​The Oceanside Chamber Votes to Support North River Farms

The Oceanside Chamber of Commerce is committed to playing a vital role in the well-being of our community. In February, the chamber voted to support the proposed North River Farms development in eastern Oceanside, in part because of the positive opportunities it will create to meet our housing and employment objectives. Chamber CEO, Scott Ashton says, “As we look to our future it is imperative that we implement lifestyle supportive housing to attract and retain our workforce.” ​

There is a growing concern among businesses and residents that Oceanside’s housing supply isn’t adequate to meet the demand. In fact, the City has only met 17% of their 2021 Regional Housing Needs Assessment goal. 

After a thorough review from the Chamber’s Public Policy Task Force and the Board of Directors the overwhelming consensus was that “North River Farms sets a precedent for a positive vision for the future of Oceanside,” Ashton reports. Serving as the gateway between existing development and the agricultural area of South Morro Hills, this distinct project will be the catalyst to transform the area into an agritourism destination. 

The City of Oceanside has been persistent in their push for agritourism, which is the intersection of agriculture and tourism to help the farming community not only survive but thrive. North River Farms project manager, Ninia Hammond said, “we’d like to bring a new concept called an agrihood to the region to seamlessly complement and enhance the implementation of agritourism. We visited models across the nation to incorporate the best components, but we also strive to make it local to Oceanside.” 

An agrihood weaves together community, housing, and farming. North River Farms will artfully incorporate these three principles and expand upon them to include a Village Core with a Makers Space hub, solar paneled farm stalls for a weekly market, an education outpost run by the Ecology Center, an amphitheater and village green for gathering and events, trails and a 30-acre farm. The homes will be priced attainably and will range in size from 1,700 SF to 3,600 SF. “Between Oceanside’s young families and critical workforce to it’s seniors ready to downsize North River Farms offers an inter-generational style of living that fosters imagination and honors traditions,” Hammond said.

North River Farms reimagines a heightened quality of life, and is committed to going above and beyond in addressing and providing much needed improvements to the area. Roughly $40 million will be dedicated to infrastructure, which includes: 16 road improvement mitigation measures, the largest of which is the expansion of the College Bridge. Additionally, the developer has committed to building a new fire station on site, ongoing funding for two staff positions and purchasing a new class six fire/paramedic vehicle. These improvements will increase safety and access and contribute to the overall economic vitality of Oceanside. 

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The Chamber is proud to support the North River Farms project and they encourage you to get in touch to see how you can pledge your support too! Two ways you can help:

1). Email the Oceanside Mayor and Councilmembers to express your support for this project. The following e-mail address goes to all members of the City Council:  Council@ci.oceanside.ca.us or if you prefer to email individual councilmembers you can reach them as follows:
Mayor Peter Weiss: pweiss@ci.oceanside.ca.us
Deputy Mayor Jack Feller: jfeller@ci.oceanside.ca.us
Councilmember Ryan Keim: rkeim@oceansideca.org
Councilmember Christopher Rodriguez: crodriguez@ci.oceanside.ca.us
Councilmember Esther Sanchez: esanchez@ci.oceanside.ca.us

2). Attend the March 13th City Council meeting to express your support of the project in person. The council meeting agenda will be posted later this week at https://www.ci.oceanside.ca.us/gov/council/agenda.asp