In the News 2007
Quarry Falls Plan Progresses to Become Bedrock of Smart Growth.
June 7, 2007
San Diego's vision of a "City of Villages" has propelled the continued development of Quarry Falls, the 230-acre master plan by Sudberry Properties that seeks to integrate residential commercial, employment and civic uses in the heart of Mission Valley. The property, a current sand-and-gravel quarry just west of Interstate 805 in Mission Valley, will feature a diversity of homes, public parks, a fire station, a child care center and a charter school among its forthcoming amenities.
The concept embodies the city's longstanding plan for sustainable communities with mixed-use activity centers, pedestrian-friendly streets and an improved regional transit system. And with plans for 4,780 homes and 600,000 square feet of office space, Quarry Falls seeks to address one of the most glaring inefficiencies in San Diego industry: monstrous commute times for workers driving into the city from the suburbs.
"(Quarry Falls) will try to get people to walk from their home to their job or a shopping center," said Tom Sudberry, president and CEO of Sudberry Properties. "We're not going to take cars away from people, because they'll always have their cars. But if you can give people options to walk to the store, or to a job, or to the park, maybe they'll do it. We are going to provide those options and then, it up to them."
Sudberry explained San Diego's suburban mature - many of those who work downtown drive from places as far away as Temecula and Oceanside - has created a "sprawl" effect by which freeways clog when workers drive in and out of the city every day. As such, the project has collaborated with Walk San Diego, an organization committed to providing walkable communities, to develop city planning techniques that promote a pedestrian lifestyle. Also, Quarry Falls would place residents in proximity to regional transit systems to facilitate commute around the city.
The plan also hopes to capitalize on an environmentally friendly design: Sudberry said his firm has worked to incorporate "green landscape features such as bioswales and native, drought-resistant p1ants" along with technology that can "maximize the potential use of solar energy."
Sudberry Vice President of Development Marco Sessa highlighted the site's array of finger parks and open space.
"Over half the site, at the end of the day, is going to be without buildings," he said. Specifically, the plan calls for a 17.5-acre public park, 4.5 acres of neighborhood pocket parks, walking trails and 42.5 acres of restored open space.
Several recent developments have nudged the plan closer to fulfillment. On May 22, the San Diego School District approved the creation of Mission Valley's first public school in Quarry Falls. Set to open in 2010, the High Tech High-operated charter school will eventually enroll up to 1,000 students.
Furthermore, Sessa said the Quarry Falls Environmental Impact Report is in its final stages, which will "set the wheels in motion for it to go before the Planning Commission of the City Council."
Sessa estimated this would occur within the next nine months, at which point a one-year timeframe to begin construction would begin. All things considered, the Quarry Falls project will take about 15 years to build out, Sessa maintained.
To date, Sudberry said feedback on the project has been very positive.
"It seems like the development has been extremely well received from the groups that we've met with," said Sudberry, noting that the developer's priority is being "sensitive to the needs of the community" in the Quarry Falls project. "We haven't recently seen a lot of opposition to what we're trying to do."
In addition to receiving support from various stakeholders, the Quarry Falls development - estimated to add $2.8 million yearly to the city's revenue - has progressed largely due to the support of its landowners, said Sudberry.
"They said to us that they'd like to leave a legacy for (their) family and for our community," said Sudberry of the Grant family landowners, who are dedicated to making Quarry Falls "something truly unique."
The goal of the undertaking, in its sixth year of planning, is to have the City Planning Department look to Quarry Falls model community for future smart growth developments in San Diego, said Sudberry.
"We're hoping that the city fathers will look at Quarry Falls and say, "This is the model we want to see happen for mixed-use villages in San Diego."'
By RICHARD J. MCROSKEY
Special to the Daily Transcript Source Code: 20070607crf