County planning commission grants Pacifica Estates time extension

The San Diego County Planning Commission granted a time extension for the Pacifica Estates development.

A 6-0 Planning Commission vote Friday, Oct. 23, with Michael Beck not able to participate in the meeting, approved a time extension for the final map to be recorded. The map now must be recorded by April 22, 2025, in the absence of a subsequent time extension.

“The time extension would not make any changes to the conditions,” Ashley Smith said, who was recently promoted to the project planning division chief for the county’s Department of Planning and Development Services.

Pacifica Estates will subdivide 17.30 acres on the northeast side of South Mission Road and Stage Coach Lane into 21 single-family residential lots ranging from 0.5 to 0.69 acres, two open space lots, and two homeowners association stormwater maintenance lots. The property has Rural Residential zoning and a VR-2 Village Residential land use designation. A wholesale nursery was the use of the site in April 2016 when the Planning Commission voted 7-0 to approve a conditioned tentative map for Pacifica Estates.

The Pacifica Estates houses will be at least 3,000 square feet. No zoning restriction precludes a resident from adding a second story, although the lot pad size of 13,000 square feet should allow home expansion to occur while maintaining a single story. The zoning includes a rear yard setback of 40 feet, a “G” height designator which allows for a maximum of two stories and 35 feet in height, a “J” animal designator which permits horsekeeping and for non-commercial activity also allows up to two other large animals and up to 25 small animals and a “C” building type designator which allows for limited non-residential activity on the ground level or basement.

The conditions include the planting of 48-inch box trees to screen the development from existing residences, the widening of the sidewalk at the intersection of South Mission Road and Stage Coach Lane to provide pedestrians additional protection from vehicles which might encroach onto the sidewalk while making a U-turn, and the widening of South Mission Road along the frontage. The property will be accessed from South Mission Road; a raised median prevents left turns from South Mission Road so southbound motorists will access the property by a U-turn at South Mission Road and Stage Coach Lane approximately 400 feet south of the project’s entrance and exit. Motorists exiting Pacifica Estates and traveling south on South Mission Road will make a U-turn from the left turn lane at Air Park Road 950 feet north of the development. A locked gate will prevent access from or to Morro Road unless that route is needed for emergency secondary access.

A new private road including a bridge over Ostrich Farms Creek will serve the vehicles traveling to and from Pacifica Estates. The estimated additional traffic generation is 210 average daily trips. An acceleration lane and deceleration lane along South Mission Road was determined not to be feasible due to the existing North County Transit District bus stop, the Ostrich Creek biological open space easement, and safety issues involving the distance between the proposed acceleration lane and the intersection of South Mission Road with Sterling Bridge Road.

The grading includes the road as well as the building pads on each lot. The total grading will be 60,000 cubic yards of balanced cut and fill, and the slope steepness will have a 2:1 ratio along the north and south property lines. The grading permit will incorporate the landscaping plan which will screen the development from the view of current residences.

Updated stormwater regulations caused the need to update the stormwater management plan, which has been prepared. The project had 70 conditions including jurisdictional permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

“Conditions associated with the original project will not change,” Smith said. “The time extension does not propose any changes to the previously approved tentative map.”

The need to update the stormwater management plan and to obtain the permits required a time extension. The original deadline to record a final map was April 22, 2019. If an application for a time extension is filed before its expiration, the owner is not in default if the extension is granted. A request for a time extension was filed Jan. 31, 2019.

“We are in the process of obtaining the environmental permits,” project engineer Mark Sanchez.

The time extension request included a public notice and a review by PDS staff to determine whether the failure to record the final map by the original deadline was due to conditions beyond the control of the applicant. The PDS director has the authority to grant a preliminary decision on a time extension. On Sept. 8, PDS director Mark Wardlaw issued a preliminary decision to grant the time extension. The procedure includes docketing the preliminary decision for the next Planning Commission hearing; if no member of the Planning Commission or the public desires a hearing on the time extension the director’s decision becomes final and takes effect immediately.

The preliminary decision was docketed for the Sept. 18 Planning Commission meeting. Concerns from Summerhill Lane residents were expressed about traffic and access, grading and drainage, soils and hazardous materials and aesthetics. The homes on Summerhill Lane are between 15 and 30 feet lower in elevation than the road on the Pacifica Estates map. The houses on that street are between 1,000 and 1,500 square feet.

The request for a hearing led to the Oct. 23 Planning Commission review. All of the concerns brought forth by the Summerhill Lane residents were analyzed and no new conditions were found.

“The concerns raised were addressed during the original PC hearing,” Smith said.

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