Palomar College project a traffic concern, Proposed campus at I-15/SR-76 does not conform to General Plan standards

The county’s Planning Commission voted 6-0 August 22 to inform the Palomar Community College District that its proposed Fallbrook campus is not consistent with the county’s general plan.

Although state law requires a local planning agency to report on general plan conformance before a local agency acquires or disposes of real property, community college districts are not subject to local land use jurisdiction.

The Palomar Community College District can still build the campus in non-conformance if it determines that the construction is in the best interests of the state.

“It’s a technical determination. It is not a determination of whether we support or do not support the project,” said Eric Gibson, the acting director of the county’s Department of Planning and Land Use.

The determination of non-conformance is also separate from current County of San Diego litigation involving the community college’s fair share for traffic improvements.

The proposed Palomar Community College North Education Center will be located northeast of the intersection of State Route 76 and Interstate 15 and to the south of Pala Mesa Heights Drive.

The campus is expected to serve approximately 8,500 students, although the documentation submitted by Palomar College did not specify the number of faculty and non-teaching staff members who would be traveling to the campus.

The campus would be constructed in two phases; Phase I would develop 75,000 to 150,000 square feet and a portion of the parking and would open with 3,400 students, while Phase II would construct an additional 230,000 to 305,000 square feet and bring the total number of parking spaces to 2,125.

Build-out is expected by 2030.

The facilities would be located within a footprint of approximately 56 1/2 acres which would be graded in its entirety during Phase I, and an additional 25 acres of habitat would be avoided and protected.

The state’s Government Code stipulates that a local agency shall not acquire or dispose of real property nor construct a public building or structure in a county or city with an applicable general plan until the location, purpose, and extent of the land transaction or construction is submitted to the local planning agency, which then has 40 days to report on the project’s conformity with the general plan.

“It doesn’t comply with our land use element,” Gibson remarked. “It also does not comply with our circulation element.”

The project proposed several off-site roadway improvements. Horse Ranch Creek Road would be constructed adjacent to the project’s eastern boundary, connecting to the existing Pankey Road to the north and SR-76 to the south, and would serve as the main access to the campus.

Fair share Transportation Impact Fee payments would be made to widen SR-76 and Old Highway 395 from two lanes to four, to improve the intersection of SR-76 and I-15, and to put traffic signals along SR-76 at the intersections of Via Monserate, Pankey Road, Horse Ranch Creek Road, and Couser Canyon Road.

TIF payments would also contribute to signals on Old Highway 395 at the intersections of Canonita Drive/Stewart Canyon Road and Reche Road and to a westbound right-turn lane at Old Highway 395 and Canonita/Stewart Canyon.

“The county has litigation on this project,” Gibson said. “The fundamental issue was the county does not believe that they were doing their fair share of traffic improvements for this project.”

Most of the site has a Specific Plan Area (21) land use designation, although a portion at the northwest corner has a Public/Semi-Public Lands (22) designation.

The specific plan designation is associated with the Campus Park Specific Plan Area which allows development of research and development facilities, townhouse and mobile home residential sites, commercial development, recreational facilities, and parking areas.

An education center is not authorized under the Campus Park Specific Plan.

“The general plan says what it says,” noted Planning Commissioner Adam Day. “It seems pretty straightforward.”

Horse Ranch Creek Road is not currently included in the county’s Circulation Element, which also identifies Pankey Road as following an alignment through the project site.

The project would preclude building the middle segment of Pankey Road, and traffic entering SR-76 from Horse Ranch Creek Road would do so approximately 1,400 feet east of where it would enter SR-76 under the existing Circulation Element and thus create additional demands on the state highway.

The County of San Diego commented on the final Environmental Impact Report for the Palomar College project when the EIR was being circulated for public review.

The Palomar Community College District certified the final EIR on July 8.

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