More residential space could be coming to the Otay Ranch Town Center.
The Chula Vista Planning Commission unanimously voted during a recent meeting in support of rezoning commercial space to allow for the construction of 840 multifamily units in the northwest corner of the East Chula Vista shopping center. Ten percent of those units will be designated as affordable housing.
Tony Pauker, a representative of Brookfield Property Partners, said the project would better integrate residents in the shopping center and would not result in any net loss of retail space.
The company heard from local groups in support of the rezoning, including the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce and South County Economic Development Center. But one resident during public comment raised concerns, including potential increases in traffic and parking shortages, lack of public services and removal of the shopping center’s well-used soccer fields.
Commissioner Charles Sanfilippo said the additional housing units could bring challenges for the Chula Vista Police Department, which has a storefront at the shopping center but no holding cell.
“Security seems to be an issue,” he said. “There’s a lot of dark spots — you don’t have security cameras.”
The Planning Commission will present the proposed rezoning to the City Council, which has ultimate approval over the proposed changes.
A staff report estimated that the additional housing units could bring in $38.4 million in net revenue over a 20-year period. The project would be completed in phases, according to Brookfield.
This brief came from reporting by Carlos Moyeda, a San Diego Documenter, at a Chula Vista Planning Commission meeting last month. The Documenters program trains and pays community members to document what happens at public meetings. It’s run by inewsource, a nonpartisan nonprofit newsroom dedicated to investigative and accountability journalism. Read more about the program here.
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