The Rancho Bernardo Community Planning Board voted unanimously to oppose a proposed 122 townhome development by KB Home in the community’s business district.
The reasons cited during the Sept. 17 meeting included insufficient parking, traffic, strain on local services and the project’s compatibility with Rancho Bernardo’s master plan.
The proposal calls for 122 townhomes — 50 two-bedroom, 50 three-bedroom and 22 four-bedroom — ranging from about 1,200 to 2,000 square feet. This would include 13 affordable units in the development on a 5.5-acre site spanning 11818 to 11858 Bernardo Plaza Court where a five-building office complex exists.
There would be 244 garage spaces (two per unit), 17 guest parking spaces and 12 motorcycle spaces, per the board presentation by representatives from KB Home and the Atlantis Group, a land-use consulting firm. A community barbecue and seating area, play structure, dog run, outdoor fitness loop and stations, bicycle repair station and racks along with multi-modal information kiosks are included.
The vote followed close to 2 ½ years of discussions with KB Home, including about six subcommittee meetings, according to board member Benjamin Wier, who chairs the Development Review Committee.
The board’s vote is an advisory recommendation to the San Diego Planning Commission and City Council.
“Number one, it doesn’t fit in Rancho Bernardo,” Wier said while introducing the motion. “Everybody that owns a home in Rancho Bernardo is a part of a master plan community, and we all need to belong to a recreation center. KB Home does not fit into the master plan of Rancho Bernardo.”
Wier said the board also understands that this development would cause parking to be an “absolute nightmare being dumped on the streets of Rancho Bernardo.”
He also cited the lack of recreation areas for children in the proposed community and the additional strain on city resources like fire, paramedic services and electricity.
Residents who attended the meeting said they objected to the potential for increased parked cars in the area and traffic congestion in an already busy corridor on Bernardo Center Drive.
Residents also voiced specific concerns about worsening traffic and parking shortages during services at the nearby The Church at Rancho Bernardo.
Further reservations included the possibility of multiple families sharing individual units with more than two vehicles, which they said would affect adjacent business parking lots and streets.
Residents and board members questioned KB Home representatives on whether the proposed recreation space would be adequate for families with children.
Speaking about the demographics of this new community, Troy Friedeck, KB Home director of land acquisition, said it is for “entry-level” homebuyers and “families that don’t have kids.” He said this is based on data from other similar KB Home communities.
An artist rendering of KB Home’s plan for the townhome development it wants to build in Rancho Bernardo. (Courtesy of KB Home)
Board member Emily Liebscher asked why he thought there wouldn’t be kids.
“Because you’ve got four bedrooms. You’re either getting four adults, eight adults or somebody with kids moving in,” Liebscher said.
Friedeck said most residents will be “working professionals.”
Liebscher also said Friedeck’s description of the park with a play structure for children in the community sounded small.
“It depends on your definition of small,” Friedeck said, adding he thought the size was adequate.
David Bentley, a forward planner with KB Home, said the company has several similar townhome projects. He said one-third of residents have children.
Rancho Bernardo resident Bell Oliver questioned the source of Bentley’s statistics and challenged the characterization of prospective residents as single professionals with only two cars.
Oliver said she knows of situations in Rancho Bernardo where two families share a two-bedroom apartment with four to six children.
Friedeck said that was “probably the exception to the rule.”
Liebscher raised similar concerns, saying high interest rates and a tight housing market could lead two families to share a four-bedroom unit, or a buyer to rent rooms to three other adults.
Renee Mezo, principal project manager of Atlantis Group, said they cannot control those factors.
Resident Lucila Becerra expressed concern that she did not see any walking or bike lanes in the proposed community plan. She also worried about increased traffic because of the many accidents on Bernardo Center Drive and Bernardo Heights Parkway.
“We’ve had several very, very serious accidents with fatalities and totally demolished cars,” she said.
Becerra also said she was disappointed with the landscaping proposed for the community.
“We pride ourselves in a beautiful community, beautiful areas for our cars, for our walkways, for our landscape in each and every one of our communities,” Becerra said, who added, the proposed KB Home landscaping “lacks all design.”
RBPB Chair Robin Kaufman said she was concerned there are only 17 guest spots, only one way in and out of the community and no street parking.
Mezo said the city does not require any guest parking for this project, but they are including the extra guest parking spaces.
Kaufman said Rancho Bernardo has no room for additional parks and is already 30 acres short of community parkland. Residents of the proposed development would also be ineligible to join recreation clubs such as the RB Swim and Tennis Club or the Westwood Club because club covenants restrict membership to designated geographic areas, further limiting their recreation options.
She also expressed concern about added strain on the power grid, citing two outages in the past week that she attributed to increased electricity demand during high temperatures.
A member of The Church at Rancho Bernardo said she is “puzzled” as to why KB Home had not “collaborated with the church … to gather their input” on the townhome project and try to find ways for the parties to work together. She said her concerns were about traffic and suggested a pedestrian bridge over Bernardo Plaza Court to help alleviate traffic during the church’s especially busy times on Tuesdays and Sundays.
“The city tells us what needs to be done on traffic and what needs to be done on road dedication and what needs to be done on virtually every aspect of development,” Bentley said.
Resident Dexter Oliver asked the board if it had solicited commercial businesses to fill this land, rather than having to rezone from commercial to residential for this project. He also asked if the fire marshal had signed off on the ingress and egress.
“We had to do a full evacuation plan, and the fire department with the City of San Diego has approved it,” Mezo said.
Dr. Robert Fox, who said he has had a medical office on Bernardo Plaza Court for the last 30 years, said parking in the area is already a “nightmare.”
He said during Sunday church services and at other times during the week, people park in his office parking lot because there isn’t enough parking in surrounding areas.
“In addition, let’s not be naïve, the people who buy those units don’t necessarily have one or two adults,” he said. “They may be conglomerate groups of investors and they will sublet them.”
“This is not a good idea for our community,” Fox said.
RB Planning Board will send its recommendation against the proposed townhome community to the city’s planning department. A Planning Commission hearing is scheduled for Oct. 15, which is when the commission will recommend a final decision to the City Council.
The commission hearing at 7650 Mission Valley Road will be open to the public. Attendees will have an opportunity to comment on the proposal in person, virtually or by phone.
In other board news, Bernardo Villas residents raised concerns about drivers hitting their vehicles parked along Rancho Bernardo Road during a Traffic and Transportation subcommittee report presented by board member Jim Nadlonek.
Bernardo Villas resident Dennis Shepard said it is the oldest condominium complex in Rancho Bernardo and the complex has 193 homes with one designated parking space per home. However, households average two or three cars, so residents also park on Rancho Bernardo Road, where their vehicles have been struck by passing drivers, he said.
“It’s important for the committee to know that is where we live,” Shepard said. “Something has to be done” to slow traffic.
Becerra, who also lives in Bernardo Villas, said that “After 9 p.m. at night people are speeding faster than 60 miles an hour and running through lights and everything else.”
She requested for the city to add a roundabout to slow traffic.
“Our family has had three cars totaled out on that street within two weeks,” said Lucas Carlisle, another Bernardo Villas resident.
Carlisle, who said he is a student who works part time, said replacing his damaged car with a comparable vehicle would cost $6,000, but his insurer offered only $3,000.
Kaufman said this discussion needs to first take place at the Traffic and Transportation committee meeting, where if it approves a resolution or suggestion, would then bring the issue to the full board for discussion.