Palomar College board approves RB center
Palomar College will build a small campus in Rancho Bernardo that should be ready for its first students by mid-2018, the school’s governing board agreed Tuesday night.
The so-called South Education Center will be housed in a four-story 110,000-square-foot office building at 11111 Rancho Bernardo Road the district purchased in July 2010 for $38.3 million. The building is basically a shell. When finished as an education center, it will provide classrooms and related facilities for approximately 2,800 full-time equivalent students.
Board members voted 3-0 Tuesday night to approve the center’s plans and certify its environmental impact report, which had been modified after Westwood area residents raised questions concerning parking and traffic impacts. The amended report concludes that the 27-acre site will have 737 parking spaces - far more than required by the City of San Diego and that while traffic will be more congested in coming years, the campus would be only one of several contributing factors. Board members noted that classes will start and end at different times throughout the day and evening, resulting in a more staggered traffic flow, especially when compared to what the building would generate as a regular office complex.
As to neighbor concerns that students will park on residential streets across Rancho Bernardo Road, the board concluded that should not be an issue.
“There is no neighborhood there until you cross six lanes of highway,” board member John Halcon said, noting that he recently visited the area for the first time.
Student parking fees, a possible obstacle to using on-site parking spaces, will be waived for the first year and the policy will be reviewed annually, the board was told.
Before being purchased by the college, the site had been approved for three office buildings, although only one was constructed. The college has no plans for additional buildings.
Board President Mark Evilsizer, who works in an office near the site, said Tuesday night’s vote marked the end of a 20-year quest by the district to find a way to better serve students in the southern portion of the community college district. Some classes have been offered over the years at Mt. Carmel High School in Rancho Penasquitos.
