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Archived
News and Projects Oceanside Non-profit Disability Center Wants to increase Facilities
Oceanside Nonprofit eyeing Twin Oaks land
TWIN OAKS ---- An Oceanside nonprofit organization that operates a school for disabled children and a training program for disabled adults wants to purchase land off Deer Springs Road with the help of a $1 million donation.
The nonprofit, T.E.R.I. Inc., short for Training, Education & Research Institute for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities, was founded in Oceanside in 1980. The program serves more than 220 adults through vocational training and a daycare program for disabled adults.
Its main office is in Oceanside at 3225 Roymar Road. It has three satellite offices in Oceanside and a private school in San Marcos on Linda Vista Drive that serves 41 children with autism and other learning disabilities.
Members of the organization envision a $15 million complex that brings together the various offices in a rural setting.
"Our goal is to get everyone back together on a main campus," said Susan Zandstra, T.E.R.I.'s director of health services.
The organization wants to purchase 20 acres at 555 Deer Springs Road, which is in the unincorporated area of the county known as Twin Oaks, just north of San Marcos.
T.E.R.I. put a bid on the property last week and should know by the end of the week whether it is accepted, Zandstra said.
The rural setting would be ideal for the organization which has plans to bring an existing equestrian program to the site, Zandstra said.
T.E.R.I. has been raising money toward the project for about 5 years, Zandstra said. So far, the organization has raised about $1.75 million, which includes a $1 million donation from San Diego businessman Charles R. Cono. Cono's donation makes the purchase of the land, about $1.5 million, possible.
The first phase of the project would include the adult development center designed to serve some 200 adults, an architect's renderings show. The center would have offices, an auditorium, a computer lab and a library. The private school would be built next. Later phases would include an aquatic center, a transportation and maintenance building to house the agency's fleet of 22 vehicles and gardens, sports courts and picnic areas.
A spokesperson for the county's planning department said the project would need a major-use permit.
Gil Jemmott, the chairman of the Twin Oaks Valley Sponsor Group, said that T.E.R.I. has asked to make a presentation to the sponsor group at its April 17 meeting. The sponsor group advises the county on land-use issues in the unincorporated area of Twin Oaks.
Jemmott said the sponsor group would be interested in knowing how many buses and other vehicles would be coming and going from the site. Group members would also be interested in finding out whether pesticide use would be restricted on surrounding agricultural lands if a school were added to the property, he said.
The property is just a few miles away from a site on Buena Creek Road where Casa de Amparo, a shelter for battered children, is proposing a $15 million shelter to house 52 children and provide daycare to an additional 46.
Jemmott said since he has not seen the plans for either project and could not comment on their combined traffic impacts in the rural area.
Contact staff writer Katherine Marks at (760) 761-4411 or kmarks@nctimes.com. Read More Archived News Stories AB896 General Human Interest Litigation State Budget
CASH/PCR is a nonprofit public benefit corporation and is not organized for the private gain of any person. It is organized under the California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation law for public and charitable purposes. |
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