Following Coastal Commission review, the City Council approved zoning changes on June 26 to a slightly downscaled project, with somewhat larger park space, that will redevelop the former Mission Beach Elementary School into condominiums.
The project, two actually, Mission Beach Residences and Santa Barbara Place Residences, are on two separate parcels on 2.23 acres of prime real estate in the heart of the beach community.
On April 11, 2016, overriding concerns about traffic, parking and alteration of Mission Beach’s character, City Council voted 6-2 in favor of the condo project, which had previously been unanimously approved by the city Planning Commission.
A month later, on May 10, a lawsuit on behalf of Mission Beach Citizens for Responsible Development, was filed against the redevelopment project by attorney Cory Briggs. The suit challenges the adequacy of the condo project’s environmental impact report as required by the California Environmental Quality Act.
Developers McKellar-McGowan requested an amendment to the general plan and the Mission Beach Precise Plan and Local Coastal Program re-designating the project site from “institutional & public and semi-public facilities” to “residential.”
“The Coastal Commission wanted us to revise the project taking four units out of our planned 63,” said Chris McKellar, CEO of McKellar-McGowan. “The Coastal Commission also liked our linear park concept, but wanted us to increase its size from 8,755 square feet to 13,940 square feet.”
Closed in 1996 because of declining attendance, the former Mission Beach Elementary School and its 2.23 acres were sold at auction by San Diego Unified School District for $18.5 million in May 2013 to the highest bidder, developers McKellar-Ashbrook LLC of La Jolla.
In September 2015, the Mission Beach Town Council passed the following resolution: “MBTC strongly urges the City of San Diego to require the developers at the Mission Beach School development site at 825 Santa Barbara Place to preserve the landmark Ficus tree at the site and create a true community park as required for a 2.23 acre parcel, incorporating the tree. Further, we strongly oppose the substitution of the required park with a ‘green’ strip along Mission Boulevard. We remind the city that the initial requirement was that developing the entire former school property site, consisting of three distinct parcels, would mandate a .35 acre population-based park for the Mission Beach community. The MBTC further supports the Mission Beach Precise Planning Board in its defense of the Mission Beach Planned District Ordinance.”
McKellar McGowan originally proposed a total of 20 buildings housing 63 individual units in a mix of duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and one single-family residence on the project site. Each condo unit has two dedicated parking stalls in a private garage.
The combined condo project was previously opposed by the Mission Precise Planning Board, arguing the project, as presently construed, violates the community’s Planned District Ordinance, the community’s blueprint for development.
Community planners insist the project as proposed takes liberties with lot sizes, which have remained unchanged since the community was first developed. Mission Beach’s zoning was laid out in the early 20th century by San Diego developer and sugar heir John Spreckels.
Some are calling the Mission Beach Residences project the biggest development in the beach community in the last 50 years.
McKellar said there is presently “no timeline” in connection with condo redevelopment.
“We’re just going to go through the (planning) process pending final Coastal Commission approval,” he said adding, “We’re just going to go down this path.”
The developer said they’ve had 17 separate meetings with opponents, none of which have been fruitful so far in achieving a compromise.
McKellar claims his condo project, once completed, will open up access in Mission Beach.
“We’re opening up beach access by putting in three access ways down to Bayside Lane,” he said. “We’re easing access instead of having a chain-link fence (there now), which prevents access.”
Noting the environmental lawsuit challenging the process is the main reason why there’s no timetable yet for its completion, McKellar added that, once approved, the new housing project would likely take a couple of months in site preparation, followed by approximately 10 months of construction work to be done in phases.