CARLSBAD -- After two years of environmental review, a document that spells out how the funky south Carlsbad coastal area known as Ponto could be transformed into a tourists' paradise is about to make a second appearance before the city's Planning Commission.

Formally known as the Ponto Beachfront Vision Plan, the document maps out what might go into a 50-acre, privately owned region that sits on the city's southwestern border. A resort complex, three hotels, retail shops and what are termed "live-work" units -- places with space for a small shop and living quarters above -- are proposed.

The vision plan has already made one appearance before the Planning Commission and the City Council, but the council put it on hold and ordered a full-scale, lengthy environmental review two years ago.

That decision came after strong public pressure from neighboring property owners and coastal preservation advocates. Some wanted minor changes to individual hotel proposals, others wanted the entire planning document scrapped and raised concerns about what development might do to the nearby Batiquitos Lagoon.

Some of the most fervent opposition came from people who live in the newer, upscale developments to north or east of the Ponto neighborhood.

Those folks are expected to make a strong showing at Wednesday's commission hearing that begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive. The commission is anticipating an overflow crowd and city staff members say they will put chairs and a TV outside for folks who don't get a seat indoors.

"It promises to be a very busy night," said Victor Ramirez, who lives in the Hanover Beach Colony community north of the proposed development area. "Everybody's very concerned about the noise, the traffic."

A secluded spot

Considered to be a something of a forgotten slice of Carlsbad, the lightly populated Ponto region sits on the city's southwestern border directly east of South Carlsbad State Beach and north of Batiquitos Lagoon. Most of the land is owned by three parties -- Star Properties of Japan, Wavecrest Resorts of Carlsbad and Ponto Storage owner Dale Schreiber.

"We're trying to build a hotel on our 5 1/2 acres," said Schreiber, saying he's been pushing the city to create a plan for the region for more than a decade.

Also supportive of the process is Bill Canepa, head of Wavecrest Resorts. He plans to put a hotel at the northern end of the Ponto region and, at one point, considered paying for a separate environmental review in an effort to get his project moving forward faster, he said.

City officials have embraced the idea of a general vision plan, arguing that they need a regional document in order to make the various property owners' development proposals look like they go together. The plan they've put together includes details on light poles, signs and building styles that the city would like to see in the area.

The Ponto region currently can be neatly divided into two parts -- the mostly vacant southern half, and the mostly developed northern end. City officials consider the northern end blighted, saying that the existing development of mostly aging industrial businesses isn't what they want to see in such a prime coastal spot.

Environmental report questioned

There several small, well-kept homes in the area, but most of the buildings are rustic-looking businesses, including a vehicle painting operation, a sheet metal company, a dog kennel and an upholstery business. Passing motorists on Carlsbad Boulevard know Ponto as the place where a huge storage pile of wood sits, while surfers know it as a place where they can find street parking before trekking down to the waves.

Some of Ponto's business owners, who mostly rent their shops, have said they've always known that their landlords might make them move. But they're not happy with the development plan.

"We don't like it," said Cynthia Coronado, whose father moved Hernandez Upholstery to the Ponto area 19 years ago.

Hernandez Upholstery might pay double the rent and lose customers if it's forced to relocate, Coronado said, adding that the site has served the business well.

"I kind of like it because we're kind of secluded from the rest of the city," she said.

Typical of many of the people who have businesses or homes in the area, the Hernandez family hasn't attended the city's public meetings on the topic, Coronado said. Many of her relatives who work at the business would feel uncomfortable at the sessions because they aren't fluent English speakers, Coronado said.

Seeking a redesign

The people who are likely to come to Wednesday's meeting include the Hanover Beach homeowners who live to the north and the people who live in the housing developments to the east beyond the railroad tracks. The Hanover Beach folks haven't opposed the general development concept for the northern end -- in fact, many of them have said they'd love it to happen. They just want the 215-room hotel that's proposed near their neighborhood to have a driveway that isn't directly opposite their development's entrance, they say.

Ramirez, who has lived in the community for about six years, said he and his neighbors are comforted by the new environmental report because it includes a mention that the hotel's traffic effects must be dealt with. They're hoping that will led to an entrance redesign, he said.

Meanwhile, the people who oppose the plans for the southern end of Ponto argue that a wide range of issues ranging from traffic to stormwater runoff haven't been adequately addressed by the environmental report. Written comments raising concerns with the document and the city's responses to those comments total 168 pages.

In addition to the homeowners in the San Pacifico area to the east, comments have been submitted by state and federal wildlife agencies, the city of Encinitas and the local lagoon protection group, among others.

Cutting the speaking time

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the state Department of Fish & Game sent a joint letter asking for more details about how habitat that would be damaged by development will be replaced; and the city of Encinitas said it had concerns about the extra traffic it would bring to the region's roadways.

In his comment letter earlier this year, Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation President Fred Sandquist wrote that the city's draft environmental document "lacks specificity in certain areas, making it difficult to assess the magnitude of the impacts or the effectiveness of the mitigation measures." He wrote that document needs more information on how lighting, landscaping and stormwater runoff from the proposed resort would be kept from harming the lagoon.

On Thursday, Sandquist said he was happy with the city's responses to his requests for more information.

"I think right now our position is guarded optimism," he said, adding that he'll be carefully reviewing the individual development plans as they move forward.

The head of Carlsbad's Planning Commission, Julie Baker, said Ponto will be the only topic on Wednesday night's agenda, but the commission may not vote that night. It'll depend on how many people turn out to speak, she said.

Commissioners might limit each speaker to three minutes or less -- typically speakers get five minutes. But they won't limit the number of people who are allowed to speak, she said.

"That's not been our practice to do that," Baker said.

The session will begin with a roughly 20-minute background presentation by city staff. If the commission is close to making a decision by 10 p.m. -- the standard ending time for city meetings -- commissioners may extend the meeting by a half-hour or so, Baker said. But if they're still going through comments at 10 p.m., the meeting will be continued to another night, she said.

If the commission approves the document, it still will need City Council authorization as well as a review by the California Coastal Commission. And each development project will need to go through its own city review process.

One group of folks that isn't expected to talk much Wednesday night are the proposed developers.

Canepa of Wave Crest Resorts said he'll send a representative to watch what happens Wednesday, while Schreiber -- the Ponto Storage property owner -- said he plans to attend.

"I'm just waiting to see what happens," Canepa said.

Contact staff writer Barbara Henry at (760) 901-4072 or bhenry@nctimes.com.