A Toll Brothers proposal to build a 2- to 5-story apartment complex with 306 units and an attached six-story parking structure in Doheney Village is set to go before the Dana Point City Council on Tuesday, June 18.
The city Planning Commission’s approval of the project earlier this year is being appealed by Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility, or S.A.F.E.R., a California public benefit corporation that contends environmental studies done as part of the required consideration of the development didn’t meet health and environmental requirements.
The Victoria Boulevard Apartments are proposed for a 5.5-acre site at Victoria and Sepulveda boulevards, replacing what is now a Capistrano Unified School District school bus storage lot. The buildings would be located near two churches, a nursery school and a fire station.
In addition to providing parking, the apartment community would have a fitness room, a rooftop garden, a pool deck and a clubhouse located within an additional small structure on the top level of the parking structure. The structures would not exceed 57 feet and would occupy a little over three acres, as proposed. The developers also propose a dog park and two public paseos on the ground level.
In a letter sent by S.A.F.E.R. in May, the group questioned the city’s Environmental Impact Report conclusions, arguing they “do not support that the project will not have a significant impact on climate change, human health, air quality and noise.”
The group also contends that the development violates the California Environmental Quality Act because it “fails to evaluate the feasibility of increasing reliance on renewable sources, such as using 100% renewable energy, and fails to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.”
In its letter, S.A.F.E.R. also questioned the number of planned EV charging stations and said that because the development is proposed on public land — which would be ground-leased from CUSD — it falls under the Surplus Land Act. The developers’ proposed number of affordable units is not enough, the group argues in its letter to the city, because the project includes housing for moderate-income people, and that doesn’t qualify.
Eric Nelson, vice chair of the Planning Commission, said he stands behind his commission’s recent recommendation that the City Council certify the environmental report and allow the project to move forward.
“Based on our reviews and goals, the project is something we should consider approving,” he said.
“Toll Brothers did a good job listening to the community and addressing the major concerns as they could,” he added, giving the example: “How does the project fit into the neighborhood so that it doesn’t stand out as an eyesore.”
He said some of the community’s biggest issues included traffic and building heights, as well as what would happen to some of the open space near the area presently utilized for recreational purposes. In 2023, the developer agreed to decrease the number of units from 365, while also limiting building heights.
Nelson said the developer made concessions such as offering the nearby churches help with overflow parking and providing funds to the city for infrastructure improvements, which would help with pedestrian safety and create a more walkable area toward the beach. A ground lease with CUSD would also pump money into the local school district, which overall helps the community, Nelson argued.
“We’ve been looking at this site for a long time and have had multiple meetings,” he said. “They’re taking a public asset and putting together a project that funds housing and provides money to the school district to help them. In this case, everyone wins.”
While the proposed project is not within the defined 80-acre Doheny Village approved for a refresh by the California Coastal Commission in 2023, it is in the same general area and across from Doheny State Beach.
A year ago, the state commission gave the green light for rezoning the aging area – made up of a mix of strip malls and industrial and commercial businesses interspersed with houses, apartment complexes and mobile home parks — to make it a more welcoming, walkable village that city officials hope will become a destination for locals and visitors.
Nelson said this project – if approved by the council – could be the start of redevelopment in the village and more housing.
As a member of the Planning Commission, Nelson said he believes the city’s solutions to the environmental report are “super adequate.”
But he said the City Council will “make that call.”
