Carlsbad approves permits, plans for 93-acre Veterans Memorial Park

A STREET view of 4665 North River Road in Oceanside. The property, once classified as “light industrial,” is now a medium-density residential zone. Screenshot/Google

Oceanside rezones land for Tierra Norte

 Planners help clear the way for up to 400 homes

By Samantha Nelson

OCEANSIDE — Nearly 26 acres of land along North River Road has been rezoned to make way for up to 400 future homes in a yet-to-be-determined development project.

The Oceanside Planning Commission unanimously approved amendments to change two adjacent parcels of land at 4617 and 4665 North River Road from light industrial to medium-density residential and to establish a Planned Block Development (PBD) Overlay District, which is “intended to permit flexibility in landuse regulations and site development standards” for future developments.

The project, referred to as Tierra Norte, is located on the south side of North River Road between Avenida Descanso and Calle Montecito in the North Valley Neighborhood Planning Area.

Dan Niebaum, vice president of The Lightfoot Planning Group, represented the property owners SoCal AG Properties and Nagata Brothers on July 25 in front of commissioners

“This is an opportunity to repurpose this underutilized infill site to provide realistic, future housing options for the community,” Niebaum said.

According to Niebaum, it’s “highly unlikely” another industrial project would be successful at the site, which has been historically used for agricultural packing and growing crops.

Niebaum also said the residential use would synchronize better with the other surrounding residential uses, ranging from low to higher densities than the site proposes.

Sergio Madera, the city planner overseeing the project, said a residential project value would be much higher at $181.28 million compared to a $98.05 million industrial project value. Madera also said the city’s revenue benefits would be higher at $15.3 million with a residential project compared to $2.2 million from an industrial project.

“(Industrial is) not the best use of the site,” Madera said.

While the density change means Tierra Norte could have up to 500 units, the PBD Overlay limits it to 400.

“You could experience much higher development in the area,” Niebaum said.

Still, the language in Planned Block Development Overlay doesn’t prevent a future developer from invoking the state’s Density Bonus Law to build even more units there.“That’s a possibility that could occur,” Madera said. “Nothing in the law would preclude that.”

What the PBD can do is serve as a reference point for developers and city officials to make new and existing developments compatible, encourage “high-quality design elements,” and allow for different designs and architectural styles,

Several nearby site residents voiced their concerns and opposition to the change, citing existing problems with traffic congestion and parking in the area.

“Our area is hardly able to support the existing density,” said Michael White, a resident of the Rancho Pacifica neighborhood. “The development’s proposed density is a great concern to us.”

White highlighted the area’s “extreme” traffic gridlock during peak hours between Douglas Drive and College Boulevard, the challenge of evacuations during the Lilac Fire in 2017 and surrounding neighborhoods overwhelmed with overflow parking.

“Four hundred additional homes on a 25.6-acre site can only exacerbate that situation,” White said.

Both Madera and Niebaum emphasized there is no development project being proposed at this time, only a change in zoning and land use laws to allow for future development.

Madera said the city would know more about what mitigation efforts for traffic, parking and emergency exits must be taken once a project is underway.

By Steve Puterski

CARLSBAD — A proposed 93-acre park dedicated to American service members cleared an essential hurdle on July 26 after the Carlsbad City Council approved a final master plan and development permits for the long-awaited project.

Veterans Memorial Park, which consists of nearly 100 acres of open space off Cannon Road along Faraday Avenue, will feature approximately 60 acres of preserve and roughly 40 acres of parkland.

The sprawling park includes a memorial plaza, three playgrounds, two bike tracks, outdoor exercise and picnic areas, trails and public art, among other features.

According to the city’s park performance standards, each of the city’s quadrants will have a surplus of at least 14 acres of park space.

Kyle Lancaster, Carlsbad’s director of Parks and Recreation, said the city also has 80 acres of park projects in the pipeline,

“Veterans Memorial Park will serve a regional need,” Lancaster said.

Lancaster said the next step is to prepare the bid with an estimated project cost of $30.2 million funded by the Community Facilities District No. 1, a citywide district created in 1991 to pay for facilities, improvements and highway interchanges.

The district levied a one-time special tax lien on vacant properties to help finance the development.

Veterans Memorial Park, expected to be completed by 2025, is dedicated to service members, including a plaza with commemorative plaques, memorial panels and a flagpole to honor those who served in the U.S. armed forces.

The project was conceived in 1986 as a centralized park for all residents to use, Lancaster said.

Suzie Murphy, executive director of the San Diego Mountain Biking Association, and Ben Stone, trails coordinator for the organization, said the park, especially its bike tracks, is a welcome addition to the city and North County.

Murphy said a stateof-the-art facility would be a big draw for the cycling group’s more than 300 Carlsbad residents.

Currently, riders interested in visiting a bike park must travel south to San Diego or even further southeast to Sweetwater Summit Regional Park in Bonita.

“I stood here eight years ago talking about bike parks and advocating,” Stone said. “The message is still the same. We are very much in favor of this bike park. We’ve given a lot of input and encouraged our members who live in Carlsbad to be part of this process.”

However, there was some pushback against moving forward with the development of Veterans Park.

Diane Nygaard of Preserve Calavera said the park does not do enough to address climate change, citing inadequate vehicle miles traveled analysis, lack of easy access and no solar panels on structures.

Nygaard also questioned the park’s allocation of acreage, arguing approximately half of the area is considered protected habitat and only the developed acres should be allotted for the city’s parkland.

Lancaster said other parks with adjacent preserves are counted toward the city’s park standards, a practice known as the joint allocation method that dates back to the 1990s.

Examples of other parks using the joint allocation method include Leo Carrillo Ranch and Hidden Canyon parks.

Councilwoman Teresa Acosta, who represents the city’s southernmost district, said she wasn’t interested in building another park in northern Carlsbad, some of which include Magee, Holiday, Pine Avenue and Buena Vista parks.

However, Acosta, who has previously voiced support for a controversial “Ponto Park” proposal in her district, eventually conceded that plans for Veterans Memorial Park should move forward.

“There have been some changes in thought on our development of our city when it comes to parks,” Acosta said. “This community is one that loves parks and neighborhood parks that we don’t have to drive to. For now, I’m very excited about Veterans Memorial Park.”

THE CARLSBAD City Council on July 26 approved the master plan and several permits for the Veterans Memorial Park. The 93-acre park, dedicated to U.S. service members, will feature bike tracks, playgrounds, outdoor exercise equipment, picnic areas, walking trails,

and more. Courtesy rendering

 Site relocation process yielded no viable results

By Steve Puterski

CARLSBAD — Several council members recently expressed frustration over San Diego Gas & Electric’s lack of progress in finding a new permanent home for its North Coast Service Center, ultimately giving the utility just under three months to find a viable option.

The council approved the 11-week timeframe during its July 26 meeting after nearly one hour of discussion with SDG&E and NRG Energy officials.

The hunt for a new maintenance yard location, roughly six years past its deadline, stems from a council-approved settlement agreement between the city of Carlsbad, SDG&E and NRG Energy in 2014.

AERIAL FOOTAGE of the Carlsbad Energy Center and Agua Hedionda Lagoon in 2020. The peaker plant, completed in 2019, is just northeast of SDG&E’s Construction and Operations center. According to city officials, SDG&E has yet to find a permanent replacement site for its service center and maintenance yard. Photo by Anthony Mata

Agreement

Under the terms of the agreement, NRG Energy was required to facilitate the decommissioning and demolition of its Encina Power Station and the construction of the Carlsbad Energy Center, a 632-megawatt natural gas peaker plant.

NRG Energy, a Texas-based energy company, is the current landowner of 90-plus acres adjacent to the SDG&E service center, including Agua Hedionda Lagoon.

The agreement also calls for SDG&E to move its service center, allowing the city to take ownership of the current service center location along Cannon Road and a parcel on Agua Hedionda Lagoon’s northwestern shore.

The agreement stipulates that the new service center, used for fleet maintenance, repairs, emergency services and training, must be situated west of El Camino Real with good freeway access.

In addition, the parcel must be relatively flat, with at least 10-12 acres to allow for a 30,000 to 32,000-square foot new building, according to Gary Barberio, Carlsbad’s deputy city manager for community services.

All three parties were responsible for agreeing upon a final location for the new North Coast Service Center by 2016.

Supposing all three parties agree to a new site, NRG Energy would fund up to $22.5 million for the public utility to construct a new service center, and the city would take ownership of SDG&E’s land adjacent to the former Encina Power Station, Barberio said.

If a new site is not agreed upon, NRG Energy will pay the city $10 million and forgo its financial obligation to SDG&E.

In 2021, SDG&E and the city had suggested relocating the service center to the parking lot of The Shoppes at Carlsbad.

However, Joe Gabaldon, public affairs manager for SDG&E, said a full year of analysis revealed the site was unacceptable due to flooding concerns from Buena Vista Creek.

“Along the way, many issues were identified and addressed,” Gabaldon said. “SDG&E hired leading consultants to review varying engineering studies. These experts and our staff have determined that the site and associated access with continue to have significant risks to flooding.”

The council and staff expressed frustration with SDG&E over its perceived inability to identify potential service center sites, noting that the. city hasn’t received incentives (such as land ownership) outlined in the agreement after hosting the power plant'simpact on the community.

“We agreed to do something we were adamantly opposed to only because we were supposed to get this bundle of benefits, which we haven’t got yet,” Barberio said.

THE CITY of Carlsbad, NRG Energy and SDG&E need to agree on a new site for the energy provider’s service center.

Photo by Steve Puterski

Lot 11

The council’s discussion turned to a potential site at “Lot 11,” a roughly 20-acre parcel several hundred yards east of the parking lot at the Carlsbad Strawberry Fields along Cannon Road. In addition to Lot 11, Gabaldon said SDG&E had identified two other sites west of Interstate 5 along Cannon Road.

In addition to the two other sites, Mayor Matt Hall stressed the continued site analysis must be focused on Lot 11, saying if SDG&E does not go with the parcel, “they better have more than one excuse.”

“I think there is a real willingness for this council to work toward a future where somehow all of that moves off that site,” Hall said of the current service center location. “That has huge value in many different ways.”

In addition to finding a suitable location, another challenge for the involved parties is rising construction costs.

Adam Smith, SDG&E’s corporate real estate portfolio manager, said while the company has already completed site plans and renderings, preliminary analysis projects a higher price than initially estimated, creating a significant — but unspecified — funding gap.

According to Smith, the construction cost on Lot 11 exceeded $22.5 million in 2019.

During the conversation, the frustration amongst elected officials was evident.

Councilwoman Teresa Acosta lambasted the utility company for allegedly dragging its feet, arguing the city did not agree to cover the funding gap associated with the relocation and construction of the utility’s service center.

Barberio confirmed the city is not obligated to allocate any funds for relocation or construction of the new service center under the agreement.

“The agreement was forged with the idea that we’d find a place to relocate the facilities,” Acosta. “It’s why the city of Carlsbad has been working so hard. I want to be clear that the city of Carlsbad is not signing up for that gap. The taxpayers of Carlsbad are not signing up for that.”

Councilman Keith Blackburn said it seems like any time the city identified a potential site, SDG&E rejected it. Gabaldon noted the city has also rejected proposed sites, and all three entities must agree on a final location.

Blackburn urged SDG&E to return with a good location in approximately three months so the process could move forward with all parties in alignment.

Need Medicare Insurance?

Turning 65, 65+ and retiring, newly eligible for Medicare at any age? Call me today to prepare or sign up!

Local Health Insurance Agent with 21+ years of experience serving all of California.

No fees ever for advice, quotes, sales, and service.

• Offering Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance • Individuals, Families, Medicare, Small Groups,

CoveredCA • Complimentary Advice, Quotes, Sales, and

Service Always • Life Insurance, Long Term Care, and

Disability; Short and Long Term

Man gets 15 years in fentanyl-related death

By City News Service

REGION — A man who sold fentanyl-laced pills that led to the death of a La Jolla woman was sentenced July 28 to 15 years in state prison.

Joshua Alan Breslow, 54, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and drug possession charges for providing pills that led to the Sept. 18, 2020, death of 49-year-old Sally Manchester Ricchiuti, daughter of developer and former San Diego Union-Tribune owner Doug Manchester.

Prosecutors allege Breslow, who was previously charged with murder in the case, provided Ricchiuti and others with doctored pills, despite being aware of the potentially fatal consequences.

Deputy District Attorney Joel Madero said that after Breslow's arrest in connection with Ricchiuti’s death, he bailed out of jail and continued dealing pills.

The prosecutor also alleged that Breslow falsely assured his customers that he had tested his pills to ensure they didn’t contain fentanyl and reached out to a source in order to secure doctored lab results.

In a statement at his sentencing hearing, Breslow called the victim “one of my best and closest friends” and said “not a day goes by when I don’t feel contrition.”

Though he said the past two years he has spent in jail have been “grueling” and a “brutal experience,” Breslow said, “I deserve it.”

Breslow apologized to the victim’s family members in attendance and said he plans to speak publicly about the dangers of opioid abuse when he is released.

Manchester, who said his daughter “remains with us each and every day,” told Breslow, “Josh, I appreciate very much your reaching out.”

Molly Ricchiuti, the victim's eldest daughter, called her mother “my best friend” and “a beautiful, vivacious soul lost to a world that so desperately needs her type of spirit.”