ENCINITAS — The Clark Avenue Apartments project, a 199-unit housing development in Leucadia, has come under renewed scrutiny from residents as the city processes a permit extension request.
If approved, the extension would grant the developer more time to finalize building plans and permits. Project opponents have filed an appeal, seeking to halt the project by arguing that the permit renewal process lacked proper notice to affected residents.
The controversial project consisting of 15 buildings, 20% of which will be dedicated to low-income housing, was approved by the Encinitas City Council in 2022 despite the Planning Commission initially denying the permits and widespread community opposition.
Mayor Tony Kranz said the current debate isn’t about the project itself but rather whether the entitlements should be extended to allow the developer to continue obtaining permits, which he said was “fairly standard” in the development process.
If denied, the developer would have to start the entitlement process over but wouldn’t necessarily lose the ability to build on the site.
“Virtually all of the housing element sites with higher density … have been controversial, and this one is no exception, and in fact, maybe this one was one of the most controversial,” Kranz said. “But it’s on our housing element update, and the project met the requirements of the laws, so the ability to deny the project was fairly limited.”
Kranz said that while there is significant opposition to the project, particularly around issues like traffic congestion and narrow roads, these concerns don’t change the fact that the site is designated for higher-density housing.
“While everybody wants to go back to their dislike of the project even existing, that’s not really what’s being considered,” Kranz said.
The Clark Avenue Apartments will be based on six lots over 6.22 acres. The complex will replace two single-family homes and nursery sites with 150 market-rate and 40 affordable units in the 600 block of Clark Avenue and 500 block of Union Street.
Future residents will enter from Union Street, with exit points on Union and Clark.
Despite the city’s stated position to comply with state law and provide low-income, multi-unit housing, residents and locals in the area continue to voice concerns about the project, particularly regarding congestion, narrow roads, and safety.
Last August, neighbors of the project site complained to the city and local law enforcement about squatters, fires and other safety issues on the vacant property.
Neighbor Cristina Vega previously described the property as messy and cluttered with random debris, including trash, gas cans and dead vegetation.
Vega also said several groups of squatters and other homeless individuals have trespassed onto the property and caused panic in the community by starting fires and engaging in other unsafe activities.
Business owner Tom Gonzalez, who operates a doggy daycare at the end of Union Street, said his main concern is the inadequacy of the infrastructure, particularly the narrow streets like Clark and Union, which he believes cannot handle the anticipated traffic.
“It boils down to one primary issue for me, our street, Union, is 19 feet, six inches wide, Clark Street at its widest point is 21 feet wide,” Tom Gonzalez said. “I don’t understand how it’s physically possible to have yield-only traffic moving down these streets.”
Local resident Cynthia Sheya Palmer, who lives on Del Riego Ave, criticized the city for “negligence” for failing to notify some in the area about the developer’s permit renewal.
“I would say that so much happens behind closed doors, and it doesn’t matter what we say, it does not, our input is just completely sideswiped,” Palmer said. “And there’s many people on our street that say they don’t want to get involved because they just get ignored.”
Jim O’Hara, Encinitas City Council candidate for District 2, which the Clark Ave project lies within, said the appeal process seeks to have the city, developer, and neighborhood collectively address concerns about safety and parking.
O’Hara said that the residents are not trying to stop the project entirely, but they want their issues to be acknowledged and resolved before moving forward, particularly regarding the project’s impact on their neighborhood.
“They don’t have any crazy dreams like stopping this thing,” he said. “But the safety and parking impact on their neighborhood is a big, great concern, and personally, I don’t blame them.”
Kranz acknowledged the community’s concerns but said the city’s ability to enforce infrastructure improvements is limited. Adding improvements to the roads would be too costly for the city to undertake on its own.
“The City Council has taken steps to address the need for mitigation … [but] the roads around Clark Avenue are not the obligation of the developer to address,” he said.
Attorney Marco Gonzalez, representing Western National Properties, told the council in 2022 that the developer is open to post-construction road and traffic improvements.
As of this report, Western National Properties was not available for comment.
“The neighborhood is certainly going to take every shot they can to talk about this project and how much it impacts their neighborhood, which, there’s no doubt it does,” Kranz said. “I said that when we were originally considering this [project], the pain of coming into compliance with state law for multifamily housing is real, and I don’t deny that.”
4 comments
I’m sure Destiny wasn’t interviewed because she’s nowhere to be found. Doubtful she knows anything about Clark or the six year history of Tony Kranz continually sticking it to our community. She’s never reached out to me or other neighbors who championed Clark nor does she know anything about our community’s issues or history. She’s proved this time and time again. Clark was approved by the time she even showed up here two years ago. It doesn’t seem our community was even worth doing the research about to catch up on the history behind Clark.
How do you know OPPSFORALL that Jim O’Hara didn’t support our efforts previously? Many resident supported Clark behind the scenes and didn’t show up at council meetings.
As a candidate, Jim understands that it’s his responsibility as a potential council member to be actively advocating for residents in his district. He’s also well aware of the community’s plight & the far reaching impacts from all the density projects in Leucadia .
Destiny Preston has advocated for her party, for the Measure K tax hike and every cause but her potential district.
She insults residents on a regular basis and is MIA on the campaign trail. Leucadia already has an MIA D2 representative with Kellie Hinze, we don’t need another. It’s time we got a candidate willing to go to bat for residents and the everyday issues of traffic, over development and the lack of infrastructure to support all of the developments on the horizon.
We don’t need Destiny Preston who is sounding and looking like just another rubber stamp place holder on council in District 2.
It is curious that the only City of Encinitas District 2 candidate interviewed for this article was Jim O’Hara. O’Hara’s perspective highlights his complete lack of understanding of how governance works. Where was O’Hara during the 3 hour Citizen Participation Plan meeting held on June 10, 2021 when the Clark Ave project was discussed by the developers and Clark Community members ? Where was O’Hara at the August 4, 2022 Planning Commission and the September 14, 2022 City Council meetings when the Clark Ave project was presented? Any serious candidate for City Council would understand the lengthy process and steps involved in the City’s evaluation and approval of a housing element development. Why is O’Hara only now voicing his perspective during election campaign season? Destiny Preston is a highly trained Urban Planner who well understands proper governance and the importance of taking the time for community outreach and listening to residents, working with the developers to address residents’ concerns, supporting the Planning Commission and the City Council to make sure they have what they need to make informed decisions that respect residents and California State Housing Law. Vote for Destiny Preston District 2, Allison Blackwell District 1 and reelect Mayor Tony Kranz whose leadership skills include collaboration, realistic solutions to complex issues and a deep understanding of proper governance.
Catherine Blakespear, Tony Kranz and their appointed followers like Allison Blackwell have decimated Encinitas.
No more developer puppets.
Please vote for Bruce Ehlers for Mayor, Luke Shaffer for D1 and Jim O’Hara for D2.
Enough is enough!
What a disgrace Tony Kranz is. This project was swapped out along with Piraeus to keep L7 from being developed way back in 2018. Kranz and Mosca swung that deal, permanently impacting the small communities surrounding Clark and Union. Despite community pushback, this badly located project was shoved down the community’s throat.
Tony is OK investing in the overpriced and under utilized Pacific View Art School, Surfer’s Point, the Santa Fe Street debacle and the budget busting Streetscape, but not for his own constituents in communities impacted by his and the prior council’s poor decisions regarding housing sites.
The traffic impact to the entire community of Leucadia is going to be transformative – and not in a good way. Expect endless delays, accidents and parking wars.
Even if Tony gets his tax increase, who wants to take bets that not one penny will be directed towards road and infrastructure improvements for Clark, Baldwin, Fox Point Farms, Sunshine Gardens and the Encinitas Blvd monstrosities coming our way?
The ever smug developer’s attorney assures us that the developer is open to post construction improvements. Really? Like what? and when? This is the same attorney who wanted to red line Clark and told us Union was a “robust” street. This is the same developer who promised to be a good neighbor, but hasn’t had the decency to respond to residents concerned about the homeless living on and causing fires on their property or the neglected eyesore they’ve let the site become. Most of us weren’t born yesterday and know that if it isn’t included in a legal document before approval, the developer has absolutely no obligation to improve anything after the fact.
Has the quality of life improved for you in Encinitas over the last two years? Do we have enough affordable housing yet? Has your rent increased? Is there enough parking in density impacted neighborhoods (even before projects are built out)? Have you noticed an increase in traffic? How about your water bill? Your EDCO bill? Have costs increased to go out to eat? Can the handicapped find parking downtown? Are families and the elderly switching to riding their bikes for errands and doctors appointments yet?
You get my drift. Our city government is responsible to keep up with infrastructure demands, to keep traffic flowing and to keep residents safe, whether it’s from the impacts of a Santa Ana driven fire or crime and not spend endless millions on vanity and pet projects.
This city desperately needs new leadership before it becomes a destination tourists avoid and the quality of roads, safety and mobility deteriorates further.
We have distinct choices this month about what we want from our city leadership moving forward. I hope enough people are paying attention and vote for a mayor and council candidates who are less disdainful and more resident centric.
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