For those of you interested in the latest information related to the Quail Meadows development on Quail Gardens Drive, the following is a brief update.
On February 1st the Encinitas Planning Commission held a meeting to have city staff provide a detailed report on the status of approving a Coastal Development Permit (CDP) for the Quail Meadows development. This was for a 485 housing unit development spread across two six and seven story buildings. This would be the largest housing development in Encintas.
Staff reviewed their report and recommended approval of the CDP. Public comments were received from numerous residents. There were hundreds of residents who attended and expressed opposition to the proposed development. Three members of the leadership team for the Encinitas Citizens for Responsible Development (ECRD) coalition spoke in opposition to the plans and focused on three specific areas of concern with the proposed plans:
- The use of gross acreage to calculate housing density vs. net acreage
- Various issues related to the biological nature of the site as well as light and noise pollution
- Major variances from the formal city design standards and guidelines
The Planning Commission ran out of time at 10 PM and decided to continue the hearing until February 15th.
Following the meeting, Baldwin & Sons contacted the ECRD leadership team and asked for a meeting to discuss the status of the project and next steps. In the meeting they agreed to reduce height from six to four stories and reduce the number of housing units to between 400 and 450. As part of the redesign they would also reduce the number of parking spaces but maintain the same ratio of 1.6 parking spaces per unit.
As an outcome of that meeting the developer asked the city for a continuance to rework their plans which they will present to the Planning Commission at some point in time, mostly likely in several months.
The following is a link to an article in the Coast News with more details: