Oceanside, Navy Agree on Housing Land Swap

The final hurdle was cleared Wednesday to rid Oceanside of the dilapidated Sterling Homes military housing project near downtown when the City Council unanimously approved a $23-million deal between a Texas developer and the Navy to replace the housing with new residential and commercial buildings.

As part of the deal, Hunt Building Corp. of El Paso has agreed to build new military housing at Camp Pendleton. In return, the developer will be given the 56.6-acre Sterling Homes site--federal land valued at $7 million--plus a $16-million payment from the Navy.

“This is a major accomplishment,” said Deputy Mayor John MacDonald, adding that the deal will return the 56.6 acres of government land to the city tax rolls. “We have been trying to do this for 15 years. . . . It is a tremendous accomplishment that will upgrade the downtown area.”

The housing project, off Mission Avenue, has been the subject of rat infestation reports, as well as crime and family disturbance complaints, city officials said.

The Navy had intended to use the $16 million to renovate Sterling Homes because they were judged to be substandard under federal housing regulations. The 647-apartment complex was built in 1945 as temporary residences for construction crews working at Camp Pendleton, but in recent years it has been used to house mainly young, low-ranking Marines and their families.

In approving the plan, the City Council acknowledged that several issues with Hunt’s prospective development on the Sterling Homes site remain unresolved. The most important, city officials said, is the threat posed by an adjacent landfill that is emitting potentially hazardous methane gas. The council is also concerned about how the landfill could hamper Hunt’s campaign to market any new development.

Hunt has hired a private consultant to determine what should be done about the landfill problem and other issues, Louis Lightfoot, a spokesman for the developer, said at Wednesday’s meeting. The methane is not currently creating a problem at Sterling Homes, but it could be hazardous if it is trapped under new structures built in the area, he said.

The consultant said he will bring his recommendations before the council, the city Planning Commission and a neighborhood group formed to monitor potential construction to replace Sterling Homes.

Before Hunt would receive the deed to the 56.6 acres, it must first construct approximately 650 housing units at Camp Pendleton to house families residing in the dilapidated project, the council agreed. Hunt is tentatively scheduled to begin construction on the new units in eight months, MacDonald said.

The Marines who will be relocated to Camp Pendleton will be “closer to the hospital and closer to the cheaper goods and services located on the base,” Lt. Col. Harry Metzer, a Camp Pendleton representative, said at the public hearing.

Hunt is tentatively planning to build condominiums and apartment complexes on most of the land 56.6 acres, with commercial structures covering approximately 15% of the land, Lightfoot said. The developer has yet to determine how much the new project would be worth, he added.

A 100-unit housing development for senior citizens was proposed for the area, but Lightfoot said that 50 more units must be added to the complex to meet state requirements to house people 55 years or older. He said Hunt has not decided whether to add those 50 units.