Carmel Mountain Ranch Community Council

Meeting Minutes 8/10/05

August 10, 2005

August 2005
Draft Submitted by Deva Edelman

The regular meeting of the CMRCC was held at the Carmel Mountain Ranch Branch Library on August 10th, 2005. Joetta Mihalovich, chair, called the meeting to order at 6:40 pm. Official business was conducted as reported below.

Members Present Members Absent Members Excused
Joetta Mihalovich
Jim Haughey
Deva Edelman
Cindi Bradley
Kelly Rudiger Bingham
Vern Snyder
Phil Bell
Michelle Kepler
Laurie Marcus
John Pedroarena
Diane DeBerry
Dave Booher
Ray Lish

Guests: David Shepherd, KB Home; Charles Sirois, Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club; Brian Maienschein, City Councilman 5th District; Officer Paul Lennon, SDPD; Jennifer Cordeau, San Diego Planning Department

Call to Order
Introductions: All members introduced themselves with their affiliation.

Presentations
KB Home: David Shepherd reported:
• KB Home just began discussion in March for a proposal to build homes on a portion of the golf course. This is a preliminary conceptual plan, presented with the goal of garnering community input. This proposal is neither under contract, nor has been submitted to city. Shepherd stated that KB takes its role as corporate citizen seriously and wants to partner with the community to develop the community.

• The proposed site plan would include roughly 5 acres, with 29 homes on approximately 5000 square foot lots. The site would be located on Carmel Ridge Road, in the area which is currently the club house, parking lot, and putting green. The clubhouse would be relocated to the 9th hole and the 9th hole would be relocated to the area behind its current location. The current parking lot has approximately 168 spaces, and the proposal would cut this to about 80 spaces. The new clubhouse would be smaller (one-half the current size) with the actual square footage to be determined. The architecture of the homes built would be similar to those in the Abilene Community in Eastlake. Two housing plans would be built, one with 2345 square feet, and one with 2405 square feet. They would have 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a den, and a living room. The purchase price would be set according to market value at the time of sale.

• KB Homes has been in business over 30 years nationwide, and builds approximately 30,000 homes per year. In San Diego, KB Home has been building homes for 17 years.

• Questions from the public:

Resident Mitch Burner asked what the process would be. Mr. Shepherd replied that the current zoning of the clubhouse allows housing, although the general plan would have to be amended to permit this use. This would be a “process 5”, where the proposal would be presented to the community’s planning group, and permission would be requested to initiate the planning process. The plan would be submitted to the city for ultimate approval.

Resident Ted Ross asked what provisions would be made for extra traffic, extra students, etc. Mr. Shepherd replied that KB Home would engage a traffic engineer to do analysis, an air quality analysis would be done, and other consultants would be brought in as well.

A resident asked whether KB Home was involved in the development of the driving range. Mr. Shepherd replied that this was Shea Development, and not KB Home.

A resident asked what will happen if the general community disapproves. Mr. Shepherd replied that KB Home would not proceed.

Resident Larry Fontaine asked since people paid a premium to live on the golf course, why would they want development that could cause them to lose money. Mr. Shepherd replied that often when new homes go in, the comps in existing neighborhoods go up.
•
Resident John Rohn asked what is the purpose of this plan from an operational standpoint.
This question was answered by Charles Sirois, general manager of the Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club, who replied:
-The owners of the golf course have looked at this proposal as a last option. The current owners acquired the golf course as an investment. In Mr. Sirois’ view, American Golf, the previous sellers, provided incorrect financial statements. The current owners lost $500,000 during the first four months of operation. On January 7th, 2003, the driving range net fell down during a storm. The idea for a home development was initiated. Mr. Sirois contacted developers, and was informed that the parcel was zoned for 116 condos or apartments. The parcel was sold to Shea Development. Had this not been done, the golf course would have filed bankruptcy in March of 2003.
-Last year the golf course lost almost $800,000, and lost almost $2 million during the last three years. It was decided that the clubhouse parcel might be a development opportunity. There are currently two components to the golf course. The first is golf (greens and fairways) which are profitable. The second is the clubhouse, which was built in the early 80’s when land was plentiful and homes were not built yet. Since then, the catering market has become saturated, and there is more competition. The clubhouse loses money because of an inadequate number of events. If this losing component is eliminated, the golf course will make money.

At this point Councilman Brian Maienschein stepped forward. Mr. Maienschein stated that:
-As a member of the city council, he will ultimately get to vote on the issue. He will adamantly oppose any development whatsoever of the golf course. He stated that while he understands the position the golf course is in, the community should not be expected to bail out a bad investment. He added that he would have more faith in Mr. Sirois’ words if the golf course would do a better job of upkeep. To this, Mr. Sirois replied that the golf course has increased the number of maintenance workers on the property. Mr. Maienschein thanked Mr. Sirois and Mr. Shepherd for the presentation, and reiterated that he would never support any development of the golf course.

At 7:15, Joetta Mihalovich called for a 5 minute recess after which the regular meeting would resume.

The meeting was resumed at 7:23.








CMRCC Business
San Diego Police Department: Officer Paul Lennon reported:
• On the 29th of July at approximately 2am near 5000 Miramar Road, there were 2 incidents of rocks being thrown from a light yellow truck. In one incident, a woman was struck by a rock in the chest after the rock passed through her windshield. In another incident, a man was hit by falling glass after a rock broke his windshield. The homicide department is investigating these events. Officer Lennon urged citizens to call 911 if they suspect something like this may be occurring, and to try to get the license plate number of the offender.

• On August 1 at 11800 Carmel Mountain Road, a transient broke into a new business which was being painted. The person was arrested and found to be a parolee, and is now back in prison.

• An individual in a private car was stopping undocumented workers, claiming to be a member of border patrol, and robbing them. Officer Lennon stated that people do not have to stop for a police car that is not marked. If an unmarked car tries to pull someone over, they should go to an occupied area and call 911, or call 911 from a cell phone.

Approval of minutes: July 13th minutes were approved.

San Diego Planning Department: Jennifer Cordeau reported:
• In the current land use map for Carmel Mountain Ranch, the clubhouse is designated as golf course, even though it is zoned residential. In order to develop this parcel, the community plan would have to be amended, which is a lengthy process. This process would begin with a review and vote by the CMR Community Council. Additionally different disciplines of the city planning commission would review and make their recommendations. Then the city council would receive review the proposal and vote. The CMR Community Council is a recommending group, and if they deny the proposal, it could still move forward. However, the city council doesn’t usually approve projects the community doesn’t support. The greens and fairways are zoned agricultural, and for any development to occur here, the areas would have to be rezoned in addition to the community plan amendment, which would be a very extensive process.

Chair’s Report: Joetta Mihalovich reported that:
• The Carmel Mountain Ranch Fall Festival will be held on October 23rd.
• Carl DeMaio from The Performance Institute has been scheduled to speak at the October meeting of the CMRCC.
• The San Diego North Chamber of Commerce supports the expansion of the Rancho Bernardo Inn, as the SDNCC wants the golf course to be financially viable.

Public Comment
• Robin Kaufman of the Rancho Bernardo Community Council volunteered that her group may be able to accommodate the CMRCC for a few meetings, if a larger venue is needed.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 pm.