Encinitas Municipal Code Art. 7.0 Public Services and Infrastructure

The Public Services and Infrastructure chapter of this Specific Plan is intended to demonstrate how public services and infrastructure may be utilized, improved, or enhanced with the implementation of the El Camino Real Specific Plan (ECRSP). The Specific Plan Area (SPA) has predominantly been developed and the supporting facilities and infrastructure already exist. However, as redevelopment of the SPA occurs, infrastructure and service improvements and expansions may be required to support the redevelopment. This chapter summarizes the ability of the existing service or infrastructure to support current demand as well as identifies what requirements or triggers are in place to ensure appropriate capacities.

The community engagement process highlighted the community's priority of ensuring adequate infrastructure within the SPA to support future development, and concern over required upgrades. The ECRSP does not propose a change in land use or zoning. Future development within the SPA would be subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) which would require further analysis on the development's impact on the existing infrastructure.

The public services and infrastructure covered in this chapter include Fire Protection and Police Services, Water, Sewer, Stormwater, and Grading.

(Ord. 2024-08, 9/25/2024)

Fire protection to the SPA is serviced by the Encinitas Fire Department through Station Nos. 4 and 5, which are located at 2011 Village Park Way and 540 Balour Drive respectively. According to the City of Encinitas Resolution 2022-21, for 90% of all Emergency Medical Service incidents in the urban areas within the City of Encinitas, the first due ALS unit, with a minimum of two personnel, shall arrive within eight minutes total response time; for 90% of all other fire incidents in the urban areas within the City of Encinitas, the first-due unit shall arrive, with a minimum of three personnel, within nine minutes total response time. Service levels are planned based on population and intensity of land use. Existing Citywide fire service impact fees are in place to cater to any changes to service demand created by changed development intensities in this SPA.

Police protection for the SPA is currently serviced by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department under contract with Encinitas. The Sheriff's Department Substation is located at 175 North El Camino Real, within the SPA. In addition to patrol and traffic enforcement, the station has a Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS) team and a Crime Suppression Team. The Crime Prevention Unit provides an array of services including assisting communities in starting neighborhood and/or business watch groups, conducting a variety of community safety presentations, community alerts, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) reviews, and security consultations for commercial and residential properties.

As development occurs within the SPA, future projects shall comply with the City's required development impact fees and General Plan policies, which would reduce impacts on fire, police, and emergency services, as well as school, community center, and library facilities. Collection of fair share development impact fees would incrementally fund expansion or construction of new public facilities to accommodate new development. Coordination with the applicable agencies is required during environmental discretionary review of a project to ensure the project complies with codes and requirements regarding fire protection, police protection, education, and community services.

(Ord. 2024-08, 9/25/2024)

The SPA is primarily served by the Olivenhain Municipal Water District (OMWD) with small sections to the southwest and northwest served by the San Dieguito Water District. The OMWD 2020 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) states that peak demand for potable water was 25,000 acre-feet (AF) in 2008 and has declined to approximately 17,100 AF in 2020 due to increased water efficiency. Customer demand for recycled water in 2020 was approximately 2,500 AF and OMWD forecasts the demand to grow to approximately 2,800 AF by 2030 and 2,900 by 2040. OMWD is approximately 95% built out and expects to be fully developed within approximately 10 years. OMWD obtains 100% of its potable water supply from the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA). SDCWA has analyzed its supplies under normal, single-dry, and five consecutive dry-year conditions through the year 2045 and has concluded there will be no shortages. Overall, water supply within the SPA is considered to be reliable, but will require further case-by-case analysis for subsequent development within the SPA.

Existing water lines in the City are generally pressurized and therefore have a higher capacity than sewer pipes of the same sizes. Given that the existing pressure of each water main is unknown, additional modeling will need to take place for a true capacity assessment. Public water mains and fire flow capacity would need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis for subsequent development within the SPA to determine if the existing systems could support additional new development. Finally, irrigation demand for new parks and greenspace areas may need to be evaluated to determine if the water district can support the usage requirements.

(Ord. 2024-08, 9/25/2024)

The SPA falls within the Leucadia Wastewater District (LWD). The LWD covers a total service area of 16 square miles and provides services to approximately 61,000 residents in a boundary that includes Leucadia as well as the La Costa area in Carlsbad and the northeastern area of Encinitas. Wastewater within the SPA is collected and conveyed to the Leucadia Pump Station (PS) by the El Camino Real gravity trunk system. The Leucadia PS contains three pumps with a capacity of 4,000 gallons per minute (gpm) and two pumps with a capacity of 720 gpm and received station improvements and pump replacements in 2022.[1] LWD relies on the Encina Water Pollution Control Facility (Encina WPCF) for the majority of its wastewater treatment and disposal needs. LWD owns a treatment capacity of 7.1 million gallons per day (mgd) from Encina WPCF.

The SPA falls within LWD's drainage basin number 9, which per the 2023 Asset Management Plan, has approximately 5,709 connected equivalent dwelling units (EDUs). The 2018 Asset Management Plan assumed an ultimate buildout year of 2050, in which drainage basin number 9 was anticipated to have 6,201 EDUs. This buildout assumption was based on the SANDAG Series 13 Growth Forecast.

Drainage basins 5, 6 and 7 are all upstream of the SPA and have a combined existing EDU count of 5,127 and a combined buildout EDU count of 5,553 EDUs. The flow from these EDUs flows through the SPA via the El Camino Real trunk sewer. It is anticipated that LWD will have sufficient capacity to serve the SPA, and subsequent development would include site-specific evaluation to confirm capacity.

(Ord. 2024-08, 9/25/2024)

[1]

Dexter Wilson 2023, Leucadia Wastewater District. Leucadia Wastewater District Asset Management Plan.

The City of Encinitas provides storm water drainage for the SPA. The existing storm and surface water drainage system serving the SPA is a combination of surface street/alley drainage and underground drainage pipes. This system drains via gravity northwards towards a 100-year floodplain located within the green open space at the northern extent of the SPA, adjacent to east of the Plaza Encinitas Ranch shopping center.

The existing predominant land use throughout the SPA is commercial and comprises extensive swaths of impervious coverage. The SPA does not call for extensive new impervious areas. Conversely, the ECRSP calls for expanded areas of green space and parks through common open space and landscape standards, thus increasing permeable surface area within the SPA. Given this, it is anticipated that the existing drainage infrastructure will continue to perform as it does today with implementation of the ECRSP.

As the SPA gets redeveloped over time, storm drainpipes along El Camino Real would need to be studied to determine if increases to surface run-off based on updated manual requirements and/or increased hardscape development would be supported by the existing pipe size and outlet conditions. On-site detention restrictions in conjunction with water quality improvements may be required.

Site specific hydraulic studies may be required for new development to determine if there is adequate capacity for future project demands on the stormwater system.

For projects that redevelop more than 10,000 square feet of impervious area or 5,000 square feet on an existing site of 10,000 square feet or more of impervious area, water quality and hydromodification (HMP) best management practices (BMPs) will be required to comply with stormwater requirements consistent with the City of Encinitas BMP Design Manual. If a project proposes to increase the amount of impervious area on site compared to the existing site, analysis of the downstream storm drain system to show it has adequate capacity for an increase in peak flow or the mitigation of the post-project peak flow rates back to pre-project levels will also be required.

(Ord. 2024-08, 9/25/2024)

The SPA is located within a canyon and any new development may require grading to establish suitable building platforms, underground parking structures, public parks, and amenities. On portions of sites that are flat or gently sloping, cut and fill operations will be minimized. However, more significant grading operations may be required in areas with more topography to achieve development. All grading activities shall demonstrate conformance with all applicable grading, erosion, and sediment control requirements as set forth in the Encinitas Municipal Code (EMC).

Utility systems are currently above-ground, which are more susceptible to natural disasters and outages while also imposing a scenic view of the environment. Pursuant to Title 23 of the EMC, undergrounding of utilities is required to reduce their susceptibility to natural disasters and outages, as well as eliminate sidewalk hazards and visual blight.

(Ord. 2024-08, 9/25/2024)