Fanita Ranch consists of approximately 2,638 acres of land in the northern portion of the City. The proposed project proposes a community consisting of approximately 2,949 residential units under a preferred land use plan with school, or 3,008 units under a land use plan without school, up to 80,000 square feet of commercial uses, parks, open space and agricultural uses. Development on the project site would be clustered into three villages in order to designate approximately 63 percent of the site as Habitat Preserve. The natural open space outside the development areas would be dedicated to the City’s Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP) for long-term protection and management as a Habitat Preserve.
The three villages are arranged around a central Farm to support farming and wellness as the theme for the proposed project. The villages would be defined by their location, unique physical characteristics, and mix of housing types and uses. Fanita Commons would serve as the main village and would include a mix of retail, residential, civic and office uses and provide a strong physical connection to the central Farm. The Vineyard and Orchard Villages would include smaller mixed-use village centers that allow for neighborhood serving uses, office space and other community services and amenities as well as mix of residential neighborhoods. Separated from the rest of the development, a Special Use area would be located in the southwestern corner of the site, which would include a limited range of uses due to geological constraints. The proposed project would provide a coordinated system of parks and non-motorized use trails that would connect to the three villages, regional trails and open space. The trail system would connect to existing off-site trails in surrounding park and recreation areas.
The proposed project would also improve and construct new segments of three Santee General Plan Mobility Element streets: Fanita Parkway, Cuyamaca Street, and Magnolia Avenue and provide alternative mode circulation systems for bicycles, pedestrians, and low-speed vehicles. In addition, the proposed project would provide a comprehensive fire protection system of fire safety features and design measures that have proven to perform well in wildland-urban interface and very high fire hazard severity zones. The primary features include ignition-resistant materials, fuel modification zones, multiple ingress/egress points, water availability and fire response.
The public comment period closed at 5:00 PM on Thursday, April 10, 2025.
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