SAN MARCOS, Calif. — September 2026 — As the San Marcos Planning Commission prepares to review the proposed San Elijo Hills Town Center Apartments on Monday, October 5, 2026, thousands of local residents and community stakeholders are calling for comprehensive environmental and safety reviews before any entitlements are granted.
Monday, October 5, 2026 at 6:30 pm
San Marcos Planning Commission
Project: San Elijo Hills Town Center Apartments (now condos) / SDP24-0009
San Marcos City Hall
The proposal by Ambient Communities (SDP24-0009) calls for a five-story, 31-unit condo building (formerly proposed as apartments) situated on a 0.5-acre triangular parcel positioned between the north and south lanes of San Elijo Road—a primary corridor designated within a state-recognized Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ).
Community members, including emergency management professionals, civil engineers, and the San Elijo Hills Community Association Master Board and the San Elijo Hills Fire Council, have raised critical concerns regarding wildfire evacuation constraints, emergency access, traffic congestion, and school-zone pedestrian safety.
Key Concerns Raised by the Community:
Wildfire Evacuation & Emergency Ingress/Egress: San Elijo Hills has limited evacuation routes, a vulnerability demonstrated during the 2014 Cocos Fire. Placing high-density residential development at a vital traffic convergence point risks bottlenecking emergency access routes during a rapid evacuation. After seeing what has happened in similar communities with few exit routes (i.e. – Lahaina, Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Camp Fire, etc. ), the San Elijo Community is strongly opposed to a building being placed at one of the community’s two principal egress routes.
Environmental Review: The City’s review appears to rely on San Elijo Hills environmental documentation prepared more than 25 years ago. Since then, traffic volumes, school activity, community development and wildfire-risk conditions have changed. Residents are requesting a written, publicly available determination of whether these changed circumstances or new information require additional environmental review under Public Resources Code § 21166 and CEQA Guidelines § 15162.
Residents also question whether the project satisfies all requirements for any proposed infill exemption without a publicly available, project-specific analysis of current traffic, pedestrian, biological-resource, wildfire and evacuation conditions.
Reduced Setbacks & School Zone Hazards: The proposed design includes an 18-inch setback where a standard 10-foot buffer would otherwise apply. Located directly adjacent to San Elijo Elementary and San Elijo Middle School—serving roughly 2,000 students—this variance raises critical questions regarding sight distance, sidewalk clearance, pedestrian visibility and separation from traffic along a 35-mph arterial roadway.
Additional concerns include fire apparatus access, heavy existing traffic and evacuation congestion, lack of safe parking along San Elijo Road, roadway, absence of a clear evacuation plan for the community, absence of a publicly reviewed Fire Protection Plan prior to the entitlement process. Residents are asking the City to independently evaluate wildfire evacuation capacity, fire apparatus access, traffic and sight-distance safety, and construction-period evacuation impacts before approving the project.
Residents are asking the City to independently evaluate wildfire-evacuation capacity, fire-apparatus access, traffic and sight-distance safety, pedestrian conditions and construction-period evacuation impacts before acting on the project.
Housing Accountability Act Public Safety Standards: While California law encourages housing production, the Housing Accountability Act specifically permits local agencies to deny development when substantial evidence shows an unavoidable, adverse impact on objective public health and safety standards. Unresolved questions concerning fire apparatus clearances, on-street parking reliance, and the lack of a finalized, publicly reviewed Fire Protection Plan represent tangible risks.
“This is not about opposing housing. It is about whether this particular project can be safely located on this particular site” stated a community representative. “Before introducing dense multi-story housing directly onto a constrained corridor within a high-severity fire zone, the City must establish through objective, current modeling that evacuation routes can accommodate the load while preserving access for emergency responders.”
To date, more than 3,000 residents have signed a verified petition requesting thorough safety reviews, and over 200 public comments have been submitted to the City of San Marcos.
Media & Questions, please contact:
Shideh Rad
P: 619-719-1630
E: ConsiderSEHVoices@gmail.com
