Roads & Infrastructure

Pyxis Project / Cardinal Health

The following letter was sent to Torrey Hills residents in June of 2003 in response to inquiries from members of the planning board.

Dear Resident,

Thank you for contacting my office regarding the Cardinal Health/Pyxis building in Torrey Hills. Since I first heard the idea of an expansion at Cardinal Health/Pyxis, my staff and I have been working hard to identify what options the community and the City Council have to review any proposal and affect the final outcome. I believe that most important part of my job is to preserve the quality of life in the communities I represent, including Torrey Hills. In the past, I have been frustrated to find that entitlements that cannot now be revoked were granted long before I was elected, and in many cases before there were even residents in Torrey Hills. Here is what we have learned thus far about Cardinal Health/Pyxis.

In January 1985, the city approved a tentative map and a hillside review permit (TM/HRP) for Sorrento Hills Corporate Center, Phase I on industrially and residentially zoned (MI-P and R-1500). This created fourteen lots in the Torrey Hills community. Three of those original fourteen lots, known now as Lots 1, 2 & 3 of Map No. 18148, are the Cardinal Health/Pyxis property. This tentative map and permit were approved through a discretionary process by the Planning Commission with appeal rights to City Council. There was never an appeal to the City Council and these discretionary approvals remain in effect today.

The combination of the discretionary entitlements approved in 1985 and the underlying industrial zone meant that the property owner is free to develop this land with the approval of a building permit (which does not come to City Council) so long as the proposed development is consistent with the zone. In 1997 Cardinal Health/Pyxis obtained building permits and built on one of the three lots. To date no application has been made to obtain building permits to construct on the second and third lot.

However, on February 6, 2002, the Cardinal Health/Pyxis Corporation submitted a Preliminary Concept Review (Preliminary Review) to the City’s Development Services Department for lots two and three. Preliminary Review is an opportunity for an applicant to submit potential plans to the City and receive an informal analysis of the consistency of their proposal with applicable regulations and receive a preliminary determination regarding the process which would be required to build the project they have in mind. Preliminary Review is not binding on either party and formal analysis would only be undertaken when and if plans are officially submitted. Based on the Preliminary Review, the city staff believes that the project Pyxis showed the City on February 6th would not require further discretionary review, because it is consistent with the limitations of the zone.

We do not know when and whether Cardinal Health/Pyxis will request a building permit for development that was analyzed in the Preliminary Review.

I have heard concerns in the community that if Cardinal Health/Pyxis submits the plans in their preliminary review, the impacts listed below would occur. These are all very valid concerns. I have met with the City staff who conducted the preliminary review to discuss these specific issues and have responded to each below:

• Possible removal of the landscaped island located at the intersection of Torrey View Court and Carmel Mountain Road
  
  Based on the submitted design, modifications of Torrey View Court and Carmel Mountain Road would not be necessary. As proposed, access to the site would occur on El Camino Real. It is likely an additional left turn pocket in the El Camino Real median will be needed to allow access to the site from northbound El Camino Real and possibly a traffic signal at this location. A left turn pocket in the median would require removal of a portion of the median in El Camino Real.
  
  
• Possible widening of Torrey View Court and therefore removal of most of the existing landscaping
  
  As discussed above, Torrey View Court would not be widened.
  
  
• Possible widening of Carmel Mountain Road for more than six lanes and turn lanes resulting in the removal of the trees and landscaped islands.
  
  Carmel Mountain Road would not need to be widened if Pyxis were to move forward with their project as analyzed in the Preliminary Review. Moreover, because Carmel Mountain Road is identified in the Community Plan as a six-lane primary arterial, any plan that would necessitate its widening would require a discretionary action which would be reviewed by the Planning Group.
  
  
• Possible addition of new traffic lights
  
  As mentioned above, it is possible that the development as submitted would require the installation of a new traffic signal on El Camino Real.
  
  
• Possible additional environmental review
  
  Since these lots are already industrially zoned, the impacts of traffic and pollution were required to be analyzed when the discretionary entitlements were approved via discretionary review in 1985. Assuming that Pyxis does not ask for entitlements beyond those allowed by the current zoning, there is no trigger for additional environmental review. I know that this is frustrating to those who live in the community and feel closed out of the process for community input. However, further environmental analysis of these issues would only be required and could only be imposed under California law if the proposed development exceeds the previous approval.

While I have carefully and thoroughly researched the issues as they apply to the project analyzed in February’s preliminary review, I want to emphasize that currently the Pyxis Corporation is not processing any project with the City. There is no guarantee that when and if a project is submitted on these lots it will be the same as that analyzed in the February Preliminary Review. Therefore, I will continue to monitor this project closely because I am concerned about its potential to affect your community.

If you have specific questions regarding Pyxis, please call my office as soon as the concerns arise. Rich Geisler of my staff is available at 619-533-6559. You are also free to contact the City’s Development Project Manager John Fisher at (619) 446-5231 if you wish. If I can be of any assistance to you in the future please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Scott H. Peters