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A Superior Court Judge has ruled that Oceanside’s Nov. 3 referendum on the North River Farms project proposed for South Morro Hills is invalid and that the 585-home Integral Communities development can proceed “assuming other pending litigation does not prevent it.”
The Legislature clearly intended to preempt referendums designed to restrict “development of housing within this state” under Government Code 66300, which was passed in 2019 to address the state housing shortage, said Judge Richard S. Whitney in the final ruling Thursday afternoon.
Oceanside City Attorney John Mullen said Friday the city has not decided whether it will appeal the case. The developer also faces an unrelated lawsuit filed by the local nonprofit Preserve Calavera, which challenges the environmental impact report approved for the project.
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The result of a ballot measure in which more than two-thirds of Oceanside voters rejected the construction of up to 585 homes in South Morro Hills appears to be jeopardized by a tentative ruling last week in San Diego Superior Court.
If upheld, the ruling would be a victory for Integral Communities, the developer seeking to build the North River Farms project in an agricultural area of northeastern Oceanside. Integral filed the suit in January 2020 alleging that the citizen-led referendum violates state law.
Judge Richard S. Whitney said in his tentative ruling released Friday that the referendum was “preempted” by the California Legislature’s efforts in Government Code section 66300 “to maximize the development of housing within this state.”
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Residents renewed their concerns this week about building more homes in Oceanside’s South Morro Hills, the city’s last agricultural region.
The proposed South Morro Hills Community Plan, presented to the Oceanside City Council last week, would reduce minimum lot sizes from 2.5 acres to 1 acre and would allow “clustered” residential development with lots as small as 2,000 square feet on portions of parcels of 20 acres or larger.
Some longtime Oceanside residents, speaking during the council’s public discussion of the idea, opposed any increase in the residential density of the 5.4-square-mile region on the city’s northeast corner. Others, mostly representing the area’s largest and oldest farming families, said more homes are needed to support the development and agri-tourism that could sustain the region.