Oceanside’s Planning Commission approved plans for a 19-home development Monday on vacant property owned by a church in the city’s older Loma Alta neighborhood, despite the neighbors’ opposition.
Long-time residents raised issues of traffic, privacy, and neighborhood character, saying that the two-story homes will look down into the backyards of their single-story, single-family dwellings.
“The density of the project just doesn’t seem to fit well with what’s available in the community,” said Sean Davis, a Greenbrier Drive resident and captain of the neighborhood watch program.
However, none of the neighbors’ concerns rise to a level of something that the city can control through the developer’s application, said Associate Planner Dane Thompson.
The homes will be built on 1.44 acres of a 6-acre parcel owned and occupied by the First Baptist Church on Grace Street, a few blocks east of Interstate 5 and south of Mission Avenue.
Eighteen of the residences will be twin homes, which are a type of duplex with mirrored layouts that share a common wall. One home will stand alone. Each unit will have a two-car garage, and all the houses will face a common private street with access to Grace Street.
The church was built in the late 1950s and early ’60s, Thompson said. The portion of the property to be developed is vacant and at times has been used for ballfields.
Homes will range from 1,487 to 2,086 square feet with three or four bedrooms. Each lot will have a private rear yard. The commission voted 5-0 to approve the project.
The site is in an area zoned for residential uses, and the project conforms with the city’s general plan, so it will not go to the Oceanside City Council unless the commission’s decision is appealed.
The development will include two homes reserved for tenants who qualify as very low income and one for a moderate-income tenant. The inclusion of affordable housing qualifies the project for a higher density and other concessions, such as smaller lots and shorter property setbacks, under the state’s density bonus law.
The state’s density bonus law is intended to encourage the construction of more affordable housing to address the shortage of homes for sale or rent across Southern California.
Commissioner Tom Rosales told the residents who spoke at the meeting that they “got it right” and that similar concerns have been heard about other developments in older neighborhoods such as Fire Mountain.
“We have been struggling with this a great deal,” Rosales said. “Unfortunately, we have very little latitude. These aren’t going away … they are popping up everywhere.”
“It’s not going to get better,” said Commissioner Louise Balma said. “It’s going to get more intense because the housing shortage is there.”
Rosales said Oceanside should join other cities with the same situation and encourage state legislators to pass a law that would help preserve the community character in older neighborhoods.
The developer, Hallmark Communities founded in 1984, is based in Solana Beach and has built several other residential projects in Oceanside, including the Dixie Village homes on nearby Dixie Street.