FALLBROOK — As a real estate developer looks to diversify the village’s housing stock with a new subdivision, many locals worry the potential homes won’t match the neighborhood’s character.
Representatives from Encinitas-based Nolen Communities presented plans for The Arbors to the Fallbrook Planning Group on Sept. 15, proposing to divide the property once home to Nickerson’s Nursery into 36 residential lots. Each lot would include a single-family home with the option for an accessory dwelling unit.
The nearly 13-acre site at 1808 Gum Tree Lane is bordered by East Mission Road to the north, North Stage Coach Lane to the west, Gum Tree Lane to the south, and existing homes to the east. A single entrance is planned across Gum Tree Lane, adjacent to William H. Frazier Elementary School.
In addition to the 36 single-family lots, the proposal includes three internal common areas, landscaping and a water-quality basin.
Planners submitted a tentative map and a density bonus permit to increase the property’s base density from 26 to 36 units by reserving three homes for very-low-income households.
Under the state density bonus law, developers are entitled to an unlimited number of waivers and three incentives or concessions of development standards.
The waivers include:
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Using the gross lot area rather than the net lot area.
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Waiving the minimum lot size of 0.5 acres to about 4,000 square feet.
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Reducing setbacks — front yards from 50 feet to 6, back yards from 40 feet to 9, side yards from 10 feet to 4, and exterior setbacks from 35 feet to 4.
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Changing the building type to allow residential homes.
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Waiving the County Subdivision Ordinance requiring side lot lines to be at right angles or radial to the road.
The developer has requested only one concession — minimal improvements to East Mission Road and North Stage Coach Lane. Incentives or concessions are designed to reduce the costs of building affordable housing.
The conceptual site plan features a “new suburbanist” design with courtyard homes around the perimeter and alley-loaded cottages in the center. Landscaped parkways would connect to three private parks, including a dog park, with walkways leading to Gum Tree Lane and the adjacent school site, creating routes for children walking to school.
While Nolen Communities has applied to divide the property into lots, the plan is to attract another developer to build on the site.
“We’re trying to develop a project that hits a sweet spot in the market,” said Sean Kilkenny with Nolen Communities.
Kilkenny acknowledged that most homes in Fallbrook sit on larger, estate-type lots of one or two acres, while this project proposes lots as small as 4,600 square feet.
At the Sept. 15 meeting, Kilkenny presented the project to the community for initial feedback. Approximately 100 residents attended, with most stating that the design doesn’t fit Fallbrook’s character due to its high density and compact lot sizes.
“It’s a high-density project that’s right in the middle of our community,” said Roy Moosa, a member of the Fallbrook Planning Group.
Moosa noted density could increase further if all homes included accessory dwelling units. Kilkenny said that would be unlikely given the small lot sizes, adding his presentation included up to 12 accessory units only as an example.
Kilkenny said the firm is introducing a housing product for a different market that remains consistent with the region’s agricultural history but with a modern, contemporary farmhouse design.
He explained that some families want a quieter lifestyle in a village like Fallbrook without maintaining large parcels of land. Rising housing costs, he added, are pushing families out of San Diego County into Riverside County cities such as Menifee and Murrieta.
Building a community in Fallbrook could help families stay closer to work and home, Kilkenny said.
“I think there’s a real attractiveness to a smaller community with newer, single-family homes close to where kids go to school across the street for families to purchase and not be cost burdened as much as they would be elsewhere in North County,” he said.
After hearing criticism about the architecture, Kilkenny said he would adjust the design to be more traditional.
Some residents suggested that the project would be better located closer to Interstate 15, alongside other newer communities, but Kilkenny said that would place it farther from the village’s cafes, shops, and restaurants.
Beyond compatibility with the village, one of the main concerns was student safety.
Kilkenny said he is working with school officials to address safety issues.
“We take that feedback very seriously and we absolutely agree that it needs to be priority number one,” he said.
He noted the proposal now directs pedestrian traffic to the crosswalk at Gum Tree and Stage Coach lanes, but residents argued families would still cross closer to the school.
“They’re not going to walk down to the crosswalk, they’re going to cut over directly to the school,” Moosa said.
Neighbors also worried the project would worsen traffic during commutes, especially with Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton traffic at the Naval Weapons Station gate on Ammunition Road and cut-through traffic avoiding state Route 76 toward the San Luis Rey Gate in Oceanside.
Kilkenny said the project would push traffic in the opposite direction of the area’s normal flow toward Interstate 15 in the mornings.
Wildfire risk was another major concern. Portions of the property are located in very high, high, and moderate fire severity zones, and residents have expressed concerns that future homeowners may struggle to obtain fire insurance.
Kilkenny emphasized that homes would include fire-safety features required by the state, such as sprinkler systems, 100-foot fuel modification zones, boxed eaves and gutters, metal fencing, and non-combustible landscaping. Other protections include fire access roads, water capacity for fire department operations, and third-party inspections and reviews.
The project may also use non-combustible walls, and the homeowners’ association would provide residents with information from the Fallbrook Fire Safety Council’s 2022 Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
“Our homes are going to be built to the latest wildfire standards,” Kilkenny said, noting the fire department is reviewing the project. “If our homebuyers can’t get fire insurance, the project won’t work – so we have to be sensitive and are planning to do everything we can to make sure these homes are fireproof.”
The Fallbrook Planning Group asked Kilkenny to consider reducing density, adding a second access point, and “camouflaging” the development from the main road.
Kilkenny plans to return in November with modifications in hopes of securing a recommendation from the group. The project will then move to the county’s Planning Commission for approval, likely after the new year.
