PL25-0020 PL25-0021 PL25-0023 PL25-0024 - West Valley Parkway 70-Unit Condominiums

2025120629

City of Escondido

NOE - Notice of Exemption

12/15/2025

12/15/2025

Troy Frederick

KB Homes

Applicant

Project Applicant / Parties Undertaking Project

9915 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92131

(760) 652-9995

tjfriedeck@kbhome.com

Ivan Flores, AICP

City of Escondido

Principal Planner

Lead/Public Agency

201 N Broadway
Escondido, CA 92025

(760) 839-4529

Ivan.Flores@escondido.gov

On the south side of West Valley Parkway bounded by North Quince Street and West Grand Avenue

92025

2.73

232-100-20-00 and 232-100-21-00

Categorical Exemption

15332 (In-Fill Development)

The Project is exempt under this exemption in that the proposed Project complies with the criteria necessary to be exempt from further environmental review as detailed below: (a) The project is consistent with the applicable general plan designation and all applicable general plan policies as well as with applicable zoning designation and regulations. The Project site has a General Plan land use designation of SPA 9 and is zoned S-P. Within the Downtown Specific Plan, the Project site is within the Gateway Transit District, which is identified for high-density mixed-use development. The Downtown Specific Plan designates the site for residential development with up to 100 dwelling units per acre (du/ac). The Project would provide 70 multi-family units on a 2.73-acre site, which results in a density of 25.6 du/ac, and would be consistent with the General Plan land use designation and density for the site. The Project complies with all development standards identified within the Specific Plan. The governing Specific Plan and Escondido Zoning Code allow for ground-floor residential development on the Project site through approval of a Planned Development Permit. The Project does not propose to amend the General Plan designation or zoning for the Project site, and the Project would be consistent with the General Plan and zoning designations. Therefore, the Project, as currently proposed, is consistent with the applicable general plan designation and all applicable general plan policies as well as with applicable zoning designation and regulations, as discussed in the Planning Commission staff report dated October 28, 2025, and thereby meets criterion a. (b) The proposed development occurs within city limits on a project site of no more than five acres substantially surrounded by urban uses. The Project site entails 2.73 acres located within the city limits of the incorporated City of Escondido. Urban uses are defined under PRC Section 21072 as including “any residential, commercial, public institutional, transit or transportation passenger facility, or retail use, or any combination of those uses.” The Project site is adjacent to, or separated by, only a public right-of-way from adjacent urban uses on its north, east, and south boundaries. Urban land uses surrounding the Project site include the Escondido Transit Center to the north; commercial and retail uses to the east; retail and industrial uses to the south; and multi-family residential to the west. Therefore, the proposed development occurs within city limits on a project site of no more than five acres substantially surrounded by urban uses, and thereby meets criterion b. (c) The project site has no value, as habitat for endangered, rare or threatened species. The Project site’s existing condition is entirely developed with a building, paved areas, and ornamental landscaping. Landscaping on the Project site consists of low-lying shrubs and approximately 30 trees, which do not provide habitat suitable for endangered, rare, or threatened species. The Project is surrounded by urban development and does not serve as a wildlife corridor. According to the City’s draft Subarea Plan, Figures 3-1 through 3-3, the site is deemed urban/developed and the Project site has no value as habitat for endangered, rare, or threatened species, and thereby meets criterion c. (d) Approval of the project would not result in any significant effects relating to traffic, noise, air quality, or water quality. An initial assessment of impacts related to traffic, noise, air quality, and water quality has been prepared to evaluate the potential effects of the Project. Based on supporting sources and Project-specific studies, the Project, as currently proposed, is not anticipated to result in significant effects related to traffic, noise, air quality, or water quality, thereby meeting criterion d. (e) The site can be adequately served by all required utilities and public services. The Project is proposed for a site where development has previously been served by public utilities and services. Therefore, connections to existing water, wastewater, stormwater, electric, and telecommunications services exist at the Project site. The Project is not anticipated to require increased capacities for water or sewage service, as determined by the City’s Utilities Department during the Staff Development Committee (SDC) review process. Stormwater treatment would be provided on-site in bioretention basins and proprietary biofiltration vaults. No substantial increase in the amount of impervious area on-site would occur and the amount and locations of stormwater runoff would be consistent with the existing condition, as described in the draft Preliminary Storm Water Quality Management Plan (dated September 2025). Existing electric and telecommunication connections at the Project site serve the existing office building and infrastructure providing these utilities would be adequate to serve the Project. The construction of residential units on the Project site would result in an incremental increase in the demand for public services, including fire protection, police protection, schools, parks, and other public facilities. As the Project is consistent with General Plan, and therefore the population projections for the City, the increased demand for these facilities is anticipated by the City and would be accommodated by the City through payment of development impact fees. Connections to existing utilities and existing public services would adequately serve the Project site and the Project would not require new utilities or services to be provided by the City or other public utility agency. Therefore, the Project would meet criterion e. Furthermore, the Project does not trigger any of the exceptions that disqualify the use of an exemption pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2: (a) Location. Classes 3, 4, 5, 6, and 11 are qualified by consideration of where the project is to be located – a project that is ordinarily insignificant in its impact on the environment may in a particularly sensitive environment be significant. Therefore, these classes are considered to apply all instances, except where the project may impact on an environmental resource of hazardous or critical concern where designated, precisely mapped, and officially adopted pursuant to law by federal, state, or local agencies. The Project is not pursuing a Class 3, 4, 5, 6, or 11 Categorical Exemption; therefore, this exception is not applicable to the Project. (b) Cumulative Impact. All exemptions for these classes are inapplicable when the cumulative impact of successive projects of the same type in the same place, over time is significant. No individually significant impacts would result from the proposed Project. Therefore, no cumulatively considerable impacts related to traffic, noise, air quality, or water quality are anticipated to occur. As the Project is within the City’s Downtown area and in close proximity to transit, increased density of successive mixed-use Projects in this area would be anticipated to reduce VMT and associated impacts related to air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally as detailed in Section 15064.3 of the CEQA Guidelines projects within a .5 mile of an existing major transit stop are presumed to cause a less than significant transportation impact. No cumulative impacts are expected to result from the Project and successive projects of the same type in the same place over time. Therefore, this exception does not apply, and the Project is potentially eligible for a Categorical Exemption. (c) Significant Effect. A categorical exemption shall not be used for an activity where there is a reasonable possibility that the activity will have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances. As detailed in the analysis above, no significant environmental effects related to traffic, noise, air quality, or water quality would occur as a result of Project implementation. The Project is consistent with the zoning and land use designations for the site and would replace an existing office building with multi-family housing, which is more consistent with the City’s vision for the Project vicinity as a high-density urban center. The Project site is developed within an urban area under existing conditions and is not known to contain unique resources. There are no other unusual circumstances of the Project site or unusual activities proposed by the Project that would result in significant environmental effects. Therefore, this exception would not apply, and the Project is potentially eligible for a Categorical Exemption. (d) Scenic Highways. A categorical exemption shall not be used for a project which may result in damage to scenic resources, including but not limited to, trees, historic buildings, rock outcroppings, or similar resources, within a highway officially designated as a state scenic highway. This does not apply to improvements which are required as mitigation by an adopted negative declaration or certified EIR. The Project site is not located along a designated state scenic highway, nor would the project damage scenic resources such as trees, historic buildings, rock outcroppings, or similar resources within a highway officially designated as a state scenic highway. The closest officially designated state scenic highway is the portion of SR 52 approximately 18 miles south of the project site (California Department of Transportation 2024). Therefore, this exception would not apply, and the Project is potentially eligible for a Categorical Exemption. (e) Hazardous Waste Sites. A categorical exemption shall not be used for a project located on a site which is included on any list compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code. A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Report was prepared for the project by Petra Geosciences, Inc. (2024). The Phase I Environmental Site Assessment included a records search of government environmental regulatory databases and did not identify the Project site as being on a list compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code. Updated searches of the EnviroStor and GeoTracker databases compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code did not reveal any new hazardous materials cases on the project site (Department of Toxic Substances Control 2024; State Water Resources Control Board 2024). As the Project site is not contained on the lists compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code, this exception does not apply and the Project is potentially eligible for a Categorical Exemption. (f) Historical Resources. A categorical exemption shall not be used for a project which may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. The existing on-site office building was constructed in 1984 and is not listed in the National Register of Historic Places or the California Register of Historical Resources. Because the building is less than 50 years old, it is presumed not to be of age to be considered a historic resource under CEQA. As such, this exception does not apply and the Project is potentially eligible for a Categorical Exemption.