Quarry Falls Approved 7-1 by City Council

The outpouring of support at Tuesday’s hearing was incredible. As I stood before the City Council and heard 130 voices say “Yes to Quarry Falls!”, I was humbled by your willingness to rally behind the Quarry Falls plan. We could not have made it this far and our plan could not have been as great without your continued involvement and support.

As I listened to each of the Council Members give so much praise to our plan, I knew that we had achieved our goal to create a model, sustainable plan that would meet a number of Mission Valley’s planning needs. After seven years of planning, listening to the community, and making changes to improve our plan, I felt so proud to bring the product of this collaborative effort to the City Council.

Quarry Falls is one of the first projects in the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) Pilot Program. I am confident that as the project is built out, the nation will look to the San Diego community as a group of dedicated, action-oriented people who are committed to carrying the city they love into a bright future.

Click here for an article on the approval of Quarry Falls: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20081022-9999-1m22quarry.html

Quarry Falls Approved 4-0 by Planning Commission

We are so pleased to recently have earned a 4-0 positive approval from the San Diego Planning Commission! Quarry Falls is a project that embodies the best qualities of SANDAG’s Regional Comprehensive Plan for smart growth and sustainable development – you can read more about this in the San Diego Daily Transcript article below. The article expresses how Quarry Falls will be a “community gathering place that connects retail, residential, cultural, civic and other activities within easy walking distance, and adds to our quality of life in many ways.”

Quarry Falls: A brilliant turn inward for smart growth and sustainable development

By Lori Holt Pfeiler and Ron Roberts
Monday, September 29, 2008

City and regional planners have long recognized the need for incorporating smart growth principles into development in San Diego County. The key indicators were the adoption of the San Diego General Plan and approval by SANDAG's board of its Regional Comprehensive Plan (RCP) that serves as a foundation for integrating land uses, housing, employment growth, habitat preservation, agriculture, open space, transportation systems, infrastructure needs and public investment strategies within a regional framework for a more sustainable future.

A key component of smart development involves utilizing existing infill space, which enables us to maximize the use of existing land, revitalize our urban core by drawing people back from the outskirts of town and keep our remaining natural spaces open. The California Redevelopment Association (CRA) summarizes the concept well: Redevelopment helps preserve the environment and open space, and reduces urban sprawl and commute times.

The RCP and its transportation component, the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), approved in 2007, identify the two most pressing problems in addressing future growth in San Diego County: housing and traffic congestion. Housing affordability and availability will be growing issues. SANDAG planners estimate the county will add about 1 million new residents from 2000 to 2030, creating the need for 290,000 additional housing units.

Development planned for the remaining vacant residentially-zoned land in the county is mostly for single-family homes on large lots. Instead, we need to plan for urgently needed smaller single-family homes, condominiums and apartments. The housing portion of the RCP stresses infill, rezoning, rehabilitation and developing affordable housing near transit stations, in areas of relatively high densities along bus routes, community and city centers and rural villages in unincorporated areas. The RTP outlines strategies to better connect our freeways, transit and roadways to our homes, schools, work, shopping and other activities to sustain and improve quality of life in the region.

To help advance the RCP toward implementation, planners utilized data from both the RCP and RTP to create the Smart Growth Concept Map that identifies nearly 200 locations in the region as existing, planned or potential smart growth projects and categorizes them into seven distinct smart growth place types that each emphasize various concepts of Smart Growth: the Metropolitan Center, Urban Centers, Town Centers, Community Centers, Rural Villages, Mixed-Use Transit Corridors and Special Use Centers.

As envisioned by the planners, cities such as Chula Vista, Encinitas and Escondido are turning inward and creating more pedestrian-friendly downtown areas (Town Centers), which are a boon to both residents and visitors. Creating community gathering places that connect retail, residential, cultural, civic and other activities within easy walking distance adds to our quality of life in many ways.

Quarry Falls, which recently received a 4-0 positive vote from the San Diego Planning Commission and goes before the San Diego City Council for approval next month, embodies the best qualities of the RCP and smart growth, sustainable development concepts. As a center for business, commercial, civic and cultural activity with attainable housing and employment opportunities, it's been identified as an Urban Village on the Smart Growth Concept Map. We believe it will serve as the new standard for future development in our region and beyond.

Quarry Falls will turn a declining 230-acre, 70-year-old quarry in Mission Valley into a sustainable, walkable community with attainable housing, village shops and restaurants, offices, the area's first public charter school, a civic center with Heritage Museum and abundant acres of park space all within a 15-minute walk of one another and the San Diego Trolley along green belts, trails and tree-lined streets. As with any development, there have been concerns about traffic. Sudberry Properties, the developer, has gone to great lengths to mitigate traffic issues, providing nearly $50 million in funding for planned improvements to key freeway interchanges, local intersections, pedestrian and bicycle paths and other transportation arteries.

For the important residential component, Quarry Falls will ultimately include more than 4,000 diversely-priced homes, including single family homes, condominiums, townhomes, apartments, live/work homes, flats, row homes and homes for seniors. Ten percent of these homes will be affordable according to San Diego's guidelines.

No detail has been overlooked in creating this sustainable community. Features will include a water reclamation plant, a hybrid shared-car program, an alternative fuel shuttle, solar orientation and energy management systems, drought tolerant landscaping, high efficiency irrigation systems, natural filtration of storm water, construction waste recycling and the use of sustainable and recyclable building materials.

In recognition of its sustainable features, the U.S. Green Building Council has selected Quarry Falls as one of only three pilot projects in the county for its new LEED for Neighborhood Development program, the first national standard for neighborhood design that integrates principles of smart growth and green building. The other two projects in our county are Westfield UTC, which has been approved by City Council, and the Eastern Urban Center in Chula Vista, which is still in the entitlement stage.
Based on our combined years of experience in planning for communities, cities and the region, we believe approving Quarry Falls will be a major turning point in the history of the RCP and sustainable development planning -- a smart turn inward to better land use and sustainable development that will serve Mission Valley and our region and growing population well into the future.
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Pfeiler is mayor of Escondido and former chair of SANDAG's Regional Planning Committee; Roberts is serving his fourth term on the County Board of Supervisors -- formerly an architect, planning commissioner and elected to the San Diego City Council.