PDS hosts virtual revitalization workshop

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The county's Department of Planning and Development Services hosted a Sept. 22 virtual workshop on the revitalization plan for the Fallbrook Village area.

The meeting facilitator, Andy Pendoley, is the director of planning and community engagement for the community planning company MIG. Department of Planning and Development Services (PDS) land use and environmental planner Tim Bertino provided information on the county's behalf. The community members providing input included Fallbrook Community Planning Group chair Eileen Delaney, Fallbrook Village Association president Roy Moosa, and Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce executive director Lila MacDonald.

"We're really excited to get this project going," Bertino said.

In February 1996 the San Diego County Board of Supervisors established a community revitalization program for several unincorporated communities in San Diego County. The committees include regular meetings, coordination of community resources, and direct connection to county staff and resources. After the committee establishes goals committee members work with county staff to achieve those goals based on available resources. In March 2019 the board of supervisors directed the county's chief administrative officer to establish and activate revitalization committees for Fallbrook, Valley Center and Borrego Springs. Revitalization committees had previously been established in Alpine, the East County backcountry, Lakeside, Ramona and Spring Valley.

Members of the Fallbrook Revitalization Committee are working with PDS. The revitalization area would be bordered by View Street on the north, Mission Road on the west, Fallbrook Street on the south, and Brandon Street on the east. Delaney chairs the Fallbrook Revitalization Committee's infrastructure subcommittee and MacDonald chairs that committee's public safety subcommittee.

The study area was defined by Village zoning. In 2003 the board of supervisors approved five zoning classifications specific to Fallbrook. The zoning and associated regulations for the business district are intended to promote and preserve the village character, create a pedestrian-friendly environment for residents and visitors, and encourage the growth of Fallbrook's art industry. Uses which were in effect before the 2003 adoption of the Fallbrook Village zoning are allowed to continue in those locations.

The Village 1 zone is intended to encourage primary retail businesses fronting a pedestrian-oriented street, and residential dwelling is allowed as a secondary use. The Village 2 zone is intended to serve as a buffer between the retail-oriented Village 1 zone and the more industrial Village 3 zone; in addition to the uses allowed in the Village 1 area the Village 2 zoning also allows more intensive civic and automotive service uses while residences are allowed as a co-principal use subject to limitation.

The Village 3 area is intended to provide opportunities for clean industry and manufacturing, including art creation. All uses allowed under Village 1 and Village 2 zoning are permissible in the Village 3 area, and the zoning also allows manufacturing and other general industrial uses if the activity is indoors and meets noise and other limitations. The Village 3 zoning also allows service-oriented civic and commercial uses which are more intense than those allowed in the Village 1 and Village 2 areas. Residential use in the Village 3 area is allowed if it can be shown to be compatible with the adjacent commercial and industrial uses.

The Village 4 zoning is similar to the Village 1 zoning but allows for more automotive-oriented uses and a flexible front yard setback. The intent of the Village 5 area is principal and dominant administrative office and professional service use; residential uses are allowed and development shall have a scale and appearance compatible and complementary to adjacent residential uses while uses which generate high volumes of vehicular traffic are prohibited.

The revitalization effort could result in the creation of new zones, although the more likely option would be for regulations for each of the five zones to be modified. The county could also merge some of the zones.

"We want to develop a plan for revitalizing the Fallbrook Village," Bertino said. "This can mean many things."

In September 2020 the Fallbrook Community Planning Group was presented with two revitalization options. The planning group recommended an update of the county's Zoning Ordinance, an update of community review guidelines, and a streetscape plan for Main Avenue. The other option was a form-based code.

The county is now in Phase 2 of the revitalization plan. Phase 1 focused on community engagement and commenced November 2019. The county concluded the initial community engagement phase in September 2020. PDS staff analyzed public input and developed three planning options.

"It has several key components," Bertino said.

Those components include community outreach. "This is a really community-driven project," Bertino said. "We have a pretty robust engagement plan."

In June 2021 the revitalization committee's infrastructure subcommittee held a workshop. The Sept. 22 workshop was the first community-wide workshop.

The outreach will include a web-based questionnaire and community events. "We'll be looking for opportunities on the calendar coming up," Bertino said.

"I, at least, am trying to get as many involved as I can," MacDonald said.

County Supervisor Jim Desmond has also hosted Fallbrook revitalization workshops, and one of those is scheduled for Oct. 27. That workshop will be in person at the Fallbrook Public Utility District office and will begin at 10 a.m. The next county workshop will most likely take place in winter.

PDS expects to have the revitalization update, including the necessary zoning ordinance and other county code changes, for review by the county's planning commission and the board of supervisors by the end of 2022.

"We fully anticipate they would approve the project," Pendoley said.

Some streamlining may be possible without compromising public review or input. "Any way we can improve the process internally we will definitely look at that," Bertino said.

Phase 2 will include a market analysis and a parking analysis which will determine what parking currently exists, what is needed, and how traffic will be affected. The market and parking analysis will also be used for any regulatory changes.

One goal of the revitalization effort is to make Fallbrook a destination rather than a town on the way. "We want to attract and retain people and businesses," Bertino said.

"I think we need destination businesses," Moosa said.

PDS also desires to ensure mobility by car, by walking and by bicycle travel.

"I don't think getting downtown is the issue. I think having reasons to go downtown is the issue," Moosa said.

Moosa would like to see Main Avenue dedicated to retail shopping and restaurants and would prefer other businesses to be located elsewhere. "Those should for the most part, including my own office, be on side streets," he said.

One of those side streets is the address of Moosa's real estate office. He noted that visitors don't go to Fallbrook just for a real estate office, but if they like Fallbrook based on other amenities they will find a real estate office.

Moosa also cited banks and tire stores as businesses not optimally on Main Avenue. "Those are all things that serve the local community. They do not serve tourism," he said.

A shopping mall usually has one or more department stores as an anchor tenant. The contraction of department stores has caused many consumers on a nationwide basis to replace shopping malls with Main Street businesses. Moosa noted that visitors need a reason to spend the day in Fallbrook.

"We can vision as much as we want, but we also have to make sure it's practical," Pendoley said.

Closing Main Avenue to traffic likely won't be an option. "This has been a public road maintained and built with public funding. It might be difficult to close it down," Delaney said.

Weekend closures of some blocks of Main Avenue have allowed for outdoor dining, which has been to the benefit of the Fallbrook Village businesses. "I think it's been wonderful for the restaurants. Maybe we can do something for the stores, too," Delaney said.

"This is all very important information," Pendoley said. "We've got a very savvy group here in the village."