Planning Commission approves Ocean Breeze Ranch

The county's Planning Commission approved the Ocean Breeze Ranch project.

The 7-0 Planning Commission vote Dec. 13 approved the tentative map, two major use permits, and a site plan for the 1,403-acre site. Ocean Breeze Ranch is slated to have 396 residential lots, and the tentative map will also recognize the 203-acre private equestrian facility.

The map will also include 39 homeowners' association lots which will be used for parks, stormwater retention and open space. Ocean Breeze Ranch will include seven private and public parks totaling 15.7 acres, approximately 5.1 miles of trails, approximately 4 miles of pedestrian sidewalks, roads and landscaping.

In 2015 Ocean Breeze Ranch, LLC, acquired the 1,400-acre Vessels Ranch from the Vessels family and renamed the property Ocean Breeze Ranch.

The four years of processing leading to the Planning Commission approval included one year working collaboratively with Native American tribes and Federal, state and county biological agencies, and the Planning Commission action also found that the project was consistent with the Environmental Impact Report certified in 2011 for the update of the county's general plan.

The environmental documentation includes a mitigation monitoring and reporting program, a specific habitat loss permit will be filed in the future, and the project was also granted the elimination of access to mineral resources.

The general plan would have allowed 402 residential units. The site has VR-4.3 (Village Residential – 4.3 dwelling units per acre), SR-4 (Semi-Rural – one dwelling unit per 4, 8 or 16 gross acres), SR-10 (Semi-Rural – one dwelling unit per 10 or 20 gross acres), RL-20 (Rural Lands – one dwelling unit per 20 acres), and RL-40 (Rural Lands – one dwelling unit per 40 acres) general plan land use designations. The zoning for the land is RV (Variable Family Residential), A70 (Limited Agriculture), and S80 (Open Space).

The county's Subdivision Ordinance allows conservation subdivisions, or clustering, for property with SR-10, RL-20 and RL-40 designations. The use of clustering allows smaller lots but a larger contiguous open space area. The Ocean Breeze Ranch map restricts 953 acres, or 68 percent of the total land, for 833 acres of permanent biological open space and 120 acres of restricted limited use area.

The general plan would have placed 298 lots immediately adjacent to West Lilac Road, but the conservation subdivision option will move those homes into valleys and behind hills to buffer most of the project from roadway views.

Ocean Breeze Ranch has three planning areas, and the development will be phased. Planning Area 1 is northeast of West Lilac Road just south of the equestrian facility; the 68 acres will include 144 residential lots with lot sizes of at least 5,000 square feet and nine homeowners association lots reserved for public and private parks, stormwater retention basins and open space.

Planning Area 2 will be north of West Lilac Road southwest of the equestrian facility; the 237 residential lots on those 67 acres will have minimum lot sizes of 4,500 and 5,000 square feet with 13 homeowners association lots.

Planning Area 3 consists of 153.3 acres along the private road which will connect to Dulin Road; the 15 residential units will have minimum lot sizes of 5 acres, the 24-acre Hillside Estate lot will be located off West Lilac Road northeast of Sullivan Middle School, and the planning area will have 17 homeowners association lots.

The homes in Planning Area 1 and Planning Area 2 will range from 2,000 to 3,400 square feet and will have a variety of architectural styles including Cottage Ranch, Craftsman, Farmhouse, Monterey, Spanish and Tuscan. Each of the homes will have three or four bedrooms and two or three bathrooms and will have a two-car or three-car garage.

The units will have a photovoltaic energy system able to generate 1.8 kilowatt hours, and they will also be equipped for the future installation of a Level 2 electric vehicle charging station. No conceptual architecture was provided for Planning Area 3 to maximize flexibility although the units must comply with the Bonsall community design guidelines.

The two public parks will be 1.7 and 2.8 acres for 4.5 acres in total. The county's Park Land Dedication Ordinance provides for fees from developers to fund park improvements in the area of the development and includes a provision that developers can provide park land in lieu of the PLDO fee; the park land for the project exceeds the required 3.3 acres for 396 dwelling units. The five private parks totaling 11.2 acres will range from 0.3 to 7 acres.

Although the private road connecting to Dulin Road will be gated, it will provide unrestricted egress in the event of an emergency. The Hillside Estate lot will be accessed by a driveway off West Lilac Road. An interim access road through the equestrian facility will provide emergency egress until the third phase is constructed.

A road maintenance agreement between Ocean Breeze Ranch and the county will ensure permanent road maintenance. A new public road will connect Planning Area 1 and Planning Area 2 to the equestrian facility.

The existing equestrian facility is on 375 acres and currently has approximately 165 horses. Although the size will be reduced, a Major Use Permit will allow up to 400 horses and up to 204,433 square feet of existing and proposed structures.

Eight existing barns, five houses and three manufactured homes used for employee housing, five water wells including three well houses, 34 covered and uncovered horse pens, one horse exercise area, two open area training arenas, and nine horse structures will remain while 16 horse shade structures, one horse aquatic therapy pool, one equipment maintenance shop, and four covered and uncovered horse pens are slated to be added.

The property along with other San Luis Rey Downs holdings were in receivership when the Vessels family purchased those facilities in 1981. C. Arnholt Smith had owned the land before the collapse of his financial empire, and some of the existing equestrian facilities predate zoning and other permit requirements. Building permit applications for the non-permitted structures will be submitted, and those facilities will be improved to current requirements.

The historical ranch house built in the 1930s will be preserved, as will the surrounding four small houses of the same vintage.

The traffic impact study for the project analyzed 20 intersections, 18 segments of county road, and six state highway systems in the vicinity and determined that the impacts will not exceed what was covered in the Environmental Impact Report for the general plan update.

Ocean Breeze Ranch will generate an estimated 3,990 daily trips. The estimated Traffic Impact Fee which will be paid is $2,200,235 and Ocean Breeze Ranch will also improve West Lilac Road to current public road standards and install a traffic signal at Old Highway 395 and West Lilac Road.

A raised crosswalk wide enough to accommodate a golf cart will allow safe crossing of Dulin Road by Rancho Monserate residents. The right turn lane at West Lilac Road and Camino Del Rey will be extended to accommodate more vehicles. Ocean Breeze Ranch will also contribute $1,000,000 for future work at Camino Del Rey and Old River Road.

Ocean Breeze Ranch offered an easement to the Bonsall Unified School District to construct a parking lot or waiting area adjacent to Sullivan Middle School, which would alleviate the current parking problem when parents wait to pick up or drop off their children.

The Planning Commission asked Ocean Breeze Ranch to make an additional $250,000 contribution for the construction of that parking or waiting area, and Ocean Breeze Ranch agreed to that contribution.

The documentation also includes a Wildland Fire Evacuation Plan which was prepared by Ocean Breeze Ranch and accepted by the North County Fire Protection District and the Sheriff's Department. The plan identifies evacuation routes, evacuation points and specific information measures.

A 100-foot fuel modification zone and a 100-foot limited building zone will be required around all development areas. All roads which abut an area of native vegetation will be brushed back between 20 and 30 feet from both sides of the road to ensure that evacuation routes are clear if needed. In the event of a fire all horses will shelter in place and will be moved to large pastures with the irrigation turned on.

The project is within the boundaries of both the Bonsall Community Planning Area and the Fallbrook Community Planning Area. Twelve Bonsall Community Sponsor Group meetings between April 2016 and November 2019 addressed the project, and the sponsor group addressed their concerns about traffic impacts and emergency evacuation. The sponsor group held a special meeting Nov. 19, 2019, and voted 4-2 to recommend approval of the project contingent upon the $1,000,000 traffic funding contribution.

The Fallbrook Community Planning Group held meetings in July 2018 and October 2019, and at the second meeting a 10-0 vote recommended approval with the condition to install traffic calming features along Dulin Road. On Aug. 14 the Interstate 15 Design Review Board voted 4-0 to recommend approval.

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at [email protected].