ESCONDIDO -- A "pedestrian-oriented" downtown with more high-density residential developments and more attractive buildings that match Escondido's historical character could be in the city's future under a plan approved Tuesday night by the Planning Commission.

Although commissioners raised several concerns about the Interim Downtown Specific Plan, they finally approved the plan 5-1. Commissioner Bob McQuead abstained because he was away from the meeting room during the voting.

The plan is one piece of an ongoing process to define the city's downtown vision. It creates a comprehensive plan for land use, development regulations, building design guidelines and other issues related to developing the city core. The plan was crafted by city staff members and a 10-person committee of architects, Downtown Business Association members, attorneys and other community members.

The City Council later will vote on whether to approve the plan, which will be followed by an environmental impact report before a final downtown plan is completed by next year, city planner Jay Petrek told the commission.

Jeffery Weber, the one commissioner who voted against the plan, said too many high-density residential developments are planned for downtown. He said land prices in the city's center are rising, forcing out small businesses.

"Until we rethink our process here, we have given up on the business- and office-type user," Weber said. "We've chased them out of town."

Under the plan, too many people will be living in Escondido's business district rather than working there, he said.

"If we don't get more jobs in this town, we're just going to become a bedroom town," Weber said.

However, Petrek said the plan designates more areas of the downtown core for commercial use only, which should bring in more businesses.

Another focus of the plan is to eliminate development incentives that allow additional height or density for buildings, or that reduce the number of parking spaces. Under the plan, parking for both residents and guests will have to be included within a new development, rather than relying on side streets for guest parking.

The plan also calls for the expansion of Grape Day Park and replaces contemporary design guidelines for downtown buildings with new guidelines meant to preserve the city's historic character.

The other commissioners all had their apprehensions about the plan, such as the flow of traffic through what would become a "pedestrian-oriented" city center, the width of sidewalks and how much tandem parking -- the parking of cars one behind the other for a single residence -- should be allowed.

Commissioner Guy Winton said he wanted the term "urban" to be replaced with "suburban" in the plan's description of the city core, because developers might have a very different idea of what urban means than the city's leaders do.

"Urban" evokes an idea of cutting edge, post-industrial architecture, he said. But Petrek said the city's intent was to bring "timeless" building designs that meld with the city's look, and he offered to define "urban" clearly in the plan.

Commissioner Edward Lehman said the plan is flawed, noting that Second Avenue, which feeds traffic from West Valley Parkway around downtown to other parts of the city, runs right through the plan's pedestrian zone.

"We're trying to bring people and pedestrian-oriented areas to an area that is a speedway," Lehman said.

Petrek told the commissioners that some changes will be made to the plan later as it is put in its final form, and the commissioners agreed to approve the plan despite their concerns.

- Contact staff writer Paul Eakins at (760) 740-5420 or peakins@nctimes.com.