Contract Awarded for Navy Housing : Modified Project Was Focus of Controversy in Chula Vista

Despite determined opposition to construction of Navy housing in an eastern Chula Vista neighborhood, an $11.5-million construction contract award was announced Wednesday for 200 two- and three-bedroom town houses for Navy personnel.

The project at Telegraph Canyon and Otay Lakes roads is on a 34-acre site acquired last year by the Navy. The successful bidder on the development is San Diego Diversified Builders Services Inc. of National City.

When first announced in late 1984, the Telegraph Point housing project brought an avalanche of protests from surrounding homeowners who were concerned that a barracks-type Navy project would lower the values of their properties and would bring school overcrowding and traffic congestion to their rural neighborhood.

Rep. Jim Bates (D-San Diego) took up the residents’ cause and attempted to have the $15.2-million federal allocation restricted so that it could be used only to buy scattered housing units throughout the South Bay rather than used to build the 200-unit complex on a single site. Contacted Wednesday, Bates said he still thinks Navy officials “are making a mistake to build a massive housing project” and considers the site “too isolated” for Navy families.

He admitted, however, that the construction cost of about $57,000 per unit “is much more in line with housing prices in the area” than the $90,000-a-unit price earlier estimated for the project.

“There’s very little that we can do about it now, anyway,” Bates said, noting that the construction contract had been let.

Cmdr. Charles Talmadge said a task force composed of Chula Vista residents and city officials had been formed to map out design criteria for the Telegraph Point project “and we are convinced that this project will meet all the expectations of the task force members.”

Diane Jensen, a resident of an adjacent subdivision, College Estates, said that the task force “hasn’t seen the design yet but we expect it to be much nicer than it originally was planned. Of course, we would have preferred that it be single-family homes, which would have had less impact on our schools.”

Talmadge said that a full briefing on the project design will be given to the task force and city officials within the month, “and we are sure they will be pleased.”

The 24 three-bedroom units and 176 two-bedroom units will be scattered in 53 two-story buildings of stucco construction in earth-tone colors with composition roofs that resemble wood shakes. Each unit will have a private patio and single-car garage--both of which were task force recommendations--and will have solar panels to heat water. Buildings on the site are situated so that views from existing houses will not be blocked, Talmadge said.

Talmadge said eight bidders responded to the Navy request for construction proposals and Diversified Builders was chosen because “it offered the best quality construction at the most reasonable price.” He said that comparative information on the competitive bids was “privileged information,” which could not be made public.

The hillside site, purchased for $3.6 million last year, will be landscaped and contoured in a design similar to nearby residential developments. Density in the Navy project is less than that proposed by a civilian developer, Pacific Scene, which previously owned the property, Talmadge said.

“I’d be willing to bet that when this project is completed, people will not be able to identify it as Navy housing,” Talmadge said.

The project, the 13th to be built in the San Diego area and the second in the South Bay area, is badly needed to house military families, Navy officials said. Today, Navy families must wait 3 to 26 months before being able to move into suitable military housing.

Chula Vista Planning Director George Krempl confirmed that most resident opposition has evaporated, “except for the people who don’t want Navy housing of any kind out there.” He praised the Navy for working with the community and nearby residents to provide a development that will fit in with the neighborhood.

Site grading is expected to begin on the Telegraph Point project in December and completion is scheduled for next fall, according to Jim Lasater, vice president of Diversified Turnkey, which is constructing the units.