City of Encinitas, CA SUMMARY

The preparation of this document is called for by the City's General Plan in recognition of the Downtown Encinitas area's unique character, needs, and opportunities. All components and requirements as specified in the General Plan have been addressed in this document which is made up of six major sections: Summary, Community Participation, Use and Development Regulations, Design Recommendations, General Plan and Coastal Act Compliance, and Implementation.

The Downtown Encinitas planning area consists of approximately 198.6 net acres located within the community of Old Encinitas (Figure 1). The planning area is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west, B Street on the north, Cornish Drive on the east, and K Street on the south. This specific plan area defines most of the original Encinitas community, a historic beach-oriented settlement along the northern San Diego County coastline (Figure 2).

Planning Background

From the early 1800's until the completion of Interstate 5 in the late 1960s, Encinitas evolved into a unique beach-town community with a small town atmosphere and picturesque setting. With easy access to a major freeway, the area experienced tremendous growth that has continued to the present day. Accompanying this increase in prosperity, however, came the pressures and impacts of growth. The older, established communities of Encinitas are now experiencing transition, redevelopment and redefinition of use and community function.

In 1986, Encinitas incorporated forming five diverse and unique communities: Cardiff, Leucadia, New Encinitas, Old Encinitas, and Olivenhain. The City's General Plan was adopted in 1989, which called for the preparation and implementation of this specific plan as part of the City's long-term land-use and development strategy.

The purpose of the specific plan is to treat the unique aspects, problems, and opportunities of the Downtown Encinitas area; to maintain its identity, community character, and scale, while fostering rehabilitation and successful economic restructuring.

Land Use

The primary goals of this specific plan are, to maintain the unique and desirable aspects of character of the planning area and subdistricts, while providing continued private land use and investment, public improvements, and the economic success of each commercial district. In order to achieve these goals, the specific plan applies custom-tailored use and development regulations for distinct subdistricts, as described in Section 3.2.

The following summarizes the land use differences between previous zoning, and zoning applied under this specific plan (see Tables 1 and 2).

Residential

Previous Conditions

Previous residential zoning within the specific plan area totaled approximately 56.5 acres, consisting of 0.4 acres of Residential 8, 17.6 acres of Residential 11, 28.8 acres of Residential 15, and 9.7 acres of Residential 25 as shown in Table 1.

Specific Plan

The number of acres under residential-only zones remains nearly the same as under previous zoning (see Table 2). However, the specific plan expands commercial zones in some subdistricts to include residential uses. These "mixed use" zones include residential as a secondary use in conjunction with commercial, or in some cases, allow stand-alone residential development. Certain limitations have been placed on the total amount of residential that can be developed in these zones, discussed in detail in Section 3.2.

In the First Street Corridor Subdistrict, previously zoned general commercial, residential is allowed as a secondary use in conjunction with a commercial use. The Second Street Corridor Subdistrict, also previously zoned general commercial, is expanded to allow properties to develop as commercial, residential, office professional, or a mix of commercial or office professional with residential as a secondary use. Residential, as a secondary use, also is included in the Cozen's Site Subdistrict.

Within the Residential West Subdistrict, zoning on the east side of Third Street between E and F Streets now allows property to develop as stand-alone residential, or residential as a secondary use in conjunction with office professional. The Residential East Subdistrict is modified to allow duplexes on lots of 5,000 square feet or greater.

With the addition of residential uses in the mixed use zones, the projected number of dwelling units at specific plan build-out has increased over previous zoning. Refer to Chapter 9.0, Housing for further discussion.

Commercial

Previous Conditions

Before this specific plan, a total of 42.3 acres in the specific plan area were zoned commercial. This included 39.0 acres of General Commercial, 2.5 acres of Limited-Visitor Serving Commercial, and 0.8 acres of Visitor-Serving Commercial as shown in Table 1.

Specific Plan

The specific plan includes a total of 37.1 acres of commercial zoning, which includes 22.3 acres of Commercial Mixed (First Street) in the First Street Corridor Subdistrict; 11.5 acres of Commercial Mixed (Second Street) in the Second Street Corridor Subdistrict; 0.4 acres of Visitor Serving Commercial in the Residential East Subdistrict; and 2.9 acres of Visitor Commercial Mixed in the Cozen's Site Subdistrict as shown in Table 2. Compared to previous zoning, it appears that there is a 13 percent decrease in commercially-zoned development potential within the specific plan area. 4.3 acres of this "decrease" reflects the City's administrative center, previously zoned general commercial. Moreover, custom-tailored development regulations have increased potential commercial and office floor area, as described below. The total estimated commercial floor area at "build-out", expressed in thousand square feet (TSF), has increased by approximately 33.9 TSF above previous zoning, even with the assumption that a maximum of 25 percent of gross floor area of property zoned for mixed use is devoted to residential use.

Zoning within the First Street Corridor and Second Street Corridor Subdistricts has been changed to Commercial Mixed (First Street) and Commercial Mixed (Second Street) Zones respectively, as shown in Table 2. These zones have been custom-tailored reflecting the existing development characteristics of the downtown area, which include small lots, zero front yard setbacks, and higher lot coverage. The specific plan has reduced setback, minimum lot size, landscape, and parking requirements and increased maximum lot coverage as compared to the citywide general commercial requirements. This yields more potential net square-footage of commercial uses in the plan area. Refer to Sections 3.2 and 3.3 for further discussion regarding development regulations and proposed parking requirements for these zones.

Approximately 2.5 acres that was previously zoned limited-visitor serving commercial has been changed to 2.9 acres under a Visitor Commercial Mixed Zone in the Cozen's Site Subdistrict. The additional acreage reflects the inclusion of four lots, on the east side of Third Street, under the new visitor commercial designation. The change from L-VSC to the D-VCM zone does not decrease visitor serving commercial, but expands the types of visitor serving commercial uses that could be allowed on this site.

The 0.4-acre Derby House parcels fronting Vulcan Avenue remain limited-visitor serving commercial, however, the zone has been expanded to allow a selected list of commercial uses.

The previous general commercial property on Vulcan Avenue between D and E Streets, known before as "Vulcan Square," represents about 4.3 acres, which has been changed to a Civic Center Zone. This is the new location of Encinitas' City Hall. Adjacent to the south, property fronting Vulcan Avenue between E Street and McNeill Avenue in the Residential East Subdistrict represents 0.4 acres which has been changed from general commercial to office professional. 0.9 acres located on Third Street, between E and F Streets in the Residential West Subdistrict as mentioned above, has been changed from general commercial to an Office Mixed Zone.

Office Professional

Previous Conditions

There were no previous office professional zones in the plan area.

Specific Plan

A total of 1.3 acres of office professional uses is included in this specific plan. 0.4-acres located between E Street and McNeill Avenue within the Residential East Subdistrict, has been changed from general commercial to an Office Professional Zone. Also, the general commercial property within the Residential West Subdistrict, located on the east side of Third Street between E and F Streets, has been changed from general commercial to an Office Mixed Zone.

Public/Semi-Public

Previous Conditions

Public/semi-public uses, which include a post office, fire station, library, and water district offices, make up a total of 5.4 acres.

Specific Plan

Of the public/semi-public uses, the 2.0-acre water district property and library have been rezoned to be included in the proposed Civic Center Zone as shown in Table 2. The post office and the fire station properties remain in a public/semi-public zone.

Ecological Resource/Open Space/Parks

Previous Conditions

A total of 13.8 acres of ecological resource/open space/park uses include Moonlight Beach Park (12.9 acres) and Mildred MacPherson Neighborhood Park (0.9 acres) as shown in Table 1.

Specific Plan

The specific plan zones the parks mentioned above, Moonlight Beach Park Zone (D-MBP) and Neighborhood Park Zone (D-NP) respectively. (See Table 2). The specific plan has added parcels on the north side of B Street to the Downtown Encinitas Specific Plan area under the D-MBP Zone. This increases the total ecological resource/open space/parks acreage to 14.1 acres.

Rail Corridor

Previous Conditions

The rail corridor totals 18.6 acres.

Specific Plan

The railroad corridor has been established as a subdistrict and designated as a Transportation Corridor Zone (D-TC) which identifies specific uses permitted in this zone. This implements the intent of the General Plan for the transportation corridor land use designation.

Table 1 Previous Zoning
Zone	Acres
Residential 8 (R-8)	0.4
Residential 11 (R-11)	17.6
Residential 15 (R-15)	28.8
Residential 25 (R-25)	9.7
Visitor-Serving Commercial (VSC)	0.8
Limited Visitor-Serving Commercial (LVSC)	2.5
General Commercial (GC)	39.0
Public/Semi-Public (P/SP)	5.4
Ecological Resource/Open Space/Parks (P)	13.8
Railroad Corridor	18.6
Streets	62.0
Total Acres:	198.6

Table 2 Specific Plan Zoning
Zone	Acres
Residential 11 (D-R11)	17.5
Residential 15 (D-R15)	28.7
Residential 25 (D-R25)	9.7
Office Professional (D-OP)	0.4
Visitor-Serving Commercial (D-VSC)	0.4
Office Mixed (D-OM)	0.9
Visitor Commercial Mixed (D-VCM)	2.9
Commercial Mixed (First Street) (D-CM-1)	22.3
Commercial Mixed (Second Street) (D-CM-2)	11.85
Public/Semi-Public (D-P/SP)	3.05
Civic Center	6.2
Moonlight Beach Park (D-MBP)	13.2
Neighborhood Park (D-NP)	0.9
Transportation Corridor (D-TC)	18.6
Streets	62.0
Total Acres:	198.6

Development In Progress

A few projects recently completed or proposed for development may significantly affect the community, along with the continued rehabilitation of older residential and commercial areas. These major projects include:

Civic Center

In 1992, the City purchased this 4-acre site for the its new City Hall location. Approximately 48,000 square feet of interior space of the existing building has been remodeled to accommodate both City and district administrative offices.

The specific plan addresses the future development potential and opportunities for this site as a civic center. Refer to Section 3.1 for further discussion and Section 3.2 for proposed use and development regulations for the civic center.

Mildred MacPherson Neighborhood Park

This 0.94-acre site located on Vulcan Avenue between East I and J Streets has recently been developed as a neighborhood park, which serves the Residential East Subdistrict. The park features a playground, a basketball court, picnic areas, and an open turf area. Refer to Section 3.2.

Commuter Rail Station

The regional public transportation agency for north San Diego County, North County Transit District (NCTD), is establishing rail passenger service using the existing rail right-of-way previously owned by Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company (AT&SF). Dubbed "commuter rail," this service is designed to provide primarily worker commuter rail service in the coastal corridor connecting Oceanside and San Diego. An Encinitas station is approved as part of this service in the Downtown Encinitas planning area as the desired location for this station.

As approved, the Encinitas transit station would be located in the rail corridor south from Encinitas Boulevard. The approved station includes a rail platform and openair passenger facilities (north of D Street) and parking for rail customers (off of Vulcan Avenue and D Street, north of D). NCTD has also proposed a passenger bus terminal for NCTD bus routes which serve the Encinitas area (off of Vulcan Avenue, east of the rail track, between D and E Streets). This bus facility was proposed to replace a bus terminal presently located on-street on Newcastle Avenue in the Cardiff community.

The first phase of development of the transit station should provide the rail platform and passenger facilities, and parking for approximately 250 cars. Future expansion of the station is proposed to provide approximately 200 more parking spaces (currently identified to be north of Encinitas Boulevard), a second rail track to the immediate east of the existing track, and a second rail passenger platform along the new track.

Development of the Encinitas transit station has been subject to separate site plan review and approval by the City. The station's first phase underwent this review, concurrent with the formulation of this plan. Construction of the station, originally scheduled to be completed by December 1992, was postponed pending resolution of negotiations for acquisition of the rail right-of-way from Santa Fe and is targeted for 1994. The specific plan designates this corridor as a separate subdistrict and zone. Refer to Section 3.1 for further discussion and to Section 3.2 for use and development regulations.

Unique Site Opportunities

Through the specific plan process, several unique potential development opportunities were identified for certain properties within the plan area. The following ideas should be considered for the eventual development on these sites. These are suggestions only, and not to be enforced through design review or regulatory control by the City.

Coast Dispatch Property

The "Coast Dispatch property" (previously the location for offices and printing presses for this newspaper) is located on the east side of First Street just south of E Street. Because of its central Downtown location and auto access to E Street, this site could provide an opportunity to develop a public parking facility or possibly an alternative location for the transit center/bus facilities if required.

No matter what the future development of the property, the following design parameters should be considered:

●	Keep an open view corridor to the Derby House, from First Street.
●	Automobile access from "E" Street is available. Should direct auto access from First Street be necessary, the southerly-most existing driveway (opposite "F" Street) is encouraged to be used, to keep open views to the Derby House.

"Cozen's/Thornton Pacific" Property

This site, comprised of several separate properties, overlooks Moonlight Beach Park, fronts the west side of First Street, and has views to the ocean. An opportunity exists to provide an important visual anchor to the Downtown area. A potential visitor's center and chamber of commerce, or a high-quality inn or bed and breakfast establishment would capitalize on the site's strategic location. It is vital that all the properties under this subdistrict be included within one development, or be carefully phased to result in one integrated development.

Future development of this site should consider the following design parameters in addition to the use and development standards as outlined in Section 3.2.3:

●	Underground parking should be expected.
●	Design sensitivity to the adjacent Moonlight Beach Park.

Pacific View Elementary School

The Pacific View Elementary School site, located at the northwest corner of Third and F Streets, provides an opportunity to develop a future joint school and neighborhood park facility which would serve the Residential West Subdistrict as discussed in Section 3.1. The existing historic school house, which is located on the property, should be used as a publicly-accessible cultural amenity for the park.

"Seaside Bazaar"

The "Seaside Bazaar site" is located on the east side of First Street between Moonlight Plaza and the La Paloma Theater Complex. The Bazaar is an open-air market which currently operates from this site on weekends. Due to location, an opportunity exists to interface future development of this property with the proposed transit center. The site also could be developed as a possible extension of the transit center, and provide surface or underground parking facilities. Finally, the opportunity exists to include in development an open plaza area where an open-air market may continue to operate.

In future development of the property, the following design parameters should be considered:

●	Outdoor plazas, which also serve the La Paloma Theater Complex and proposed transit center, should be provided.
●	Secondary ingress/egress off of First Street to the transit center may be provided.

La Paloma Theater

The La Paloma Theater, located on the northeast corner of First and D Streets, has been recognized as a significant historical community resource (refer to Chapter 8.0). The theater structure should be preserved, and the means found to continue the theater, as a community resource. Consideration may be given to the possible public ownership and operation of the theater as a public auditorium/theater, if feasible.

Transit Center Property

Consideration should be given to potential development of this property should the proposed transit center not be built. Located immediately east of the "Seaside Bazaar" site, above, this property could provide additional public parking facilities which could serve the civic center, La Paloma Theater, and the downtown commercial district. Another alternative would be to expand the private "Seaside Bazaar" site for an open plaza and location for an open-air market at this location.

Civic Center Site

The City's main administrative office and Council Chambers, "City Hall", was established in 1992 at the site of a former commercial shopping center on Vulcan Avenue. The existing buildings and site layout were retained and modified for the civic center use, rather than undertaking the costs and complexities of demolition and all-new construction. The resulting civic center is expected to serve well into the future. In the longer term, the opportunity exists to develop an all-new civic center at this site, should the demand for City and related agency offices, and other public facilities outstrip the current space available; and perhaps in conjunction with the expansion of the public library on Cornish Drive, which is sorely needed. The use and development standards under the D-CC zone anticipate possible future new civic center construction, and set requirements accordingly. In addition to the standards of the D-CC zone, the following should be considered for any civic center reconstruction or significant change:

●	Parking should be located away from public view, or screened and landscaped treated. A small public parking lot off Cornish Drive may be appropriate in conjunction with the public library, but otherwise,
●	Parking with any significant new construction is encouraged to be placed underground. The sloping topography of the site presents the opportunity for one or more levels of underground parking, with buildings or public open space above.
●	Public pedestrian accessibility to and through the civic center complex is encouraged, to ultimately connect all uses in the civic center; a pedestrian pathway through the civic center should be considered.
●	The possibility of a small open-air amphitheater as part of an ultimate civic center should be considered, subject to limits on size, location and use to protect adjacent sensitive land uses.
●	The D-CC zone permits limited private commercial uses along Vulcan Avenue frontage of this site. Such uses are not required, but may be considered with future civic center reconstruction, to relate westerly to the transit station, and as a general easterly extension of the downtown commercial district along the "D" and "E" Street axes.
●	Expansion of the public library and its increased physical integration with an ultimate civic center reconstruction should be considered.
●	Civic center reconstruction should endeavor to take advantage of views westerly, as a public asset, from both buildings and for potential outdoor public access and assembly; but in all cases, adjacent residential uses to the north, east and south should have their views protected, through limits on building heights and setbacks within the civic center. Views onto the civic center from adjacent residential uses should emphasize good design, and avoid poorly designed or utility/rooftop views.
●	For any significant civic center reconstruction in the future, the City should consider a design competition, similar to those applied to the Escondido and Oceanside civic centers, with public involvement, to foster public input and obtain the highest quality, community-driven and community reflective civic center.

Moonlight Beach

Moonlight Beach, as the primary recreational draw in the specific plan area, certainly presents many development and design opportunities and considerations. Most of these are to be addressed through site-specific development planning and environmental review (Reference Chapter 3, the D-MBP zone). It is suggested here that the upper parking lot for Moonlight Beach (north of C Street, west of Third Street) be considered for one or more additional, underground levels of parking. Such added underground parking levels may multiply parking opportunities without affecting coastal views in this area. Based on future demand, should it prove feasible considering cost, construction and geology, it is suggested that underground parking be addressed.