San Elijo Lagoon Project Faces Hurdles : 119-Unit Condominium Site Called ‘Ecologically Important’

Developers of a 119-unit condominium project learned Thursday that they are going to have a difficult time winning approval for their project on the shores of the San Elijo Lagoon in Cardiff.

Michael Evans, a member of the county Planning and Environmental Review Board, told proponents of San Elijo Pines that the project “in my opinion is even more ecologically important than the Holmwood Canyon site” on the Solana Beach side of the same lagoon. A 38-unit Holmwood Canyon project was scrapped when county supervisors voted to seek funds to buy the property as natural parkland.

Landowner Daniel Shelley, a descendant of Hector McKinnon, who acquired 600 acres in the Cardiff area in 1874, argued that the property handed down through his family had been used as farming and grazing land and had never been part of the salt-water lagoon.

But Evans, who said he had spent “a good deal of time walking the land” proposed for development, said that property contains a number of “sensitive plant and animal species” and that the condominium project was “not at all sensitive to the natural resources on the site.”

The panel members voted unanimously to require an in-depth environmental review of the 11.4-acre site, which is located on a steep slope bordering Manchester Avenue west of Interstate 5.

They also ordered a survey of a reported archeological site on the property and scheduled a status hearing on Aug. 29 to review the results of the studies.

Kate DuVivier, one of the applicants for the planned development permit and also a descendant of the original homesteader, said that of the 50 acres of land handed down to her uncle, Daniel Shelley, eight acres were taken by the state for construction of I-5 and another 33 were taken by the county for a sewer plant site.

She said that the natural vegetation on the property had been badly damaged by motorcycle riders, and that land near Manchester was used as a dumping ground by area residents.

Evans conceded that there was evidence of damage from motorcycle riders, but that most of the sensitive natural vegetation could be restored.

“I feel that there has been no effort to preserve this sensitive area, no attempt to abide by the local coastal plan,” Evans added. He stressed that the development would have to win approval not only of county planners, but also by the state Coastal Commission, state Department of Fish and Game and possibly the U.S. Corps of Engineers.

Only one resident expressed concern about the condominium development, pointing out that a project of such density might require widening Manchester Avenue, which already is congested.