Residents Lose Ground in Fight Over Housing by Lagoon

Jane Schnall’s condominium on San Diego’s northern edge has a view most homeowners could only dream of. To the west is the sun-dappled Pacific Ocean. Stretching south are the waters of Los Penasquitos Lagoon.

That could change soon. A high-priced housing development planned across the road from Schnall’s residence promises to be a visual roadblock. But that’s not what has her irked.

“I’m not concerned with them blocking my view,” she said. “I’m upset because of what will happen to the lagoon. It’s just such a shame. The lagoon is a natural beauty and it shouldn’t be destroyed.”

Schnall and other members of the Del Mar Terrace Conservancy, a mix of local residents and environmentalists, have banded together to fight the 28-unit housing project planned for a 6.6-acre, pie-shaped plot bounded by Los Penasquitos Lagoon, Carmel Valley Road and the coast highway. So far, however, they seem to be losing ground.

Last Thursday, the San Diego Planning Commission voted, 5-1, to rezone the property, raising the density from 1 unit an acre to a level that will allow 28 dwellings on the entire parcel.

Plan Appeal of Ruling

Leaders of the Del Mar Terrace Conservancy say they will appeal the commission’s ruling to the City Council, hoping to play up the potentially devastating effects they feel the proposed housing project poses to the environmentally sensitive waters of the lagoon.

“That piece of land is an integral part of the lagoon ecosystem,” said Gerald Tracy, president of the conservancy. “It’s always been considered part of the natural reserve down there, by everyone.”

If anything, the group hopes to buy time so money from local and state agencies can be rounded up to buy the land--one of the last remaining developable parcels near the lagoon--and dedicate it as open space.

Officials with the state Coastal Conservancy, the Department of Fish and Game and other state agencies have advocated purchase of the land, but no solid source of financing for such a deal has yet been found.

In the meantime, the developer of the property is eager to see the project move forward.

Two Years in Planning

George Helms, a partner in Vista-based George Dale Inc., said his firm has spent more than two years planning the project and conducting environmental reviews. The project, planned to feature single-family homes ranging up to almost $400,000 each, will be an asset to the community, he said.

“We’ve designed a project we feel is sensitive to the needs of both the neighborhood and the environment,” Helms said. “We’ve gone to an upper-end project that should, if anything, enhance property values in the area. And we’ve done everything we can to protect neighbors’ views as much as possible.”

Helms said the project will feature tile-roofed homes of stucco, painted in muted wood tones. The units will be set atop terraces rising up and down the hillside, which slopes toward the lagoon.

While residents say the project poses an environmental danger to Los Penasquitos Lagoon, Helms insists that measures will be taken to curtail any detrimental effects.

For example, siltation ponds are planned to control runoff that could clog the lagoon waters. Moreover, the lagoon is already separated from the site by a road leading to the parking lot at Torrey Pines State Beach, Helms noted.

“They’ve thrown everything they can at us,” Helms said. “It’s not like we’re coming into a pristine area and building something. We’re coming into an area that’s already been developed.”

Many residents of the area, however, feel that the project will squander land that traditionally has been considered part of the open-space sanctuary of the lagoon.

Terry and several other residents raised their concerns with the Planning Commission, but the seven-member body sided with the developer after the city planning staff recommended that the project go forward.

Falls Within Approved Plan

Robert Korch, a senior city planner, said his department had no legal basis to oppose the higher-density zoning, noting that the area’s Local Coastal Plan calls for the more-intensive residential use.

While sympathetic to the desires of residents to see the land remain as open space, Korch said that city planners could not hold up the project indefinitely.

“It boils down to the fact that just because somebody wants to purchase a piece of property, you can’t stop a private developer because sometime, someplace, somewhere, someone wants to buy it,” he said.

Tracy, however, noted that the Del Mar Terrace Conservancy wants only nine months to seek funding for such an acquisition.

In the meantime, the group has been put into something of a Catch-22, he said. State officials have told the group they would be willing to help find money for the property, but not while the development is still under review. The development, however, will continue to go forward unless the conservancy can find money to buy the land.

“That’s the irony of this thing--until the land issue is settled, no one will talk to us,” Tracy said.

The developers say they are willing to discuss selling the property, but only at the right price--something well above the $1.6 million they spent in late 1984 for the land.

“We would want way over $2 million,” Helms said. “It has that value because of all the work we’ve put into planning it. And then of course there’s the profit value. That’s the way we make our money to feed our families.”