The Inns at Buena Vista Creek

Site History and Description of the Project

The Inns at Buena Vista Creek project (project) is located in northern San Diego County, within the Cities of Oceanside and Carlsbad. The project site encompasses approximately 12.5 acres of vacant land at the southeastern corner of the State Route 78 (SR-78)/Jefferson Street intersection and crosses the City of Oceanside’s jurisdictional border into the City of Carlsbad.

The project site was once part of a large master-planned commercial center, which included the El Camino Real Mall (now known as the Shoppes at Carlsbad) and North County Plaza which was developed by Hughes Investments. Development of the site was contingent upon a 1982 Agreement made with the California Department of Fish and Game (now referred to as California Department of Fish and Wildlife or CDFW) and the California Coastal Commission (CCC),subject to certain  conditions.  The conditions of the 1982 CDFW and CCC Agreements included the following:

• Dredging spoils (approximately 85,000 cubic yards) from Buena Vista Lagoon shall be deposited to the site.
• A 1.2-acre parcel along Buena Vista Lagoon shall be dedicated to CDFW (mitigating 0.5-acreas of biological impacts to wetlands).
• A 25-foot buffer from Buena Vista Creek shall be provided.
• A single-pier bridge will be constructed to cross Buena Vista Creek

All of the required conditions have been met, with the exception that no commercial development or bridge crossing have been constructed to date.

Jenna Development acquired the site in 2007 and is the applicant for the proposed project. The proposed project involves construction of three separate hotel buildings. A total of 426 hotel rooms are proposed for the three hotel buildings. The three hotel buildings would range in height from 50-75 feet.  A pavilion building would be located on the southwestern portion of the project site. The pavilion building would consist of a one-story, 33-foot-tall structure, which will be used to hold meetings and banquets. A three-lane bridge consisting of one inbound lane and two outbound lanes is proposed to provide primary access to the project site. The project would also incorporate onsite structured and surface parking to service the hotel uses.

The project provides several benefits including hotel tax revenues and job creation, as well as complementary uses for adjacent commercial uses to the north and south of the site.  The project reduces flood potential to the site and adjacent properties through the implementation of new drainage improvements and also enhances the site through habitat preservation and restoration. The project provides a proposed riparian buffer that would include a 50-foot biological buffer and a 50- foot planning buffer for a total 100-foot buffer zone in excess of the 25-foot buffer required in the original 1982 agreement from Buena Vista Creek totaling 3.08 acres.

The buffer zone would consist of native riparian planting and restoration of the existing disturbed vegetation. The proposed wetland buffer zone would include limited development within the 50-foot planning buffer, consisting of a fire/maintenance access road, essential utility and drainage facilities, a pedestrian trail (which overlaps with the fire/maintenance access road), and support structures for the pool area, which will be separated from the buffer by a planted masonry wall.

Links & Documentation

• Video of Virtual Community Meeting (updated 6/18/20)
• Inns at Buena Vista Creek EIR (updated 6/18/20)
• Virtual Community Meeting Presentation (updated 6/4/20)
• Full Project Fly-Thru Video (updated 6/3/20)