Carmel Mountain Ranch residents are fighting a proposal to build 1,200 housing units on a defunct golf course, far more units than have been built on most other local golf courses that have closed in recent years.
While the number of units is higher, developer New Urban West says the project is similar in density to others built on nearby defunct golf courses. They also note 4,300 units are being built on a defunct course in higher-density Mission Valley.
The project is scheduled for a Tuesday City Council vote, which will come three years after the closure of the private Carmel Mountain Ranch Golf Course, an unusually designed course that meanders through multiple housing subdivisions.
New Urban West says the 1,200 condos and apartments will help solve San Diego’s housing crisis, noting that 180 of the units will be reserved for people making below 60 percent of the region’s median annual income of $95,000.
The developer also touts that the project, dubbed The Trails, is near the Sabre Springs Transit Center and will include 8 acres of new parks, 5 miles of trails and 110 acres of open space — 70 percent of the former golf course.
Residents in the area are lobbying for a significant reduction in the number of units, contending The Trails will damage community character and flood the area with nearly 2,400 new residents. They have suggested 800 units as an option.
They also note that only a small portion of the sprawling project is walking distance to the transit center. And they have asked that New Urban West increase the number of units that will be for sale beyond the current 450.
Those are the same kinds of concerns raised recently in other suburban San Diego neighborhoods, where the city has begun using a new model for development aimed at helping solve the housing crisis.
The new model focuses on adding large housing projects along existing transportation corridors and leaving the surrounding single-family areas alone.
San Diego must increase the number of units built per year — which were 6,482 in 2020 — to 13,500 to meet a state-mandated goal of 100,000 more units by 2029.
The Carmel Mountain Ranch/Sabre Springs Community Council, which voted 13-0 against the project in March, says The Trails can still help solve the housing crisis with fewer units.
They calculate the density of three similar golf course housing projects as significantly lower.
They say The Trails is 12 units per acre, compared to 4.7 units on a defunct course in Rancho Penasquitos, 3.5 units per acre on the Escondido Country Club site, and 1.36 units per acre on Poway’s StoneRidge Country Club site.
The Penasquitos project will have 536 units, while the Escondido project will have 380 and the Poway project will have 159.
“We believe there should be a comparably built project, not something twice the size,” said Eric Edelman, leader of the town council. “We get that this will be built; we just want to it to be sensible.”
New Urban West calculates the density differently, contending that The Trails would have only a bit more density than The Junipers in Penasquitos, 7 units per acre versus 5 units per acre. The discrepancy is based on whether the density calculation should use the entire golf course, or just the “buildable” area.
“The project provides desperately needed housing opportunities for young families and working professionals in a high resource, jobs-rich community that features a major transit center,” said Jonathan Frankel, who is overseeing the project on behalf of New Urban West. “It’s the perfect place for redevelopment and exactly where the city’s general plan envisions new housing will be located.”
Residents complain that New Urban West is breaking its promise to provide a 50-foot buffer around the project. While no housing would be built within 50 feet of nearby homes, the neighbors say parking structures and trails would be.
The residents say that’s a problem because The Trails, like the golf course it would replace, meanders through many subdivisions and passes by many homes.
Frankel said the buffers will be landscaped and will far exceed requirements.
“The 50-foot buffers we’re proposing are more than three times wider than what is mandated by the city, so there will be plenty of separation between neighbors,” he said.
Carmel Mountain Ranch Golf Course is one of seven local courses that have closed in recent years because of declining interest in golf, increasing costs for irrigation and other factors. The course opened in 1986.
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Residents fight housing project on old Carmel Mountain Ranch golf course - The San Diego Union-Tribune
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