Benefits

Alternative H Land Use Plan

Benefits Summary

The benefits of Resort Village 13 Alternative H include:

• It provides the type of desirable single-family housing that people in the South Bay are currently commuting to Riverside County for.

• It provides much needed housing needed for the continued expansion of business and industry in the southern portion of the County, and provides move-up housing for families in Chula Vista and surrounding communities who desire to remain in the area.

• It has been reviewed and approved for public safety by the San Diego County Fire Authority and Sheriff’s Department. Resort Village 13 Alternative H includes funding for the construction and operation of a new fire station to enhance public safety in the Village and surrounding communities.

• The resort and commercial uses will provide good jobs.

• It’s a smart, walk-able, net-zero community with energy sustainability features.

• It will enhance the region with a network of public trails all around the development perimeter that connect to existing trails in the County and City of Chula Vista.

• It will include the construction of an on-site public elementary school to meet education demands.

• It will include a 10-acre public park open to everyone, not just the residents of Resort Village 13 Alternative H.

• It will preserve and protect over 1,100 acres of sensitive habitat that is home to many species.

 History

From 25+ years ago to today

Resort Village 13 Alternative H marks the latest planning stage, bringing improvements to the environment, preserving a larger wildlife corridor, and enhanced fire safety strategies.

Project History

The Otay Ranch Resort Village 13 Alternative H project is a planned community within the Otay Ranch Master Plan, and the development of Resort Village 13 has been part of the planning process since the late 1980s.

The Otay Ranch Master Plan has an over 25 year history developing a balanced community that provides a diverse range of housing, public facilities to meet future growth, and environmental sustainability resulting in the conservation of critical habitat to protect 85 species.

Otay Ranch Resort Village 13 Alternative H honors the vision of the Otay Ranch Master Plan by maintaining the density, intensity, and Multiple Species Conservation Plan (MSCP) hardline development boundary agreed to in the entitlement of the Otay Ranch Master Plan.

Timeline

• 1993 - General Development Plan (GDP) and Subregional Plan (SRP) approved in a joint planning effort by the County of San Diego and City of Chula Vista

• 1997/1998 – Self mitigating Resource Management Plan and 11,375–acre Preserve included in South County Subarea MSCP and Implementing Agreement

• 2001 – GPA 98-04 approved to revise Village 13 eastern development footprint and unit count reduced due to concerns raised by USFW/CDFW (Baldwin Letter)

• 2004 – Submission of application and EIR Notice of Preparation

• 2008/2009 – Participation in Quino Checkerspot Butterfly Conservation Strategy Working Group with County and stakeholders

• 2011 – Consistent with County General Plan Update and MSCP Hardline Boundary

• 2010-2015 – Proposed Project conceptual development footprint and MSCP Boundary Adjustment based upon negotiations with Resource Agencies

• 2017 – MSCP Boundary Adjustment rejected by Resource Agencies

• 2018/2019 – Development of Alternative H consistent with MSCP Hardline Boundary and to meet Project Objectives

• 2019 - EIR, now including preferred Alternative H, is recirculated for Public Review per CEQA guidelines

• 2020 - EIR recommended for Approval by the San Diego County Planning Commission

Alternative H Updates

In 2004, The Resort Village 13 began a long journey to reach the Board of Supervisors hearing.  The Otay Ranch Master Plan planning process provides a strong framework to process future villages.  In the case of Resort Village 13, it was known at the adoption of the Otay Ranch Master Plan and MSCP that the listing of the Quino Checkerspot Butterfly (not included in the MSCP) as an endangered species must be addressed.

In 2008, the County convened the stakeholders for developing a Quino conservation strategy with the explicit intent to add the Quino to the South County Subarea of the MSCP.  A goal of this strategy was to use Master Plan’s designated Preserve land to the maximum extent practicable to provide critical habitat for the Quino.  This process and negotiations resulted in the development footprint for the Proposed Project, and the US Fish & Wildlife Service conceptually agreed to provide an equivalent credit in acreage for the cost to construct two wildlife crossings under Otay Lakes Road to facilitate the safe movement of species from the uplands and wildlife refuge to Otay Reservoir and Otay River Valley. Based on the conceptual agreement from the US Fish & Wildlife Service, in 2015 Baldwin & Sons submitted an EIR to the County of San Diego for the development of Village 13 as a resort community with an integrated golf course.

Despite good faith negotiations, on March 30, 2017, the Resource Agencies notified the County they would not concur with the requested boundary adjustment. In response to the decision by the Resource Agencies to withdraw their support of the Proposed Project, a new EIR Alternative, Alternative H, was developed for Resort Village 13, implementing both environmental and economic sustainability considerations:

• A redesigned project development area, conforming to the MSCP agreed-to hard-line boundary

• Elimination of the golf course

• Relocation of the elementary school from Village 15, which was acquired by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife for conservation

• An increase in single family homes to re-balance the overall ratio and diversity of housing in the Otay Ranch Master Plan as a whole

• Maintaining the existing alignment of Otay Lakes Road as environmentally superior to an alignment through the middle of designated Preserve land.

EIR Alternative H required submission of a replacement Tentative Map and supplemental environmental analysis to fully analyze the potential impacts of Alternative H.  Consistent with both the Proposed Project description and objectives, and the Newhall Ranch California Supreme Court decision in 2015 regarding Global Climate Change and greenhouse gas emissions, the Global Climate Change and Alternatives sections of the Draft EIR were recirculated in April 2019 and have been combined with the 2015 Draft EIR for compilation as the Final EIR.

Plans

A visual comparison of the Proposed Plan and the Alternative H Plan visually illustrates the benefits of this new alternative. A side by side comparison provides specific comparisons below.

Alternative H Plan Highlights

• A more compact development footprint that reduces edge effects by over 50%, which reduces impacts to environmental resources and increases safety for a fire-resistant community.

• An increase in walkability, proximity to parks, social interaction, and a community with a single self identity.

• A stronger Village Core, with increased synergy from the proximity of the elementary school, neighborhood serving retail uses, public safety site, community park, and homeowners facility.

• An increase in total conserved habitat of 78 acres

• The elimination of the alignment of Otay Lakes Road through the middle of the community and the Preserve, which resulted in fragmenting the Preserve, and potential effects to Golden Eagle foraging.

• An increase in the buffer area and critical Quino habitat, from the eastern development boundary to the wildlife corridor and Wildlife Refuge immediately adjacent to the east of the Project site.

• The elimination of development from higher elevations in the northwestern corner of the site.
  
  

Alternative H maintains the development approved by the Otay Ranch Master Plan for Resort Village 13 on a more compact development footprint, and includes a fire station and elementary school.  It also increases the preservation acreage of critical Quino habitat, while being consistent with the MSCP hardline boundary and the protection of 85 species, including the Golden Eagle.

Renderings and Details

Village Core

The Alternative H Village Core is designed as the heart of the community.   The second entrance off Otay Lakes Road to the site provides direct access to a loop street that encompasses the community park and elementary school.   Immediately across the street from the park and school is a mixed-use site with neighborhood serving retail uses and multi-family housing.  The circulation system is pedestrian friendly, with wide, landscaped parkways and sidewalks, and protected bike lanes.

The homeowners facility is conveniently located at a roundabout entrance to the residential community, and provides additional recreational amenities and activities for community residents.

Proximity of Homes to Parks, HOA, and Village Core

Alternative H features one large 10-acre public park, and five smaller private parks. The more compact design of Alternative H locates neighborhood parks within a convenient 10 minute walk from almost all Resort Village 13 homes.  The Village Core, which includes neighborhood-serving retail, an elementary school, community park, and a homeowners facility, is approximately a 15-minute walk from the majority of homes.

Public Park

HOA Facility

A 4.1 mile multi-use trail along Otay Lakes Road connects the City of Chula Vista to trailheads leading to the Upper Otay Reservoir and the Otay River Valley.  Improvements to Otay Lakes Road also include dedicated bike lanes from Chula Vista to the eastern boundary of the site.

In addition to the internal network of walking paths and bike lanes, a 3.4-mile public perimeter trail connects to Otay Lakes Road, and follows the Preserve edge along the northern edge of the community.

Paths & Trails

Biology

Biology Summary

To secure take authorization and mitigate for impacts to Quino Checkerspot Butterfly habitat, the applicant has filed an application with the Army Corps of Engineers and has requested the Agency take jurisdiction of the entire property for wetland and habitat impacts.  Through the Inter-agency Cooperation Process known as a Section 7 consultation, the US Fish and Wildlife Service will consult with the Army Corps and prepare a biological assessment for the species.

As part of the environmental review process for Alternative H, impacts to the Quino are mitigated by the preservation and conservation of over 1,100 onsite acres of habitat, and the implementation of a Quino Checkerspot Butterfly Management and Enhancement Plan, with specific performance standards to be funded in perpetuity, with an increase in the Quino habitat ratio from 2 to 1 to 2.85 to 1.

It is anticipated these robust mitigation measures, in concert with the efforts of the County and City of Chula Vista acting as the Preserve Owner/Manager, will allow the approval of incidental take for the species.

 Fire Safety

Alternative H is designed with the latest requirements for fire resistant communities.

Summary of Fire Safety Improvements

• On-site Fire Station and Sheriff’s Storefront

• Reduced development footprint and edge effect

• Fuel Management Zone along Preserve edge

• Fire Services Agreement to fund construction and operations of fire station

• Community design facilitates emergency response staging and temporary refuge

• Otay Lakes Road improvements to four lanes to facilitate efficient evacuation and access by first responders

Fire Safety Details

Alternative H is designed with the latest requirements for fire resistant communities.

Public safety and addressing the wildland urban interface are of paramount concern to Alternative H.  The construction of a permanent on-site fire station increases resources available to the San Diego County Fire Authority and CalFire for emergency and wildfire response.

In addition to the on-site fire station, home construction includes measures such as non-combustible materials, fire sprinkler systems, and boxed eaves with ember resistant vents.  The Fire Safety Memorandum, included as part of the Alternative H Final EIR, includes a conceptual resident evacuation program, and a fire services agreement with the San Diego County Fire Authority. Improvements to Otay Lakes Road will further reduce the risk of fire by providing buffers between the roadway and native habitat, and prohibiting parking.

GAP funding of over $1 million annually for the on-site fire station operation will be paid for by a CFD imposed on the property owners of the community, and not the County’s General Fund.

Alternative H has been reviewed by the San Diego County Fire Authority and the County Sheriff to ensure it meets all safety requirements of the public safety agencies.

A Fuel Management Zone is designed around the perimeter of the community with a minimum of 120 feet separating the natural open space from habitable structures.  This includes up to a 20-foot wide building restrictive easement on private property and a 100-foot wide Fuel Management Zone. 

The Fuel Management Zone includes an irrigated “Zone A” consists of plant materials resistant to fire.  “Zone B” consists of native vegetation pruned to a maximum height of 48 inches and is maintained by the Homeowners Association.  Native trees are permitted on a limited basis.

The Otay Reservoir provides a natural buffer from wildfire to the south, and a higher level of safety for vehicular traffic from the community traveling west to the City of Chula Vista.  This eliminates the potential for the community to be surrounded by a wildfire that could prevent ingress and egress.