Residents concerned with the future of the Olympic Training Center say continued residential development affects quality of life.

With the future of the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center still uncertain, nearby Eastlake residents are sure of what they don’t want: more residential developments.

Chula Vista continues with negotiations for the Olympic Training Center property after the U.S. Olympic Committee came to the city in May last year, asking if it was interested in taking title to the property. The center is operating at a deficit and has for years, with the Olympic Committee spending about $8 million annually to sustain operations.

The center opened in spring 1995 after The San Diego National Sports Training Foundation raised the money and received a land grant from Eastlake developers to build the sports facility. Its goal was to provide future U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes with elite training.

If done correctly, a deal for the property could improve the city’s image and provide recreational opportunities for the region, city staff members believe. The goal is that under a different business strategy and operator the center could either turn a profit or at least break even.

“It is our hope that the model opens up the facility to more community involvement with the potential for things like corporate training … for teambuilding,” said Kelley Bacon, deputy city manager for Chula Vista.

The city entered into a joint agreement with the Olympic Committee and consultant JMI Sports a year ago to evaluate the potential risks and benefits of acquiring it and determine alternative uses.

Bacon said a memorandum of understanding has been signed, and the city is working on the business plan and final agreement.

She anticipates going to the City Council with it as early as September.

If all goes as planned, the property would turn over on Jan. 1, 2017.

But some Eastlake residents are concerned about the takeover, saying if the city has control, its City Council will do what it wants with the land, not necessarily what’s best for the citizens.

Although the 1995 contract prohibits the city from putting residential buildings on the property until at least 2025, Eastlake residents Carlos Alvarado and Barney Reed, don’t trust city officials, saying the city has gone back on its word before.

The men live in Eastlake Vista, one of the Eastlake master planned communities, and are members of the Eastlake Action Group, formed by citizens based on neighborhood concerns regarding lack of parking, high density housing and overcrowded schools. It represents nearly 8,000 homes.

Alvarado and Reed bought their homes under the impression that commercial uses and hotels would bring revenue into the community. But they now said they believe the City Council will continue its trend of rezoning land from retail/commercial to residential, following requests from developers.

In October 2012, the group circulated a petition and sent a letter to the City Council stating its opposition to rezoning a 12-acre site to a residential/mixed-use destination. Despite that, in March 2013, the majority of the City Council approved the project. Today the Lake Pointe project comprises more than 220 attached condominiums/apartments developed by Integral Communities, at Olympic Parkway and Wueste Road.

Another residential development by Integral Communities came about the same way in 2013 when 32 acres originally slated for commercial and retail became 427 condominium/apartments overlooking the Olympic Training Center. Then Assistant City Manager Gary Halbert said at the time that the higher density is consistent with the density of surrounding projects.

The most recent example is the Otay Ranch Commercial Freeway project, a mixed-use plan that adds up to 600 multifamily residential and rental units, a park and two four-story hotels by developer Baldwin & Sons. It was approved by the City Council 4-1 last month, with Councilwoman Patricia Aguilar opposed, saying it was premature to give up on the vision of a regional commercial plan. The city’s Planning Commission recommended in April that the City Council deny the project.

There’s also the Millenia Project, which includes 3,000 condos at Eastlake Parkway and Birch Road.

Mayor Mary Casillas Salas said zoning changes are about creating a balanced community by adapting to the business climate.

While the main purpose of the nearby Olympic center is to provide U.S. athletes with training, it was originally envisioned as an Olympic Village-themed commercial center with shops and restaurants for the area.

The 155 acres that the facility sits on was a gift to the Committee from the San Diego National Sports Training Foundation.

City plans for retail/office and hotel/conference uses across the street from the center would have supported athletes, tourists and visitors, bringing in tax revenue to the city.

“The quality of life promoted throughout the Eastlake expansion was supposed to come to fruition in Eastlake III, a resort hotel and a commercial village,” Reed said.

Late in 2012 Reed said that he and others noticed buildings going up in the space where the hotel was supposed to be. This would later become the Olympic Pointe project.

“I’ve very concerned regarding the OTC because what happened at Olympic Pointe and what’s happening at Lake Pointe,” he said. “It’s a pile on of high density in a community that was marketed for a high standard of quality of life. If they had followed through with their promise. … It would have been an attraction unlike anything in Chula Vista.”

Early on, the Eastlake Co. retained 12 acres of commercial area across from the center to build something similar to a restaurant row as a draw to the area. However, with the growth of nearby retail and lackluster performance from the sports center, the plan was scratched.

City staff say the facility is to remain as much as possible an elite training center with events and other compatible uses of the facility.

“Other potential uses might be sport and coaching clinics, youth programs, corporate programs and entertainment events,” Bacon said. “I don’t believe the agreement with the USOC will impact the community negatively.”

A year ago, then-Chula Vista Councilman Rudy Ramirez held a public meeting to gather initial feedback from residents on what the center should be. Many who attended expressed concerns about zoning changes for more residences in an already high-density area.

Alvarado said that despite petitions, community meetings and correspondence with city staff, residents’ concerns aren’t taken into consideration.

Bacon, Chula Vista’s deputy city manager, said, “There is always opportunity for community input, and we have received much of it already.”

