SAN MARCOS — A standing-room-only crowd spilled into the City Council chambers’ foyer Monday evening for what became a nearly four-hour public hearing on a proposed 31-unit condominium project near the San Elijo Hills Town Center.
At the end of the evening, which included more than two dozen residents speaking against the project, the Planning Commission voted 4-2 to deny the application. The developer, Encinitas-based Ambient Communities, has until Oct. 15 to appeal to the City Council before the denial becomes final.
Opponents began arriving about 30 minutes before the 6:30 p.m. start time, with signs staged in the foyer for residents to carry into the chambers and wave. The foam-core signs read, “STOP Unsafe Building on San Elijo Road.”
During roll call, commissioners Steve Kildoo and Kevin Norris were listed as excused, with alternate Commissioner Marie Marcinko taking a seat on the dais. Alternate Commissioner Lindsey Smith recused herself after the vote to approve the previous meeting’s minutes, explaining that she is involved with an organization that has taken a position on the proposal.
The staff presentation indicated that the proposed building site is a wedge-shaped parcel where San Elijo Road splits into two one-way roadways, southwest of the Albertsons grocery store. The half-acre site would have 20 one-bedroom units and 11 two-bedroom units, including six units designated for low-income residents. A small first-floor parking garage would provide 10 spaces, with another 11 spaces in a lot.
City staff recommended approval, arguing that the proposal met the site’s zoning requirements, the city’s general plan and fire safety requirements governing the parcel.
A public workshop in January generated more than 100 comments, some of which led to changes in subsequent planning, staff reported. Those changes included using noncombustible building materials to address fire concerns.
Because it includes affordable housing, the project also qualified under state law for a density bonus, allowing more units than the zoning would otherwise permit, as well as reduced setbacks along the property line.
The proposed building would reach 64 feet above street level at its highest point and range from three to five stories because the parcel is on a slight incline. As an infill housing project, it is exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act, according to staff.
Before a representative of Ambient Communities spoke, commission Chairman Lionel Saulsberry reminded the audience to remain quiet and respectful. Almost as soon as the spokesman began his presentation, however, the audience jeered and yelled, prompting Saulsberry to call the room to order and ask for proper decorum.
The spokesman said this would be the only residential project in San Elijo Hills offering one-bedroom units and that even two-bedroom units are rare. The proposed building would also have an elevator to provide access under the Americans with Disabilities Act, distinguishing it from the many multistory townhomes that lack elevators.
When he noted that the existing San Elijo Hills Town Center plan allows new developments to count some street parking toward their parking requirements, he was again met with jeers, and Saulsberry again called for order.
The first speaker after the applicant was Jamie Salter, an organizer of the residents’ opposition group, Consider SEH Voices. She asked everyone who had come to oppose the project to stand so the commission could see them. Nearly the entire room did.
She told the commission that the group is not opposed to housing or responsible development but that this proposal would interfere too much with fire evacuation routes.
“This is not what our community wants.”
The next speaker was Melissa Bustarde, vice president of the San Elijo Hills Community Homeowners Association. Bustarde said the HOA board opposed the project over traffic safety, parking (the city recently banned overnight parking in many street spaces), wildfire evacuation and habitat concerns.
The third speaker was an attorney representing one of the San Elijo homeowners associations. She said the city had received more than 200 letters opposing the project, along with a petition bearing more than 3,000 residents’ signatures.
She added that sightings of Crotch’s bumblebee had been reported on the lot.
Next, a representative of the San Elijo Hills Fire Safe Council told commissioners that the state had updated its fire hazard severity zones since the project was first submitted to the city in 2024. Nearly all of San Elijo Hills is now designated at the highest level of fire risk.
State Sen. Brian Jones, whose 40th Senate District includes San Marcos, sent a representative who read a letter outlining the senator’s opposition based on what Jones termed the “unusual constraints” of the lot.
More than 18 other San Elijo Hills residents and business owners followed, outlining concerns about nearby schools and students walking home along the route, additional vehicles during fire evacuations, and setbacks they said would leave pedestrians unprotected if a vehicle veered onto the sidewalk.
They also cited limited street parking in the Town Center, potentially lower property values, construction-related traffic disruptions and slower ambulance response times due to increased congestion.
An attorney for Ambient Communities then responded to some of the comments, arguing that opponents had presented only conjecture about vital habitat, rather than evidence.
The final speaker, who introduced himself as a San Elijo Hills homeowner, told the Planning Commission, “Just because all the boxes are checked doesn’t mean we should say ‘Yes.’”
Following public comments, Commissioner Mike Barnett asked sheriff’s Capt. George Crysler, who commands the San Marcos sheriff’s station, whether the fire alert system had been updated since the 2014 Cocos Fire.
Crysler said landline and cellphone alert systems now notify residents and business owners of evacuation orders. But during fire evacuations, the Sheriff’s Office takes direction from the San Marcos Fire Department.
City fire officials explained that San Marcos is part of a regional evacuation plan, allowing another agency responding to San Elijo Hills through a mutual aid request to implement an evacuation order as the San Marcos Fire Department would.
Saulsberry temporarily halted proceedings when a resident began loudly heckling sheriff’s and fire officials. He told the man he would be removed from the meeting if he did not stop.
Commissioner Christopher Carroll acknowledged that the parcel is an “awkward” piece of land to develop. He asked staff who had approved the new signs banning overnight street parking in the area and was told it was an engineering decision.
He also objected to including one-bedroom units.
“San Elijo Hills is a family community. This is not aligned with the character of the community,” Carroll said.
Barnett said he could see no legitimate reason to oppose the proposal under recent state laws restricting local control over housing development and worried about exposing the city to substantial financial risk.
Punam Prahalad, a member of the city attorney’s team, told commissioners they would need to provide written findings to deny the application. Carroll asked whether the letters submitted in opposition would meet that threshold and was told yes.
Following the discussion, the commission voted 4-2 to deny the application, drawing loud cheers from most of the room.
