City Council to weigh in on new One Paseo on June 27

The One Paseo project will go before San Diego City Council on Monday, June 27, the Carmel Valley mixed-use development’s final review. The meeting will be held at 1 p.m. at San Diego Concourse Golden Hall.

The project had to bypass San Diego Planning Commission approval due to four of the seven commissioners having conflicts of interest. Speakers who wish to provide public comment will be limited to two minutes.

“I am encouraging residents in Carmel Valley and the surrounding area to participate in the Council hearing on June 27th,” stated Council President Sherri Lightner. “This project is important to the community, and we would like to make sure all the voices are heard.”

Kilroy Realty believes the re-designed project reflects the key priorities and extensive feedback it received from community members through public workshops and meetings. Kilroy gathered input from about 400 attendees at two 2015 summer community workshops and had 5,000 visitors to its virtual workshop online which provided an additional 200 comments.

The revision includes a 42 percent reduction in office space (from 484,000 to 280,000 square feet), and a 61 percent reduction in retail space (from 246,500 to 95,000 square feet). The residential element remains the same with 608 units.

As presented it is 1.2 million square feet, reduced from 1.4 million square feet. The site on Del Mar Heights and El Camino Real was originally entitled for only 510,000 square feet of office space and opponents of the project have argued that the proposed project is still too large, too dense and will have a negative impact on the community and increase traffic.

In January, the Carmel Valley Community Planning Board was split 5-5 on the new project.

“One Paseo to some will never be accepted or desired, but we must understand that a development of some sort will be constructed on the site and that we must at times reach a decision that will be beneficial,” Carmel Valley Planning Board Chair Frisco White said at that January meeting.

While the board did not come to a consensus, it did forward a letter to the city with 11 conditions for approval. Conditions included that the project not generate more than 14,000 average daily trips (ADTs), increase the affordable housing element to 20 percent, that Kilroy engage in serious dialogue for a public-private partnership to provide public transportation and that project mitigation requirements and community benefits are permit conditions.