ESCONDIDO — A City Council majority has upheld a previous decision requiring a gas station developer to pay more than half the cost of a new traffic signal at Rock Springs Road and Lincoln Avenue in exchange for waiving other development requirements.
Morrie Golcheh’s proposed convenience store and gas station at the northwest corner of Mission Avenue and Rock Springs Road first received city approval in 2021 with conditions requiring frontage improvements along Mission Avenue, installation of a protected left-turn lane at Rock Springs and Mission, and construction of a new traffic signal at Rock Springs and Lincoln.
Golcheh returned in December 2024 seeking removal of the traffic signal requirement from the project’s conditions of approval. Instead, the City Council offered a compromise, waiving the Mission Avenue frontage improvements and the protected left-turn lane at Rock Springs and Mission, while still requiring Golcheh to contribute up to $560,000 toward the approximately $900,000 cost of the traffic signal.
The city agreed to cover the remaining cost.
In February, Golcheh submitted another request seeking to eliminate the traffic signal requirement altogether.
Golcheh said the project has been delayed by rising construction costs and lingering economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. He also argued that it was unfair for the city to require him to pay for a traffic signal located about a quarter-mile from the project, a 7-Eleven convenience store and a gas station.
“We really shouldn’t be paying for any signal improvements a quarter-mile away – we don’t have anything to do with it,” Golcheh said.
Golcheh also warned that he may be unable to secure additional funding to keep the project moving if the traffic signal requirement remains in place, potentially forcing him to abandon a project that is already under construction.
With or without the project, the city plans to install a traffic signal at Rock Springs and Lincoln eventually.
Several speakers stressed the importance of improving the intersection, describing it as dangerous due to speeding vehicles, poor visibility and heavy traffic congestion at certain times of day.
“Some type of creative change needs to be made in that geographic area,” said James Lockhart, a homeowner who has lived near the Rock Springs and Lincoln intersection for 20 years.
Lockhart suggested the city consider a roundabout instead, noting that another traffic signal could further back up traffic on Rock Springs Road.
Councilmember Christian Garcia, the lone council member opposed to maintaining the existing conditions, noted that the city’s share of the traffic signal cost would be higher if Golcheh ultimately abandoned the project.
“It needs to be done as quickly as possible – I don’t want to wait any longer for something to be there, for more safety issues, or an accident there that we could have prevented by putting a light there,” he said. “If a future bidder comes in, who knows what they would negotiate.”
Garcia argued the city should modify the agreement to require only a fair-share contribution from the developer, which would reduce Golcheh’s cost to about $100,000 while increasing the city’s share to roughly $800,000.
City staff said that even without the developer’s participation, the traffic signal could be prioritized through the city’s capital improvement program to accelerate design and construction, though the process would still take several years.
The rest of the council chose to maintain the conditions established in the 2024 agreement.
Councilmember Judy Fitzgerald told Golcheh he had already received a substantial concession from the city in 2024 and said it would not be fair to waive another major requirement at taxpayers’ expense or create a precedent for other developers.
“That’s taxpayer money we’re setting aside and giving you that big discount,” she told Golcheh.
