Calavo Road subdivision tentative map continued to April 20

The county’s Planning Commission continued a hearing to approve a tentative map for a Calavo Road subdivision until April 20.

The 6-0 vote April 6, with Planning Commissioner Adam Day absent, will allow county staff to address claims by a neighbor of inadequate procedure. The additional two weeks will allow for a clear record to be established in the event of an appeal. “Waiting two weeks is a lot better than winding up in litigation,” said Planning Commissioner John Riess.

The ownership group has been trying to subdivide 3.7 acres on the east side of Calavo Road between Pepper Tree Lane and Sea Larke Drive into six single-family residential lots ranging from 0.52 to 0.82 acres. The lot size is consistent with the RR2 zoning which calls for a maximum density of two dwelling units per acre and with the general plan which provides a Residential (3) designation for the site. Letters of service availability have been received from the Fallbrook Public Utility District, the North County Fire Protection District, the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District, and the Fallbrook Union High School District.

Although sewer and water capacity are available to serve the project, pipelines will need to be extended 750 and 1,000 feet to the point of connection. Access for motor vehicles will be from a private road easement from Calavo Road. The site once supported an avocado grove, and the majority of the property is relatively flat with slopes of about 15 percent toward the eastern boundary. The slopes will require about 8,000 cubic yards of cut and 12,900 cubic yards of fill with the amount beyond the cut quantity to be imported.

In January 2004 the Fallbrook Community Planning Group voted 13-0, with one abstention, to recommend approval of the project. That discussion included comments that the planning group did not want street lights, curbs, or gutters in that part of the community, and the project will incorporate asphaltic berms instead of curbs and gutters. The planning group meeting also included comments from Calavo Road resident Tim Miller, who expressed concerns about traffic.

The environmental Mitigated Negative Declaration was circulated for public review in September and October 2006, nearly three years after the planning group meeting. At the April 2007 Planning Commission hearing, Miller told the Planning Commission that he was not advised when the environmental document was circulated for review. “You already mail out notices. What’s one more piece of paper to mail?” Miller said.

Miller said that the access to the new subdivision is directly across the street from two driveways, including his, and that while the Mitigated Negative Declaration addressed the cumulative impacts of the new vehicular traffic it didn’t address the existing level of service. “The conditions are currently degraded,” he said. “I oppose the project as currently proposed because the document does not contain adequate discussion.”

Miller also told the Planning Commission that he never received a copy of the site plan (which is not included in public notice provided to nearby properties), and he stated that lot size minimums didn’t prevent multi-story homes.

“We’re not going to build three-story houses,” said ownership partner John Mastroianni.

Mastroianni noted that the project has been in the works for five years. “We’ve come up with every possible way to appease the community on every issue,” he said.

“This imposes hardships economically for us to keep continuing the process,” said ownership partner Tom Rabuchin.

The Planning Commissioners and county staff contemplated a continuance of between 30 and 60 days to address the issues before deciding that defensible documentation could be produced in two weeks.