San Elijo Hills Town Square -- a one-block park complete with a monument-sized fountain and shaded tables -- is destined to be the center of the community's 12-acre town center, a lively blend of shops, schools, homes and recreational amenities. More importantly, it represents an approach to life that has been embraced by San Elijo Hills' 875 households.

San Elijo Hills Town Square, with its landmark fountain, is the site of numerous community activities throughout the year. Plans call for a 12-acre town center with shops, schools, homes and recreational amenities surrounding the town square.

"The town square epitomizes the neighborly atmosphere that is at the heart of San Elijo Hills," said Curt Noland, general manager of the 1,920-acre community that occupies the highest point in coastal North County. "Just last month, the town square welcomed 1,600 residents and friends who came together to celebrate the Fourth of July in their new hometown. Our annual Independence Day parade in the square attracted about 200 youngsters outfitted in red, white and blue in every configuration -- and necessitated a move to a larger venue next year."

The town square is also the traditional site for the hugely popular HarvestFest in the fall, Christmas festivities and an Easter Egg Hunt.

Today, the community's award-winning Visitor Center overlooks the town square. Over the next several years, the town center will evolve into a walkable business district with a grocery store, post office, shops, cafes and offices, as well as a variety of townhomes, apartments and condominiums.

Development plans for the town center are progressing. "We're nearing approval of the Specific Plan Amendment, which will allow us to complete the contractual arrangements with the builder, as well as prepare a development schedule and start negotiating with lessees," Noland said. "In the ideal world, if all goes as planned, construction of the town center will begin in early 2004."

For the design of the town center, San Elijo Hills sought input from one of the masters of the New Urbanism movement, Peter Calthorpe, principal of Calthorpe Associates of Berkeley. The result will be a mixed-use area that is inviting to pedestrians and functional for motorists. Shops will open onto the town square, accentuating the area's small-town atmosphere.

Several significant town center elements are already under development, including the 19-acre city park and the 30-acre educational campus. Construction of the park is well under way and scheduled for completion this fall.

The multilevel park, designed by ONA Landscape Architects, creates separate spaces for a variety of uses, including baseball and soccer, picnicking, outdoor concerts, hiking, free play and festivals. The park also features a 6,500-square-foot community building with a daycare facility and meeting rooms that can be reserved for community activities and private events.

The park will also be the main trailhead for an 18-mile network of trails that winds through San Elijo Hills' 1,115 acres of open space. The trail system, which offers sweeping ocean and countryside views, has been cleverly designed to feature natural and manmade points of interest.

Construction is also under way on the two-story San Elijo School, which will have a prominent civic presence across from the town square. The school site will ultimately feature both a middle school and an elementary school. The new school, scheduled to open in the fall of 2004, will function as a K-8 school, until the adjacent elementary school is built.

The individual neighborhoods are also designed to bring the community together by incorporating popular town-planning features from the past.

The proposed San Elijo Hills Towncenter features homes, retail shops, schools, a joint-use library and a traditional town square park. Recognized as one of the best planned communities in the country, San Elijo Hills has earned awards from the National Association of Homebuilders, the Pacific Coast Builders Conference and other industry groups.

"Our land planning is a response to San Elijo Hills' striking terrain that offers breathtaking ocean views from 26 of the 28 single-family residential neighborhoods planned for the community," Noland said. "We studied the land, and then we studied traditional Southern California towns that have maintained their desirability for a long period of time."

The result is an architectural aesthetic that is reminiscent of the eclectic architecture that took root in the 1920s and 1930s in neighborhoods such as old Pasadena, Mission Hills and San Marino.

While the homes have a definite Southern California feel with plenty of outdoor living spaces, the architecture emulates Craftsman, Spanish, Prairie, American Traditional, English Country, California Bungalow, French Country and Italian Renaissance architecture found in these cherished older neighborhoods.

The design of the homes also promotes social interaction. "We have encouraged our guest builders to design homes with front porches, with living areas that relate to the street and with outdoor spaces in both the front and the rear," Noland said.

"We have also narrowed streets to diminish their 'barrier effect' and naturally slow traffic. Additionally, we've eliminated the endless canyons of three-car garages that dominate some neighborhoods," he said.

These architectural decisions combine to make the street a unifying part of the neighborhood, rather than a dividing element. The street has become a place where neighbors gather because it is aesthetically pleasing.

Care has also been taken to weave open space into the neighborhoods, connecting them with the preserve that borders the community.

"Our objective is to create a seamless transition from the homes to the open space, so that over time, it will appear like the neighborhoods have always been a part of the landscape," he said, noting that the land plan also gives residents easy access to the community's trail system.

San Elijo Hills is currently offering attached home neighborhoods near the town center. Six new single-family home neighborhoods will be opening soon. Prices in the popular community range from the $300,000s to the high $800,000s.

San Elijo Hills' emphasis on community building has been embraced by its homeowners. "In surveys of new homebuyers, the majority say they were attracted by the community, rather than by their individual home," Noland said. "And, they have turned into our best ambassadors. More than 30 percent of our buyers are referred to the community by current residents."

Last year, homebuyers purchased more than 500 homes, making it one of the top-selling planned communities in the county.

The same features that have attracted homebuyers have earned national attention from the building industry. During the past 18 months, San Elijo Hills has been awarded all three of three awards by the building industry. Last year, the National Association of Home Builders honored it as Master-Planned Community of the Year, and the Pacific Coast Builders Conference awarded it the Gold Nugget Grand Award in the Community/Town Plan category. Earlier this year, MAME, an industry competition that receives 500 entries from throughout Southern California, acknowledged the community as Best Master-Planned Community.

In addition to the physical amenities designed to create neighborly bonds, San Elijo Hills has a "virtual" aspect that also unites the community, Noland explained. "The San Elijo Hills' Community Network links all homes and future businesses through a password-protected site."

Residents can e-mail their neighbors, join a community club and keep up with community activities, such as trail walks and concerts in the park. Once the school is open, families will be able to keep in touch with teachers, monitor homework assignments and keep track of school events. The network will also link with businesses in the town center.

Access to the community network is also available at the San Elijo Café, a fully operational coffee shop and café with computer terminals, located within the Visitor Center. At the San Elijo Café, residents and visitors are welcome to access the Internet while getting together for breakfast, lunch or snacks.

Metz is principal of Metz Public Relations.

Related Link

San Elijo Hills: www.sanelijohills.co