Council Approves Oceanside Transit Center Specific Plan After Compromise on Street Upgrades and Parkways

The City Council voted Nov. 19 to adopt the Oceanside Transit Center (OTC) specific plan and related environmental and zoning actions for a 10.15‑acre mixed‑use, transit‑oriented redevelopment at 235 South Tremont Street. Staff emphasized the project’s role as a regional mobility hub and described changes made since the Oct. 7 hearing to address prevailing‑wage/ local hire questions, bus circulation and open‑space design.

Darlene Nacandro (Development Services Director) told council the project would generate approximately 5,000 jobs (about 4,400 construction‑period temporary jobs and 650 permanent jobs) and about $100 million in public improvements; staff said public improvements are proposed to be constructed under prevailing wage. The applicant and NCTD clarified that bus routing and circulation must remain operationally flexible for safety and efficiency, and that the city has no direct control over NCTD bus operations.

Residents and neighborhood representatives raised concerns about bus routing (use of Missouri Avenue), structural capacity of existing neighborhood streets for bus traffic and preservation of mature canopy trees in project parkways. Staff and the applicant committed to additional coring/analysis and to collaborate on road design and frontage rebuilds. Deputy Mayor Joyce proposed requiring full‑width street rebuilds rather than half‑width frontage work; the council instead added conditions requiring expanded coring and appropriate restoration/parkway construction and approved final conditions that strengthened paving and parkway requirements.

The project commits to more than the minimum open space required by the specific plan (staff said the proposal provides roughly 101,000 sq ft where ~88,000 sq ft is required, and includes a 40,000‑sq‑ft centralized station plaza and a 1,900‑sq‑ft city‑managed community room). The applicant and staff also confirmed an inclusionary housing offer of 10% low‑income plus 5% moderate units (a package the applicant said would be economically constrained if a 15% low‑income requirement were imposed).

After deliberations and amendments to conditions emphasizing paving, coring and collaboration on design details, the council adopted the resolutions and introduced the necessary ordinances. The motion to approve the OTC specific plan and related approvals passed 4–1 (Mayor Sanchez voted no). The decision will go to the Coastal Commission as required for certification of local coastal program amendments.