The Poway City Council this week approved changes to the city's zoning plan to allow a major housing development on Oak Knoll Road to move forward with a plan to build 63 homes.
The Harmon Ranch housing development project, led by Lennar, faced both opposition and support from city residents at the Tuesday meeting before the council voted 4-1 to approve the environmental impact report for the 11.5-acre lot near Pomerado Road.
The land was originally zoned for 58 parcels and the project was required to go through a zoning change approval before it could get the green light. The project would develop 63 two-story, single-family homes, would preserve the historic cobblestone Harmon House built in 1933, and would maintain 3.18 acres of open space.
The only dissenting vote came from Deputy Mayor Caylin Frank, who said the impact on existing residents outweighs any potential benefits the project could bring.
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"I remain extremely concerned with putting a project with this density in this location," Frank said. "I know that it is already greatly impacted by high-density apartment complexes, lack of street parking -- it makes the street feeling very narrow and busy."
Hundreds of people signed a petition against the project and several Poway residents also spoke at the meeting to express their concerns. The main points of contention was an increase in density due to other development projects in the same area and traffic impacts.
"I understand that nothing can be done to change the projects that have already been approved but please stop making it worse," one commenter said.
Hector Salgado, Poway Senior Planner, said their review of the project showed potential impacts to the community would be "mitigated to below a level of significance, with the exception of transportation."
Others took issue with Lennar's proposal to increase the parcel's zoning density.
"You are the only ones who can uphold the Poway Zoning and General Plan," one opponent said to the city council. "You are that line in the sand and there's no affordable housing allowance in this so I am wondering why this project is being considered for a density bonus?"
About as many speakers expressed their support for the development. Proponents of the Harmon Ranch, including Poway Mayor Steve Voss, said the project was the best of the available options and provided an opportunity for younger families to buy their first single-family home. No matter the outcome with Lennar, the property is zoned for development. Other developers could utilize a density bonus -- integrating affordable housing and low-cost housing in order to increase the number of apartments or townhomes on the property, according to city planners.
“I’m not suggesting this is a perfect project," Voss said. "I've been here 10 or 12 years and I haven’t seen one of those yet, but this applicant has done a good job of dialoguing with the neighbors and responding to concerns raised by the city council.”
The same sentiment was expressed by Sherry Urena, the daughter of the Harmons and the trustee for the Harmon Ranch property, who sold the land to Lennar for development. Ed and Juanita Harmon, a Navy commander and a real estate agent who were active in the community, bought the home in 1966. Urena wrote a statement to city council that was read at Tuesday's meeting.
"It was my parents' vision to one day develop single-family homes on their 10-plus acres," the statement said. "We selected Lennar because their vision to create single-family homes was most in line with what my parents desire was. Their offer was not the highest but we believed it was the best fit for the community."
Out of 12 offers, Urena wrote, Lennar was the only proposal to include single-family homes.
"The Harmon Ranch project is exactly what Poway needs right now. As of today, there is one home, one detached home, of the size that Harmon Ranch is proposing under $2 million -- one home. And these 63 holmes are very much needed in Poway," a proponent of the project said.
A spokesperson for Lennar said the project was already in the final stages with the city and anticipated getting full approval.
"We anticipate building exactly what we showed today," the spokesperson said. "The entitlements, the working drawings, the engineering drawings, the architectural drawings -- everything you see is exactly what we intend to build."
There is one more chance for public comment before the city council votes on final approval of the project on April 16.
