Encinitas staff recommend approval for Boomen Road horse facility; neighbors raise fire, drainage and access concerns

City planning staff recommended approval Tuesday for a multi-structure private stable project at 3465 Boomen Road in the Olivenhain community, but neighbors urged the city to resolve fire-safety, drainage and access issues before finalizing the notice of decision.

Takuma, a planning staff presenter, described the proposal as work on a 4.98-acre lot that includes a 583-square-foot remodel/addition to the residence, a detached 1,184-square-foot accessory dwelling unit (ADU), a 4,946-square-foot 10-stall horse barn with support area and attached 669-square-foot office, a 4,062-square-foot horse walker, and a 1,169-square-foot garage with attached 908-square-foot hay barn. The project seeks administrative design review for grading exceeding four feet of fill and a minor use permit for multiple over-height and oversized accessory structures and to increase the allowed horses from nine to ten for a private stable use.

Takuma cited multiple Encinitas Municipal Code (EMC) sections invoked in the staff report: EMC §30.48.040(B)(3) and (H)(2) to allow additional area, height and stories by minor use permit for accessory structures; EMC §30.55.020(d) for the baseline horse allowance rate in the RR zone; and EMC §30.55.070 to permit a private stable to exceed the number of animals allowed by issuance of a minor use permit. Takuma said the lot size (4.98 acres) allows nine horses by right under the code’s formula and that the applicant requested one additional horse.

Staff stated the project will dedicate 36% of the lot to landscaping with roughly 50–57% of that planting native species, and that most proposed grading and over-height retaining walls would be located on the eastern portion of the lot where they are less visible. Takuma reported a Citizens Participation Program meeting on April 9, 2024 with four attendees and that staff received written comment from a neighbor expressing concern about building heights and potential runoff.

At the hearing, neighbor Camille Perkins said she represents a family that owns four parcels near the site and asked the city to address several written concerns on the record. Perkins said the property is in a high fire severity zone and described emergency-planning warnings she said have been given by the Fire Department: “In recent Fire Department community meetings about fire evacuations, the Fire Department has stated that many roadways in Leavenhain are going to be non survivable and they've also said that they're not going to be serving any homes during the fire until after the fire has passed through.” Perkins said that, in her view, adding another horse increases evacuation and safety challenges for immediate neighbors.

Architect Keith Wybrecht, representing the applicant, said the owner is an “avid horse lover” and that the project team is giving “a lot of attention to fire prevention measures.” Wybrecht said the owner does not plan to reside on the property but has at least one long-term staff person who may live on-site during construction and that the owner has experience evacuating large numbers of horses. Wybrecht also said an earlier 10-stall barn existed on the property until recently and that the project’s civil engineer has worked through the city’s engineering review, which the applicant expects will improve drainage.

Takuma told the hearing staff is able to make the findings for both the minor use permit and the administrative design review permit and recommended approval. Interim Director Anna Colomusi acknowledged the neighbors’ comments and said she wanted fire and engineering to specifically address the residents’ questions before the notice of decision is finalized. The transcript does not record a final permit decision at the hearing; Colomusi closed public comment and said the material would be considered in the determination and in the notice of decision.

Concerns recorded in the hearing that the city said it would review before finalizing the notice of decision included wildfire evacuation planning and whether mandatory evacuation measures or conditions apply to the project; access and private infrastructure mapping along Boomen Road; the number of dwellings or units on site; and surface drainage flows on the western side of the property that neighbors said affect road erosion and downstream access.