Rancho Peñasquitos North End Redevelopment Postings from 2005 Posted 12/10/05, JPolitte - The Rancho Peñasquitos Planning Board is very aware of our concerns regarding the potential redevelopment of the Doubletree. Although the turnout at the December 7, 2005 meeting was smaller than I expected - EDAW and the property owner's representatives presented their findings from the workshops (these will be posted on their website www.ideasandinput.com). Nothing new was added that wasn't already said at the workshops - "we want the Doubletree to stay the same - just an improved version." Now they will have to inform the property owners who will then decide how they want to proceed. Joost Bende and another planning board member, whom I believe was Jeanette Waltz, explained the process that a property owner has to go through to change the community plan, change zoning or density level of a property. The process is long and there are studies & reports that are required to be completed which could take many years. Bottom line is that our local planning board will have to approve any plan that comes forward and agree to recommend the final plans to the City Planning Commission and the City Council. The Doubletree has yet to initiate the process as we know it and that could be many years away. But we are all aware that Cresta Bella has begun the process. Our planning board and the community will have plenty of opportunities to review the designs, the reports and studies as they are completed. As a follow up to a meeting earlier this fall where Joost Bende offered to post Cresta Bella's new drawings on the internet for the community to review, to-date Mr. Bende has not been contacted by Cresta Bella's spokesperson on the matter. Until either Cresta Bella or the Doubletree's owners come back to the planning board, all we can do is stay vigilant and be aware of what is being brought before the planning board each month - get on their email list and attend the meetings. Do you remember why you moved to Rancho Peñasquitos and specifically the north end? Please keep your eyes & ears open and continue talking about how change will affect our peaceful sanctuary!!! I'd like to thank Chairman Joost Bende and our planning board for keeping us in the loop. I will continue to update and post new information here on SalebyDale.com. Posted 12/6/05, JPolitte - December 7, 2005 is the PQ Planning Board Meeting where EDAW will present the information they have gathered from the workshops. The meeting will be held in the El Dorado Room at the DoubleTree at 7:30pm, see agenda for more information. Posted 11/16/05, JPolitte - Last Wednesday, November 9, 2005 the third workshop was held at the Doubletree Resort to gather input from residents on possible changes to the resort and golf course. Neighbors along the golf course were invited to attend as well as others who were interested in participating. I had to miss it, but Dale got there for the last half hour or so. As with my reporting of the previous two workshops, this group was no different in their quest to keep the resort the same and they too suggested improvements to the facilities, services offered and quality of service. "DoubleTree's neighbors want resort to remain" is the major headline in this weeks Corridor News (11/17/05 Issue) and as soon as it is posted online I'll include a link in the column to the right. OUR NEXT STEP - The community should attend the December 7, 2005 Planning Board Meeting where EDAW will present their report on the input they gathered from the workshops. Be sure to mark your calendar so you don't miss this - lets fill the house. Posted 11/4/05, JPolitte - EDAW representative, Susan Davidson was at the Peñasquitos Planning Board meeting on 11/2/05 to thank those neighbors who had already participated and to remind neighbors of the 3rd workshop being held Wed., Nov. 9th. A website, www.ideasandinput.com, has been set up as another form of communication with the community. She also stated that a community input report would be made by the EDAW team to the Rancho Peñasquitos Planning Board on Wed. Dec. 7, 2005 at the regular monthly board meeting, scheduled for 7:30pm in the Doubletree's Sandpiper Rm. see handout
The 3rd and final workshop, according to the UT is scheduled for Nov. 9th at 6:00 p.m. in the Sandpiper Room. If you are at all concerned about what type of development or changes might be made to the Doubletree or the golf course, you should attend. Posted 10/20/05, JPolitte - I attended the Doubletree Resort Workshop last night along with approximately approximately 60 local neighbors. The residents came from along the golf course, as the U-T had reported this meeting would be for them, residents from other areas throughout PQ and those who had received a post card and about 3 of us had attended last weeks workshop. EDAW's reps, asked the same questions and noted accurately many of the response details from workshop #1. The only real change I noticed in the electronic survey questions was they did not list the multiple choice answers on a number of the questions, but instead opened it up to discussion which alleviated the withholding of votes except on one question; and I don't believe they asked the questions about mixed uses/value. The bottom line is this group's responses were very similar in nature to those who attended workshop #1 - keep the resort the same. The majority agreed they do not want any type of home added to the community whether its single family residence, active adults/seniors housing, time shares, or low income housing. Loud and clear, the same voice was presented again - Keep the resort and golf course the same - Just improve it! Those present offered ideas on where improvement could be made, just as group #1 had. The next and final workshop is scheduled for Wed. Nov. 9, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. - Sandpiper Room. If you haven't attended one of the workshops yet, be sure to attend this one and if you have already attended either of the others, EDAW's representatives have invited us to attend each workshop if we so desire. Take advantage of this opportunity to get your voice heard! ** These workshops are not about Peñasquitos Leisure Life & the potential Cresta Bella development, just about the Doubletree Golf Resort. As a note - there were a number of residents who attended last nights meeting who had just received a flyer, laid at their doorstep 'stating that the developers didn't want them to be at this meeting'. I hope that someone will post this document on the PQ Development Yahoo Groups for all to see. Upcoming dates: EDAW is planning to present their findings from the workshops at the PQ Planning Board Meeting on Dec. 7, 2005. Posted 10/17/05, JPolitte - What a turn out, some 90+ neighbors of the Doubletree Resort attended the first of three community workshops, October 11th, on the potential redevelopment of the hotel, resort & golf course. A number of PQ Planning Board Members were also in attendance as well as reporters for local news outlets. Windstar Communities and EDAW representatives polled the group using an electronic polling system, but only had enough clickers for approximately 50 of the attendees to respond to their multiple choice questions. After each question, there was discussion on the topic and the poll results. The response choices eventually proved to elicit what many thought were skewed results and the attendees refused to vote on a number of questions where the response they would have liked to see was not one of the choices. Suggestions on how the resort could improve their bottom line were also offered, but the overall consensus was that the Doubletree Resort should stay the same. Community residents should continue to participate in the process, voice our concern, and attend the next two meetings. The representatives present invited us to attend all three workshops if we want. Be sure to call the Toll-Free Community Information Input Line at (866) 744-8077 to log your suggestions, get on the contact email list, and let them know you are interested in participating in the process. Posted 10/9/05, JPolitte - The Workshops have been scheduled by Windstar Communities on the Doubletree Resort. All three will be held at the hotel, 14455 Peñasquitos Drive, at the following times and dates (according to a UT article): Tuesday Oct. 11th, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. - Riviera Room, for residents north of the resort and south of Camino Del Norte. Wed. Oct. 19, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. - Sandpiper Room, for those south of Diablo Way, east of Peñasquitos Drive and north of Carmel Mountain Road. Wed. Nov. 9, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. - Sandpiper Room, for those west and southwest of Peñasquitos Drive, west of I-15 and north of Ted Williams Parkway. I believe that Windstar Communities, the San Diego company hired by Cornerstone to do the research, has under estimated our concern when they expect only 20 people to attend each workshop. Note the article in the Union-Tribune had the wrong phone number - the number that was on the flyer handed out Tuesday night & 9/7/05 at the Planning Board Meeting is (866) 744-8077. Be sure to call this number if you want to attend the workshop for your area. My husband & I plan to be at the north end workshop this Tuesday, Oct. 11th, and hope that all our neighbors will join us. If we don't stand up and say what we want and don't want - we will only have ourselves to blame for the future of this community. This process will be ongoing for some time so don't be complacent and wait until they have their plans drawn and ready to present to the PQ Planning Board to initiate the process or later yet have their final plan going before the City Council. Speak up now. ** For those who are still a bit confused as to who owns the property - Massachusetts Mutual Insurance Company's subsidiary Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors are the owners and the Hilton/Doubletree run the operation for them. Posted 10/3/05, JPolitte - Susan Anderson with EDAW will be announcing the schedule for the Doubletree Golf Resort Workshops at the Rancho Peñasquitos Planning Board Meeting this Wednesday, October 5, 2005 at 7:30pm. Tentative Agenda Posted 9/23/05, JPolitte - Dale & I both attended the Planning Board meeting on September 7, 2005 along with approximately 120+ others and came away with some consolation that we are not alone in the community about our concerns for the redevelopment of the north end of PQ. There has been considerable discussion taking place in the community and on the Yahoo Groups discussion board. I will agree that the buildings at Leisure Village need to be replaced, but I disagree with the increase in density levels. Any improvements that the property owner makes will increase the value of this property - they don't need to pad their pockets with higher density at the expense of local homeowners' property values declining and the community plan. They may even apply for below market interest rate loans for low-incoming housing development & redevelopment from local, state & federal funding sources to keep their redevelopment costs down. The Doubletree Resort's property owners have agreed to hold a number of group workshops, a format similar to the focus groups they have already held, to gather input from the community. The workshops would be scheduled to include property owners and residents of the areas around the Doubletree, homes that share property lines with the golf course and those along Peñasquitos Drive and in the northern end of the community. This project is a long ways off and we need to be vigilant in staying on top of any discussions that are ongoing about this project. The Workshops will outline plans in PQ article by Andrew Good, for the Pomerado Newspaper Group, Corridor News dated 9/15/05 was somewhat inaccurate. My recollection of the meeting is a bit different than the representative quoted from the Leisure Village-Cresta Bella development team. Specifically that the low-income units would be housed in the large two winged, multi-storied apartment complex that will be located on the corner of Gerana St. and Carmel Mtn. Rd. - not the big houses that the article states. PQ Planning Board Chair, Joost Bende noted at the meeting that the plans they were showing that night had changed considerably from the plans originally proposed. I also remember Mr. Bende stating that these projects would considerably impact the community, not potentially improve the community as the article states. I take that to mean all of the north end of PQ, not just the property owned as Leisure Village. All residents who live within the Los Peñasquitos & Rolling Hills Elementary Schools boundaries should be paying close attention to these proposals as they will change the way we live and play in PQ not right now, but in the very near future. Posted 9/2/05, JPolitte - The development teams for both Cesta Bella and the DoubleTree Golf Resort have been invited to attend the Rancho Peñasquitos Planning Board meeting this Wednesday, September 7, 2005 to provide an overview of what all is going to be proposed for development at the corners of Carmel Mountain Road and Penasquitos Drive. According to Joost H. Bende, AIA and Rancho Peñasquitos Planning Board Chair, these are merely introductory and informational items but the Board and the public needs to be updated on the potential plans. So if you want to know what is being planned, you need to be there. Meeting Agenda, Location & Time Posted 7/22/05, JPolitte - Presently California Properties, which owns Leisure Life Apartments and Peñasquitos Villages at the intersection of Carmel Mtn. Rd. and Peñasquitos Drive, has initiated a request to change the City's Progress Guide and General Plan as well as the Rancho Peñasquitos Community Plan. A change for the Leisure Life Apartments property (southwest corner of intersection) from Low Density (5/10 du/ac) to Medium/High density (22-45 du/ac) and also include a commercial component. The current land use plan is for 307 units and they want to change the property to allow for up to 1004 multi-family residential units. In addition, the Doubletree Hotel, golf course and fitness/tennis center may drastically change appearance if the owner sells or chooses to redevelop. There are 5 parcels which in general terms are as follows: 3 parcels accommodate the golf course, 1 - the hotel and 1 - the fitness/tennis center. A research firm has been hired to conduct focus groups - gathering community members' responses to suggested changes varying from no golf course or swim/tennis, no hotel, but plenty of houses. The Tax Assessors records list Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. as the owner of this property. If the 1st property gets the community plan changed, you know our community will change forever - our schools will be affected, our roads, our parks and programs, our access to Interstate 15, the traffic on your street, and our property values. If approved by the City Council, the change will open up the doors for additional redevelopment. The existing roads will not be able to accommodate the added vehicle traffic - so will the city then open up Andorra Way into Rancho Bernardo or will Peñasquitos Drive be extended into Rancho Bernardo and the new Black Mtn. Ranch development of Del Sur at Dove Canyon? Will the Black Mtn. Park Preserve be sold to developers and Avenida Maria extended all the way over the hills to Sundevil Way and Mt. Carmel High School?
|
||
