Petition from Residents in Ocean Hills Neighborhood RE: D18-000019

Opposition to Proposed Three-story Senior Residential Apartments at Cannon Road and Mystra Way, Oceanside, CA

We, the undersigned, hereby lodge our concerns about, and our opposition to, the proposed Phase II three-story development at the northeast corner of Cannon Road and Mystra Way in Oceanside, California, planned by Protea Capital Partners, LLC, of Aliso Viejo, CA as D18-000019 CUP18-00023 (hereafter referred to as Protea Phase II or Project).

Summary: We do not want the proposed 3-story apartment complex in our residential neighborhood. Our primary concerns with this project include traffic congestion, emergency evacuation, and three-story height that is incompatible with the neighborhood. These concerns were derived following review of the Protea proposal, environmental initial study (May 2019), and the traffic study prepared by Rick Engineering (Nov 2018). We are not opposed to a 2-story apartment complex at this location. Reducing the proposed building height to 2 stories would eliminate one third of the anticipated resident vehicle drivers, which would minimize traffic congestion and emergency evacuation concerns, and eliminate the incompatibility of a 3-story building with 4-story parapets in a historically 1- and 2-story single-family residential community. See attached Figures 1 through 5 for reference. The concerns we are raising for your consideration are:

1.    The increased traffic will significantly impact the residential communities accessed from Cannon Road, contrary to the Protea Phase II traffic study results.

The proposed Protea Phase II is a 102-unit residential apartment complex for able bodied adults and is not a licensed convalescent/nursing home facility. The addition of 102 able-bodied senior living residential units as part of Phase II would add at least 102 vehicles and likely more since each apartment is minimum double occupancy. The proposed Project is located at a dead-end section of Cannon Road and is not within walking distance of any city resources such as grocery stores (3 miles away), doctors’ offices (greater than 7 miles away), pharmacies (2 miles away), or mass transit (2 miles away), therefore personal vehicle use is generally required.

The traffic impact from an added 102 units with capable drivers will be substantially greater than the Protea traffic report (Nov 2018) anticipates since Protea Phase II is erroneously identified as a convalescent/nursing home. A study entitled Senior Housing Trip Generation and Parking Demand Characteristics by Stephen B. Corcoran, P.E. (Institute of Transportation Engineers 66th Annual Meeting) concludes the weighted daily trip generation rate is 5.64 trips per day for senior housing developments. The study Protea presented used less than 1 daily trip per unit. Realistic traffic estimations represent a 5-fold increase over the Protea-Rick Engineering study estimations, which will significantly negatively impact the traffic flow along Cannon Road and its collector streets, including Mystra Way, Leisure Village Drive, Wisteria Drive, and Shadow Ridge Drive in the Ocean Hills neighborhood.

2.    Emergency and fire evacuation safety concerns.

The proposed Protea Phase II project is located 400 feet east of vast acreage of undeveloped coastal scrub habitat having experienced wildland fire in prior years (Figure 1). The communities surrounding the proposed Phase II project would experience significant traffic egress delays in the event of a fire in the adjacent undeveloped wildlands or other emergency evacuation event.

All evacuation traffic from the Classical Academy Elementary School, New Venture Church and PreSchool, and Seagate Terrace residential community, plus half of the Ocean Hills Country Club, Ocean Terrace Spinnaker Ridge, and Ridgeview at Ocean Hills residential communities must exit the area by traveling on Cannon Road eastbound.

We disagree with the City’s evaluation that the residents and staff of Protea Phases I and II structures will be adequately protected with a "Shelter in Place" determination. The buildings will be built to city code, however smoke infiltration from adjacent wildland fire, earthquake damage, or other emergency may render the structure uninhabitable and require premises evacuation. Medical transport units would be necessary to completely evacuate the Phase I facility. The proposed Phase II residents and staff will have the right, means, and motive to exit the property in their personal vehicles. This added traffic volume would flow onto Cannon Road eastbound and impede emergency egress traffic flow. Reducing the proposed building height to 2 stories would eliminate one third of the anticipated resident vehicle drivers, which would minimize traffic-related emergency evacuation concerns.

3.    The proposed Protea Phase II 3-story building height with 4-story parapets is not compatible with the wholly 1- and 2-story single family residential area of Ocean Hills.

The Protea Phase II is proposed to be located at a dead-end section of Cannon Road, east of the Lake Calavera Preserve and Carlsbad Highlands Ecological Reserve, in an area primarily designated for 1- and 2-story single family residences. The proposed Protea Phase II 3-story apartment complex with 4-story parapets (a height of 46.5 feet) would tower over the surrounding 1- and 2- story homes and create a visual intrusion for the broader neighborhood (Figures 2 through 5). There are no structures taller than 2 stories in the Ocean Hills neighborhood. Specifically, there are no 3-story structures within 3 miles of the proposed Project, and those 3-story structures are located along the major thoroughfare of Melrose Drive. The closest apartment building at the corner of Cannon Road and Melrose Drive is 2 stories, in keeping with the character of the neighborhood.

A Conditional Use Permit (CUP) is required by the City for the proposed Protea Phase II project. Typically, CUPs are required “for uses that are on the borderline of being too intense for a given zone and may need special conditions to ensure compatibility with the surrounding land uses.” Despite numerous requests, the City has not provided an explanation as to why a CUP was not required for Protea Phase I but is required for Protea Phase II, when both are located on the same land parcel. The proposed Protea Phase II 3-story structure is too intensive and incompatible with the surrounding land uses and should be reflected in the CUP as such. Reducing the proposed structure to 2-stories would render it compatible with the surrounding land uses.

Figures may be viewed at this location. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BdAQV-jKNfvEKlMz5OHU-nI5zURPC8g6

Figure 1. Protea Ocean Hills brochure depicts existing Phase I and proposed Phase II locations and illustrates the project’s proximity to undeveloped coastal scrub habitat (Carlsbad Highland Ecological Reserve and Lake Calavera Preserve). The figure is oriented from the east facing west.

Figure 2. Protea’s updated aerial rendition of the Phase II 3-story Apartment Complex with 4-story parapets (46.5 feet high in total), from the north facing south.

Figure 3. Protea’s updated aerial rendition of the Phase II 3-story Apartment Complex with 4-story parapets (46.5 feet high in total), from the west facing east.

Figure 4. Protea’s profile rendition of the Phase II 3-story Apartment Complex with 4-story parapets (46.5 feet high in total).

Figure 5. Protea’s profile rendition of the Phase II 3-story Apartment Complex with 4-story parapets (46.5 feet high in total).