On both ends of Quail Gardens Drive in Encinitas, you will find construction crews, jackhammers and Bobcats busy at work.
Three housing developments are approved and underway off the two lane road. They are Sunshine Gardens (140 units) and Moonlight Apartments (202 units), located off Encinitas Boulevard and Fox Point Farms (250 units) off of Leucadia Boulevard.
The Encinitas City Council recently approved one more: Quail Meadows, a 448-unit development which includes 90 affordable units.
But the council did not want to approve it. Community members have cited safety, traffic and fire evacuation concerns over all of the developments on Quail Gardens Drive.
"We are approving this project under duress, and only because the credible threats made by HCD (California Department of Housing and Community Development), and the state leave us no choice," said Encinitas Mayor Bruce Ehlers during the February meeting where the vote was taken.
That "credible threat" was a letter to the city from HCD, warning what could happen if the project was denied. Encinitas could lose its compliant housing element, which could lead to violations, fines and lawsuits from the state.
"That step that would occur — where we get (our housing element) decertified — is fatal and and catastrophic across the board in Encinitas," Ehlers said.
He said decertification would open the city up to builder's remedies, which allow developers to bypass zoning rules and restrictions in order for the city to meet its housing goals.
"We are such a lucrative market. We would have developers putting in builder's remedies, multiple developers ... and get maximum whatever they could get out of it because we're such an attractive market," Ehlers said.
So despite opposition from the community and city councilmembers, Encinitas approved the Quail Meadows Project.
The approval is not the final word, however. The development must also be approved by the California Coastal Commission, which has received appeals against the project from three groups. They cited environmental concerns over the nearby wetlands, flooding and storm water mitigation.
No date has been set for the Coastal Commission hearing.
While Encinitas awaits a final decision on the 448-unit project, Ehlers plans to challenge the state's housing mandates.
"We need to fight it. ... I'm committed to fighting the state to maintain our local control and and protect our paradise here in Encinitas," he said.
Other cities, such as Huntington Beach have tried to challenge the state's housing mandates in the past, but failed. Ehlers says a united front will speak louder, and plans to join other cities and coalitions to fight the state for local land use control.
Ehlers said many Northern California cities are already taking on the challenge, and he hopes to have San Diego cities join them.
He also hopes the community will speak up and get the attention of their elected officials, saying, "Senators and Assembly people count votes. And when they start seeing the number of people fed up ... talking to their assemblymembers and senators saying, 'Stop it, it's too much.'"
