SAN MARCOS -- A developer's plan to build 78 condominiums and two single-family homes on 7 acres north of Richmar Avenue got a green light and strong praise Monday from the Planning Commission.
The project is expected to go to the City Council for final approval in November.
At Monday's Planning Commission meeting, several commissioners called developer Fitzpatrick Road LLC's plans for terraced, three-story buildings a nice example of a good "infill" project.
"Infill" refers to development on smaller, problematic properties that are typically left alone until larger sites that are easier to build on are no longer available.
The condo project would sit on property that is narrow and includes a steep hill in the city's Richmar neighborhood. The developer's plan calls for most of the condos to have a townhouse design and to be clustered on the southwest corner of the site, leaving most of the hillside intact.
The terracing is expected to reduce the development's visibility from below, yet still maximize the use of the land. Two single-family homes would be built on another part of the property.
Commissioner Bruce Minnery said he drove to the site to look at it before Monday's meeting.
"I was impressed," he said. "This is not a property where you think, 'Wow, you could build here.' "
The development proposal dates back to the late 1980s, when the city approved a 12-unit condo complex for a section of the property that was just under an acre in size.
That project was never built, and a different developer resubmitted the proposal in 2004, only to withdraw it in favor of pursuing a larger project at the same site.
Fitzpatrick representative Jim Simmons told the Planning Commission on Monday that improved access and reduced visual impacts were design priorities for the revised proposal. The resulting plan includes condominiums that have two-car garages and are distributed among 21 buildings.
The complex is laid out in a way that helps hide condos at the rear behind units at the front. The complex will also include a swimming pool, a community room, three tot lots and a passive park, under the plan.
Some of the land would have to be rezoned for the project, which will also have no front yards and smaller rear and side yards than city codes allow. The developer is asking for variances that would allow those deviations.
Fitzpatrick also wants to set 52 percent of the land aside as open space, compared with a city requirement of 30 percent. And the developer agreed to extend underground utilities to a neighboring property as part of the project.
The list of utilities to be extended originally covered only water lines and a sewer system that would replace a septic system the neighboring property has now. During the meeting, Simmons offered to extend an underground electric line to the neighbors' property as well, after the owners complained they thought that was part of a deal they had made with the developer.
Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.
