepted as public roads Silent Knoll Drive, Quiet Ridge Lane, Jicarilla Drive, Panache Drive, Via De Todos Santos, Mohegan Lane, and portions of Pala Mesa Drive and Old Highway 395. The supervisors also accepted drainage easements from the project.

The security agreements consist of a performance bond in the amount of $8,466,700 to cover $5,640,600 for improvement of streets and easements, $1,457,900 for improvement of water facilities, $1,313,400 for improvement of sewer facilities, and $54,800 for final monumentation and a Labor and Material Bond for $4,233,350 which will ensure payment for labor and materials involved in the construction.

The Rainbow Municipal Water District will provide water and sewer service for the development.