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Planning Commission recommends rezone for Bonsall Carefield Facility

The county's Planning Commission has recommended a rezone for the land on which the Bonsall Carefield Facility is planned.

The Planning Commission's 7-0 vote Sept. 18 recommended a zoning change from C30 (Office Professional) to C46 (Medical Center). The property has both a "C" height designator which limits the height of structures to 25 feet and a "G" height designator which has a limit of 35 feet, and the rezone would also give the entire property a "G" designator.

The Planning Commission also recommended adoption of a site plan and adoption of the environmental Mitigated Negative Declaration. Because a rezone must be approved by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, the county supervisors will make the final decision.

The 3.9-acre site is at the northeast corner of Mission Road and Thoroughbred Lane. The land is currently undeveloped. It has a land use designation of Office Professional, and C46 zoning is consistent with that designation. C46 zoning allows a group care facility with the approval of a site plan.

The assisted care facility would total 74,000 square feet. The 24 memory care units would be in a one-story building adjacent to Thoroughbred Lane while the rest of the facility would be two stories. The 74 single-occupant suites and six double-occupant suites would allow for 86 residents, and the Bonsall Carefield Facility would have a staff of 41 including a culinary director.

The staff members would be divided into three shifts to provide full-time care. The facility would also include amenities such as an outdoor swimming pool, a bocce field, an outdoor dining area, and two gardens. Most of the resident programming, entertainment, and activities would be in the indoor common areas although weekly classes in the pool would be led by an instructor. None of the classes would have amplified music or speakers.

Assisted care residents would be allowed to leave and return as they desire but would need their physician's approval to leave the property, and all trips must be pre-scheduled and escorted. The residents could not drive to and from the property or have their own vehicle unless they obtain approval with a physician's order.

Residents would be able to use an existing trail to travel northeast or southwest along Mission Road to access nearby commercial uses such as grocery stores, restaurants and banks. A total of 45 on-site parking spaces would accommodate residents, guests and employees.

The facility would receive deliveries twice a week for food, medical and office supplies. Access would be provided by a private driveway connecting to Mission Road. The property's frontage along Mission Road is a cul-de-sac which serves two commercial zoned properties.

A traffic impact study provided an estimate of 238 average daily trips including 16 morning and 22 afternoon peak hour trips. Because fewer than 25 peak hour trips would be added to nearby intersections an intersection analysis was not required.

Thoroughbred Lane is a dead-end road which provides access to 85 single-family residences. Based on San Diego Association of Governments trip generation rates, Thoroughbred Lane averages 850 daily trips and has a capacity of 4,500 daily trips.

County staff determined that the Bonsall Carefield Facility's trips would be within the allowable limits for adjacent intersections including State Route 76, which is now four lanes. Bonsall Carefield Facility would contribute to the Transportation Impact Fee program to mitigate potential cumulative traffic impacts.

The Mitigated Negative Declaration was released for public review May 29 and was not subject to the vehicle miles traveled criteria for determining significant transportation impacts.

The county's general plan buildout allows for the construction of a 50,000-square feet general office building which would generate 707 vehicle miles traveled annually, and the Bonsall Carefield Facility would generate an estimated 507 vehicle miles traveled. The parking area would include electric vehicle charging stations and vanpool parking spaces.

The county's Zoning Ordinance requires at least one space per three assisted living units and one space per employee, which would equate to 44 required parking spaces, and the 45 on-site parking spaces would include three accessible spaces as part of the guest parking and one space for an electric vehicle charging station.

The architectural design is consistent with the Bonsall Community Plan and would utilize materials, colors, and textures which are similar to surrounding structures, most notably the adjacent two-story shopping centers.

The features would include terracotta roofing, accent walls at the entrances and building corners, and arched entrance frames with mission tile details. The exterior finish would consist of concrete in earth tone colors with decorative stone, steel and wood accents. The variation in color and finishes would divide the structure into separate components to reduce the visual prominence of the building.

Four Carefield Assisted Living and Memory Care facilities currently exist in California, so visitor data from those facilities was used to estimate the Bonsall visitor traffic.

The existing facilities average approximately five visitors a day on weekdays and approximately 10 visitors on weekends. Visiting hours are from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. A majority of weekday visits occur between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., and most weekend visits are between noon and 1:30 p.m. or between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. The number of visitors would not be limited, although a maximum of 50 total guests would be permitted to attend Bonsall Carefield Facility events.

Bonsall Carefield Facility anticipates hosting four events a month with three of those being held indoors. The outside event would typically be a themed barbecue where residents can invite guests to attend. The events would be between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. or between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. The indoor and outdoor events would not have any amplified music.

Bonsall Carefield Facility would be licensed by the California Department of Social Services as a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly, which allows for the housing of seniors over the age of 62. The community is based on a social rather than a clinical model of services and provides residents with assistance with the activities of daily living. Although state regulations do not require any on-site nursing presence for assisted living communities, Bonsall Carefield Facility would have a licensed nurse in-house at all times for medication management and oversight of the community care being delivered.

Visual impacts would be mitigated by setting back the facility from adjacent roads and by using landscaping as a buffer from the residential uses and public roads. The 150 proposed drought-tolerant trees would range in height from 10 to 40 feet at maturity.

One of the proposed gardens would include a 1,600 square foot turf area, and the remainder of the property's vegetation would be drought-tolerant and fire-resistant shrubs, ground covers and trees. A six foot high wall along the north side of State Route 76 would screen portions of the facility from public view.

The Rainbow Municipal Water District would provide water and sewer service to the facility while the North County Fire Protection District would provide emergency medical services. The nearest NCFPD station, Station 5, is approximately 750 feet south of the property.

Both the San Diego County Regional Fire Authority and the North County Fire Protection District approved a fire protection plan for the Bonsall Carefield Facility, which would place fire department connections and two commercial hydrants on project access roads.

In April 2019, the Bonsall Community Sponsor Group voted 4-1, with one member absent and one seat vacant, to recommend the rezone and site plan. The sponsor group requested that no parking be visible from the frontage of the property on Mission Road, which would be accomplished by the six foot high wall and the landscaping.

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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