HOA nixes proposal for Rancho Bernardo-Rancho Peñasquitos connector street

A residential street that was proposed to provide a second emergency evacuation route for Rancho Peñasquitos residents through Rancho Bernardo will not happen.

The Camino Bernardo HOA recently notified representatives from Lennar that it was unwilling to sell its land that would have made the connector street between Paymogo Way in PQ and Paseo Montanoso in RB possible.

The developer needed the HOA to grant it a right of way in order to proceed. About 75% of the 410 feet long and 48 feet wide street would have been on land owned by the HOA.

The street was being proposed to provide a second emergency evacuation route for Rancho Peñasquitos residents through Rancho Bernardo.

But the plan, discussed at the July 1 Rancho Bernardo Planning Board’s Development Review Committee meeting, was controversial because the proposed street would create a shortcut between the two communities separated by open space.

Several people at the meeting said if the street was constructed and paid for by the home developer Lennar, hundreds of drivers would travel through a PQ cul-de-sac and RB residential streets to avoid traffic on Interstate 15.

“I am really concerned about the Rancho Bernardo residents, where you are pushing all this traffic through,” said RB Planning Board and DRC member Gary Long. “It is a nice, peaceful little place and you are going to put hundreds of cars. I empathize with what is on the hill, but I focus on my community.”

Long said the proposed street would create “a freeway … dumping down onto some streets that are only two lanes wide. We’re going to a choke point at a stoplight at Camino del Norte that is already very accident prone. There’s a lot of children playing down there … and I don’t see how RB is going to handle that.”

The proposal was part of a 2023 private settlement among the nonprofit organization PQ-NE Action Group, Lennar and Carmel Land LLC. In 2021, PQ-NE Action Group sued Lennar, which is building the Junipers, a 536-unit housing community at the corner of Peñasquitos Drive and Carmel Mountain Road on the former Doubletree golf course.

PQ-NE members had said they settled to help their fellow residents evacuate during wildfires. As part of the settlement, Lennar agreed to construct and pay for a second residential street out of northeast PQ.

But not all PQ residents support the proposal. Many of the most impacted said PQ-NE did not consult them and they opposed the street project despite its benefits.

“We are highly against a thoroughfare going on our small street,” said Paymogo Street resident Christina Rodocker at the July 1 meeting. “We chose where we live because it is such a private, special spot to us. You are creating a nightmare … in our front yard.”

PQ-NE Action Group member Judy Piercey said the news that the connector road would not be built was disappointing.

“PQ-NE Action Group remains deeply concerned about ensuring safe and effective evacuation routes for the community in the event of a wildfire or other emergency,” Piercey said in a Sept. 4 email. “That continues to be our top priority.

“At this time, we are still evaluating our options going forward. Given the circumstances, there is unfortunately no clear or easy alternative path.”

Arlene Tendick, a consultant with Lennar’s representative, on Sept. 3 confirmed the lack of an alternative street location.

While some PQ residents at the July 1 meeting mentioned Andorra Way and Peñasquitos Drive as alternatives to Paymogo, Tendick said at the meeting that Andorra was out due to topography and there were habitat concerns with Peñasquitos Drive.

The meeting was the first time Rancho Bernardo community representatives had discussed the issue. Robin Kaufman, the RB Planning Board president, said she heard of the 10-acre land purchase request in March from the Camino Bernardo HOA president.

“This is one community’s issue … invading another community. … This is not what the intention was for this piece of land,” Kaufman said. “It would also involve community plan updates if it was to go that far. … I know residents on Paymogo are strongly opposed to it.”

Kaufman said the RB and PQ community plans show no connecting road.

The August 2023 private settlement agreement between Lennar and the PQ-NE Action Group had five conditions. In addition to the street, they were constructing a roundabout at Cuca Street and Peñasquitos Drive, increasing the Junipers project’s park size, planting 93 mature trees on the Junipers site and funding the purchase and placement of evacuation equipment storage sheds.

During PQ-NE’s presentation at the RB meeting, it appeared that the park, trees and storage shed issues had been resolved, while the Cuca roundabout was still in the works.

“As for the broader settlement, we do not have additional updates to share at this point, but our continued focus is on community safety and fulfilling the spirit of the agreement to the extent possible,” Piercey wrote in her email about the other four conditions.