CV planning board supports Flower Hill renovation plans

By Karen Billing

The Carmel Valley Community Planning Board July 22 voted 11-3 in support of plans to renovate Flower Hill Promenade. The renovation includes replacing the UltraStar Cinemas with a Whole Foods, as well as adding new retail and boutique office space and a four-level parking garage.
The older area of the mall will receive a facelift with a "California coastal" look and connect with the new area via a courtyard. The project will now move to the San Diego City Planning Commission and then the San Diego City Council in October and, if approved, will begin construction in early 2011. Developer Protea Properties hopes to open the Whole Foods by mid 2012.
“The decision of the Carmel Valley Community Planning Board carries a lot of weight, as its members are also members of the community in which this project will be completed,” said Jeffrey Essakow, president of Protea Properties, the company which owns Flower Hill Promenade. “With their approval, we can continue the process of moving forward and giving this shopping center the much-needed improvements for which this community has been waiting.”
An overflow crowd attended the meeting at the Carmel Valley Library, where more than two hours of presentations and comments were heard before the board took its vote around 11:45 p.m.
Chair Frisco White additionally received more than 100 emails both in favor and against the project. Many Flower Hill tenants who attended the meeting voiced their support for the renovation, which they hope will help bring in more customers.
"This is the shot in the arm this center needs," said Brian Miller, owner of Geppetto's. "The center was built 33 year ago and it's time for a change."
Longtime opponent of the project, neighbor Robert Vicino, expressed his distaste for the project, calling it the Mission Valley-ization of the San Dieguito River Valley. He said the renovation does not match the community character with its bulk and scale, is under-parked and that there is no guarantee that Whole Foods will come once they tear down the theater.
"Whole Foods is the green, sweetheart tenant today but tomorrow we may be stuck with somebody else," Vicino said.
The planning board approved the project on several conditions, including delivery hours for Whole Foods trucks; that mature landscaping and architecture be considered in the view corridor from the freeway; that they remain accountable to the sensitivity of the river valley; and that there be no realignment of Flower Hill Drive.
The city has requested that Flower Hill Drive, the street off San Andres that runs directly above and behind the center, be reduced in width from 40 feet to 30 feet, and re-aligned from in front of the Taste of Thai restaurant to behind it.
The planning board does not support this change and neither does Protea Properties or the residents of Spindrift condos, whose only access to their homes is off Flower Hill Drive.
“We support this project 100 percent,” said Horace Dietrich, president of the homeowners’ association for the nearby Spindrift community. “We initially had some concerns about how this project would impact traffic near and around our homes, but the Protea team worked with us for several months to resolve the issue. They satisfied our concerns so thoroughly that our HOA board has voted unanimously to support the revitalization of Flower Hill.”
An HOA representative said moving the road makes the entrance to their homes look like a "McDonald’s drive through on steroids," as well as being unsafe due to reduced line of sight from traffic coming down the hill on San Andres.
The plans to update Flower Hill have changed since the renovation was first announced in 2004. It has been reduced in scale twice and now proposes adding 61,000 square feet to bring the shopping center to a total of 173,000 square feet. By comparison, Westfield UTC is 1 million square feet; Del Mar Highlands Town Center is 273,000 square feet.
Board member Steve Davison, one of the three “no” votes on the project alongside Nancy Novak and Dave McIntyre, wondered why it was necessary to take out the theater. Chris Wahl, president of Southwest Strategies representing Protea, said it was a hard decision but said it made the most business sense.
"The long-term viability of the center is better served by Whole Foods. The trend is moving away from movie theaters as an anchor," Wahl said, noting that services such as On Demand and Netflix are gaining in popularity and that the films that bring people to the theater most are blockbusters, which Flower Hill doesn't usually screen.
While most people agreed that Flower Hill needs an upgrade, neighbors said that it should not be at their expense.
Joan Spellman, a 14-year resident of the Lomas Del Mar neighborhood said they are already impacted by traffic on San Andres. "Yesterday it was impossible to get out and it's getting worse," Spellman said.
While the day she referred to was opening day at the Del Mar Racetrack, residents said that it's necessary to keep in mind traffic as a whole in the area, especially if the Del Mar Fairgrounds expansion occurs.
"It could be a nightmare," one neighbor said.
Other neighbors found the renovation exciting, to help bring the center "back to life," as Fairen Del owner Irena Rachow said.
White said many people have also expressed concern about the parking garage. Protea has said it would be hidden from view behind the Whole Foods — story poles have been up since April for people to see how visible it will be. While there will be an entrance above Flower Hill Promenade on Flower Hill Drive, Wahl said they hope to keep people from entering there and winding down the four floors of spaces by designating the bottom two floors for Whole Foods and retail parking. Additionally it will have restricted access after 10 p.m-6 a.m., only people who have a pass code will be able to enter through a gate.