This One Paseo debate and residents’ concern is far beyond a NIMBY response. It’s absolutely crazy that this development has made it this far.
Sherri Lightner, our area’s elected representative to the City Council, has not voiced adequate concern nor is she pushing back on the developer. What more facts does she need other than the lot is approved for 500,000 sf and the developer is proposing (in his scaled down version), 1.45 million sf?
For comparison sake, it’s projected to be similar in density to Horton Plaza downtown, and 3 times the density of UTC mall. It will be 5 times the size of Del Mar Highlands shopping center, right across the street. Most importantly, it will generate 24,000 additional car trips a day, creating huge traffic jams, making it close to impossible for emergency vehicles to respond in a timely way, and also creating huge delays entering the freeways and moving anywhere on Del Mar Heights Rd.
Believe me, many area residents are for “smart growth” with improved walkability, community connectivity and housing options, but that is not what this version of One Paseo would offer. People must not realize that there is NO public transportation on Del Mar Heights Rd or serving One Paseo at all, and there are no plans to implement any public transit until 2035, if at all. One Paseo, as it stands now, is one big car-centric over-development.
It’s crazy talk, and shocking that the project in its current form has even gotten this far. We already have zoning regulations in place, and this variance request is so far out of the scope of what’s reasonable that it’s bizarre the City Council is even considering it. Hmm, let me see, the lot is approved for 500,000 sf and the developer proposes 1.45 mil sf…why is this even being considered, and why is this not a clear waste of the developer’s time/money, as well as taxpayer’s? As one resident wrote in to the local paper in a letter to the editor: “Wouldn’t that be like me tearing down my 3,300-square-foot Carmel Valley tract home and applying to construct a 10,000-square-foot four-story apartment building in its place? What would the planning department — and my neighbors — think of that?”
San Diego residents, even if you live nowhere near this, please don’t let this happen. It will set a dangerous precedent for our city zoning regulations. Make sure your city council rep knows how you feel before the Feb 23rd vote (you can visit the following website, put together by a local resident, to send an email or sign a petition: http://www.whatpricemainstreet.com/).
