Planning Commission certifies EIR and approves Olive Park Apartments, a 199-unit 100% affordable project, with conditions

The Oceanside Planning Commission on Jan. 27 certified the final environmental impact report and approved a development plan, tentative parcel map and density-bonus application to allow construction of a 100% affordable rental project of 199 apartments at the western terminus of Olive Drive. Both votes passed 6-0.

Staff presentation and project scope

Shannon Vitale, senior planner in the Development Services Department, told commissioners the reduced-density alternative (RDA) is the environmentally preferred project under the EIR and that the proposed RDA will occupy approximately 10.87 acres of a 43.5-acre parcel. The buildable pad is about 6.33 acres; the remaining 32.63 acres will be placed in a conservation easement and managed in perpetuity. Vitale said the project includes two four-story buildings (maximum 50 feet), 199 units ranging from about 540 to 1,109 square feet, roughly 36,000 square feet of common open space and 382 on-site parking spaces. The applicant and staff said the project was selected for $6 million in city financial assistance.

Shannon Vitale told the commission Olive Drive is the only legal access to the parcel as recorded in the original subdivision map, and the site is heavily constrained by topography, riparian areas and the adjacent North County Transit District (NCTD) Sprinter line. She said the project avoids Loma Alta Creek with a buffer exceeding 100 feet and that a significant portion of the parcel will be restored to coastal sage scrub (about 3.72 acres of…