For the past few weeks, you can barely go anywhere in Carmel Valley without seeing something about One Paseo; Ads, signs in lawns, and people outside stores asking for signatures. Recently, the San Diego City Council voted to approve the One Paseo project. Already, people are starting to gather signatures for a referendum. With all these different groups giving biased information it’s hard to understand exactly what this is all about.
One Paseo would be a development across from the Highlands on Del Mar Heights Road. This would be a mixed use development with businesses on ground flop and housing above. The plan also boasts a “walkable main street” and safe bike lanes.
The group who is opposed to this development state that this site will bring many more problems to Carmel Valley than the good things it offers. On the website, www.whatpricemainstreet.com it states that this development will “add four times the traffic to our roads and create severe gridlock”. They also assert that that this increase in traffic will further hurt our environment. This group also predicts that One Paseo will hurt the community character as it will be very large in size and tower over surrounding buildings and houses that are already standing. Those opposed to One Paseo also say that although the developer of the property claims it will be bike-friendly and work with new public transportation, the site will expand Del Mar Heights Road creating dangerous conditions and will be without a public transportation system until the year 2035, well after the development has already been built.
Those who support One Paseo state that this new development will bring a lot of good to Carmel Valley and the surrounding community. Supporters say that there will be new and continuing economic benefits. They predict that there will be about 1,590 new permanent jobs brought to the area because of this development and that the building of One Paseo will create 3,800 construction jobs. They also predict that $15 million in fees will go to the San Dieguito Union High School District, Solana Beach School District, and Carmel Valley Facility Benefits Fees. Those who are building One Paseo say that the community will also limit its effects on the environment as it will be sustainable and energy efficient; the new development will have green buildings, cool roofs, electric vehicle charging stations, and energy and water efficiency features.
Both those who oppose and support One Paseo have valid concerns and excitement for the development. The reality is that we will not know for sure what effects it will have on the community until it is built and functional.