San Marcos Creek District Specific Plan Update

In 2007, the City of San Marcos (City) adopted the existing San Marcos Creek District Specific Plan (Adopted Specific Plan). The intent of the Adopted Specific Plan was to create a planning framework for the future growth and redevelopment of the Creek District and to provide the mechanism to ensure that future development would occur in a coordinated, orderly, and well planned manner. The Adopted Specific Plan was supported by the San Marcos Creek Specific Plan Program Environmental Impact Report certified in 2007 (SCH No. 2006121080). Since 2007, several major events have impacted the feasibility of ongoing private development in the project area, including: • Economic uncertainty, starting with the 2008 global financial crisis. • Dissolution of redevelopment agencies by the State of California (taking away an important funding source). • Build-out of the adjacent University District/North City area. • Shifting market demands for retail and office space following the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2007, the City has completed the following public improvements projects that were identified in the Adopted Specific Plan: • Construction of bridges over San Marcos Creek at Bent Avenue and Via Vera Cruz. • Construction of flood control levees along the creek. • Establishment of habitat conservation areas along the creek. • Construction of public park promenades and parklets, also along the creek. As a result of the market changes and public improvements, the City has developed the San Marcos Creek Specific Plan Update (project), which retains many qualities of the Adopted Specific Plan while making necessary changes to be responsive to current conditions. The Adopted Specific Plan allowed existing uses to remain within individual property ownership while providing opportunities for owners to redevelop their properties consistent with the use regulations and development standards. This would remain unchanged under the project. The Adopted Specific Plan envisioned an active, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use district, which the project would further enhance by incorporating centrally located common parking facilities that can support a “park once” approach for visitors. The proposed development intensities under the project are as follows: • Residential: 2,273 units • Commercial–Retail, Entertainment, Cultural: 724,221 square feet • Open Space (private): 297,907 square feet • Open Space (public): 26.19 acres • Open Space (creek): 55.47 acres • Roadway, Trails, Paths: 237,909 square feet • Total Parking: 7,004 parking spaces As shown above, buildout of the project would result in the following: • Approximately 2,273 residential units, built as small-lot subdivisions, townhomes, and multi-unit apartments and condominiums. This is a slight decrease compared to the 2,300 residential units anticipated under the Adopted Specific Plan. • Approximately 724,221 square feet of commercial development, including restaurants, retail spaces, offices, entertainment uses, and cultural facilities such as museums or galleries. This is a decrease compared to the 1,854,000 square feet of commercial development anticipated under the Adopted Specific Plan. Development intensities are planned at an urban scale, with building heights varying across the plan area, the densest of which would allow a maximum of five stories. Furthermore, the project would make roadway improvements to provide an internal circulation pattern prioritizing slow motor vehicles and easy pedestrian and cyclist movement into and throughout the Creek District. New crossings of San Marcos Boulevard would be minimized to allow that major thoroughfare to continue to move traffic to and from State Route 78. Although improvements to San Marcos Creek were completed in 2024, they did not resolve all long-standing flooding issues described in the Adopted Specific Plan. Substantial portions of the Creek District continue to lie within the 100-year flood boundaries identified on Flood Insurance Rate Maps published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. To address flooding issues and facilitate property development and redevelopment pursuant within the Creek District, the project would include the following options: • Establish a conceptual alignment and design for an above-ground, pervious-bottomed channel starting at San Marcos Boulevard and traversing to the San Marcos Creek to contain an existing floodway, with the ultimate design, funding, and construction to be accomplished via private and public partnerships. • Require individual property owners to raise their properties in the floodplain above base flood level to allow development and accommodate flood flows on the property or to flow downstream, consistent with local, state, and federal regulations. Water and wastewater services would continue to be provided by the Vallecitos Water District.