Encinitas Resort before commission

May 6, 2006

ENCINITAS – Million-dollar condominiums that have been in the works for years could soon change the landscape of the bluffs above Ponto Beach and the coastline itself.

If the Coastal Commission gives its final blessing Wednesday to the condo-and-hotel combination, the first in the city, developer KSL Encinitas Resort could begin construction in the fall of 2007.

Tentatively named Encinitas Resort Hotel, the $60 million to $75 million project overlooks the beach and Batiquitos Lagoon at the north end of the city.

Located on the west side of the North Coast Highway 101 at La Costa Avenue, the complex would provide 100 condominiums and 30 hotel rooms on 4.3 acres.

Condo owners would be allowed to use their units for only a maximum of 90 days a year, with the rest of the calendar open to the public, a condition previously imposed by the Coastal Commission to ensure public access to the coast.

About 50,000 cubic yards of sand excavated from the bluffs during the construction of a three-story underground garage would be dumped on the eroded Ponto Beach, which straddles Encinitas and Carlsbad.

That amount of sand, roughly equivalent to eight football fields covered one yard deep, is a drop in the bucket for the beach, but environmentalists and Encinitas city officials said they welcome any kind of replenishment, which has been hard to come by because of its cost.

The sand, tested by the developer's consultants, is considered good enough for a beach because it is the same grain size and color as the sand on Ponto, Kathy Weldon, Encinitas coastal zone manager, said. But the developer still needs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Coastal Commission to sign off on it.

“We want as much sand on the beach as possible,” said Todd Cardiff, a lawyer for Coast Law Group, which represents the Surfrider Foundation's San Diego chapter. “Whenever there is an opportunity to put sand that is the same grain size and color, we don't have a problem.”

Sand dumping could begin as soon as construction starts next fall and would be completed in two months, said Doug Yavanian, spokesman for KSL Encinitas Resort. KSL Corp. also owns La Costa Resort and Spa, Hotel del Coronado, Arizona Biltmore and The Grand Wailea Resort on Maui.

The last time Ponto Beach got a sand fix was in 2001 when the San Diego Association of Governments put 118,000 cubic yards there as part of a wider beach-replenishment project that laid 2 million cubic yards of sand on 12 county beaches.

The sand is not expected to stay put at Ponto, however. Part of it is expected to be carried by ocean currents to neighboring beaches, Coastal Commission planner Gary Cannon said.

This is not the first time the Coastal Commission considered a resort at the site. The state agency approved a hotel in 1992, but the property's former owner, Sports Shinko, a Japanese company, did not have the money to pursue the construction.

KSL bought the land in 2001. Then the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks occurred, derailing its plans. KSL could not obtain a loan because bankers were wary of hotels, which suffered a drop in customers along with the rest of the travel industry after Sept. 11.

KSL then proposed the hotel-and-condo combination, which is still being designed.

In return for approval to build the hybrid project, KSL acquiesced to Coastal Commission demands and constructed a public stairway from the bluff top to the beach in 2003.

Despite the ease of access, the resort will not be affordable to the average traveler and aspiring condo owner.

Room rates at the two-story resort are expected to be higher than its sister project, La Costa Resort and Spa, which lies about two miles to the east. There, a bedroom suite with a bathroom and patio costs $575 per night, Yavanian said.

The price of the condos also would be much higher than those at La Costa Resort and Spa, which sold at $600 per square foot, Yavanian said.

The resort would operate like a hotel with a reservation system, a check-in front desk and electronic room keys.

The complex would include a three-story underground garage with 320 spaces, a 5,000-square-foot restaurant, a 420-square-foot retail shop, 1,600 square feet of meeting rooms, 4,000 square feet of banquet area and a swimming pool.

Angela Lau: (760) 476-8240; angela.lau@uniontrib.com

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