The North County Transit District (NCTD) and developer Toll Brothers have recently submitted a preliminary administrative Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to the city of Oceanside for the Oceanside Transit Center (OTC) redevelopment project. Most residents near the OTC are supportive of the project in general, but we are trying to help it blend in with the existing nearby neighborhoods, with the other planned projects, and increasing walking and biking. Unfortunately, this project failed to conduct early and important community meetings for input on concerns that negatively affect the surrounding community, such as the bus bay relocation to the southwest corner of the southern lot and resulting ingress and egress impacts of all southbound buses on Michigan and Missouri Avenues.
Neighbors and the Oceanside Coastal Neighborhood Association (OCNA) have spoken to experts; current and past leaders in transit, transportation, law enforcement, economic development and development which include NCTD’s own past Chief Operations Officer and we see the following issues:
1) The bus bay location decision was made prior to any Oceanside community input and a necessary public process, and now they are implying several negative aspects of the projects are immovable. We understand that part of the public process we are now under is exactly the time for these opportunities, especially since
they missed this under their own internal review.
At the 2/22/23 community outreach meeting for this project, a project representative advised the following, “CEQA and the City application will proceed concurrently and as we get community feedback, we will submit changes as needed”. This meeting and the representatives’ comments can be viewed at https://www.osidetransit.com/outreach
2) After several community members met with NCTD, it became obvious that their professionals failed to consider the huge impacts of the Coast highway redevelopment plan, the large redevelopment of the Regal center, and how the streets on Michigan and Missouri are much narrower with only 1 lane each vs 2 lanes on the current Seagaze egress circulation. This prompted NCTD to conduct a yet to be completed new circulation study; We are urging NCTD to ensure this study must consider all residential and local business impacts, not just routing efficiencies and transit customers!
3) NCTD and Toll Brothers professionals missed other critical elements of this project plan because it potentially lacks the required alternatives that could have assisted the city in achieving the better overall project such as a subterrain bus bay terminal or an above ground enclosed terminal, that at this point could still be options for this development.
4) The community loses trust in the process as NCTD and Toll Brothers discreetly make significant changes that are only exposed after extensive questioning, like creating an exit on Missouri, first not having the exit in their plans, then stating its only as an occasional emergency exit, then indicating it is THE ONLY exit for southbound buses…. This makes us wonder what else has changed slowly without detection.
We, as neighbors and concerned residents of downtown Oceanside, request removal of the Missouri exit for southbound bus traffic and to utilize Seagaze for all bus traffic as it does now. Seagaze is a wider street to accommodate this large vehicle traffic and is easier to get to the freeway and Coast Hwy considering the design of the pending Coast highway redevelopment.
Moving the bus exit also seems like a more manageable and efficient alternative than moving the bus bays yet would significantly reduce the negative impacts to residents and businesses without greatly impacting their site design. This design change also saves the project money as significant and costly storm drain improvements would not need to be made. This change will also be more accommodating to the ever-increasing walkability and bikeability modes of transportation the City is promoting.
Kevin Ham
