RANCHO SANTA FE — At the last Rancho Santa Fe Association’s board of directors meeting, their director of planning, Tom Farrar, underscored two items regarding JMI Realty’s proposed plans for The Orchard development.
The project location is at The Inn of Rancho Santa Fe and what was addressed was approving a subdivision for condominiums and a boundary adjustment.
And it was approved unanimously.
According to Farrar, there were two applications. While one application adjusted property lines, the subdivision application was really to consolidate four existing lots into one. In terms of property lines, Farrar described it as a process, which moved lines that were “bisecting several buildings.”
If approved, this would also bring the property site into regulation for code conformance, he said.
Adjacent to Steven Royce Boulevard which is located west of The Inn, JMI has proposed the following changes to its 13 existing units: demolish two and build five new units. A net gain of five units will be achieved.
For this project, JMI turned to Pasco Laret Suiter and Associates for its expertise in civil engineering, land surveying, and land planning. Representing Pasco Laret Suiter and Associates was its president, Justin Suiter.
“JMI approached us to look at this property and we were very excited to be a part of this,” said Suiter, adding how their firm has worked in the Covenant for the past 40 years.
And it has taken part in about 150 or more projects in the Ranch. He went on to say how their firm respects and understands the Covenant. Suiter then reviewed a timeline.
“We had identified three areas with JMI where future development might be possible,” he said.
Known as The Residences at The Inn, they comprised of The Orchard, The Grove, and La Gracia Village.
Next, they went out to the public, Suiter said, to get input on the three potential projects. The team also met with staff, went to a Covenant Design Review Committee workshop, held a community meeting, and more.
“As part of that, we received significant input from the community on The Grove and La Gracia. When you really look at those projects, it is really bigger than just the project,” he said.
A philosophical question he said comes into play as to what does the community want to build and how much do they want to densify the Village?
Suiter said that after the input, they realized that The Grove and La Gracia were more complicated and also required Covenant modifications.
So rather than addressing those two projects, The Orchard became the primary focus placing the others on the backburner. Suiter pointed out that he thought their process in engaging the community and receiving feedback worked perfectly.
“From an aesthetic standpoint, the subdivision that we are talking about today, there is very little change from the way the community experiences it right now,” he said. “What we propose to do is consolidate those four parcels into one parcel and create 16 individual condominium units. That is the technical side of things.”
