Ever since Camp Pendleton opened on its northern border during World War II, Oceanside has been known as a military town. Over the years, nude dance clubs, rough bars, tattoo parlors and hourly motels flourished in the beachfront downtown, giving Oceanside a reputation as a tough town with a high crime rate. But city officials, civic leaders and merchants in this northern San Diego County town of 160,000 people have worked hard to make those days history. Now, downtown is on a comeback, aided by new row houses and an evolving retail scene. Although the city's redevelopment efforts remain controversial and have experienced setbacks, the redevelopment agency did bring in a multi-screen theater. A developer wants to build a high-end, beachfront resort. And a pharmaceutical company is moving forward with plans for a $1.25 billion campus in a new industrial park in a different part of town. "After doing this for 10 years, we are an overnight success," said John Daley, president of the new Main Street association. "We've really had an incredible summer with tens of thousands of people coming downtown, more so that at any other time." Ten years ago, Daley and other merchants started the "downtown business watch" because drug sales, prostitution and gang activity were flourishing. Business owners hired private security and kept a close eye on suspicious activity. As the climate improved, the group evolved into the Downtown Business Association, which marketed the district, organized cleanup programs and promoted concerts. That group eventually became Main Street Oceanside, which gained sanction from the state Trade and Commerce Agency earlier this year. Daley, who has been active in Oceanside civic affairs for three decades, said merchants' partnership with City Hall has been crucial in downtown's turnaround. "It's the place to be now in Oceanside," he said. Oceanside Planning Director Michael Blessing called the downtown comeback "truly remarkable … we don't just have young Marines looking for something to do. We have all kinds of people there now." Restaurants and shops catering to surfers and beach-going families have replaced some of the rougher establishments. The opening of a downtown multiplex in November 1999 was also key because it introduced a whole new population to the downtown, which sits next to a wide, 3 1/2-mile-long beach. Daley called the movie theater an important step, but he noted that the city's redevelopment process was very slow, starting nearly 20 years earlier when the city leveled a number of buildings. Now the developer, DDR Oliver McMillan, has backed away from completing other retail portions of the project. And downtown redevelopment has been a controversial topic during this fall's City Council election campaign, which drew 15 candidates for two seats. The city did spend more than $6 million for the cinema — selling the land at a great discount, clearing the site and creating parking, Redevelopment Director Doug Clark said. Although Oliver McMillan's departure has forced the city to rethink the rest of the two-block project, the theater has drawn other businesses to the area, he said. While the multiplex project is long and expensive, nothing else has been as controversial as the proposed Manchester Resort. Two years ago, 55% of Oceanside voters approved a ballot measure to permit a large oceanfront resort. Catellus Corporation and San Diego developer Doug Manchester both proposed resorts for approximately the same area on the edge of downtown. The city decided to work with Manchester, who proposed an elaborate resort with 500 hotels rooms in twin 12-story towers, a 100-unit, time-share resort, a spa, ice rink, entertainment pavilion and retail stores, as well as one to three resort golf courses across town. However, the downtown project would have wiped out the city's amphitheater and civic center, displaced three historic houses, leveled a bluff, taken over three blocks of vacant beach-level real estate owned by the city, and closed a few blocks of Pacific Street to traffic. Despite public complaints of the resort's impacts, the City Council voted 4-1 to approve the Manchester project in April. Opponents filed a lawsuit over the environmental impact report, but a judge threw out the lawsuit because it was filed one day after the legal deadline. However, the opposition did not go away and it became apparent that getting Coastal Commission approval for the project would be very difficult, as the project involved converting public parkland to private use. The city applied for an amendment to its Local Coastal Plan to allow a project like the Manchester Resort, but the amendment process has not gone beyond the discussion stage, said Diana Lilly, a California Coastal Commission analyst. Lilly said she is waiting for details from the city, and no hearing has been scheduled before the commission. She might have to wait a while because Manchester has backed away from the earlier proposal. The revised project will probably have a 400-room hotel with no time-share resort, and refurbishment of the existing amphitheater, according to Blessing. "Basically, it's a new project," said Blessing, who hopes the revised project will not require an LCP amendment. "If that gets built, it will have a significant impact on the landscape in Oceanside, especially from a tourist's point of view," Blessing said. Several other hotels have expressed interest because of the downtown comeback and plans to improve the harbor, said Jane McVey, the city's economic development director. But opponents, including a number of environmental groups, contend Oceanside has no need for an upscale resort. Oceanside plays an important role as a blue-collar beach town in a region of upscale coastal development, said Mark Massara, head of the Sierra Club's Coastal Program. The proposed Manchester Resort site would be ideal for a public park or low-cost facilities for beach-goers, he said. "Our feeling is that there is no shortage of luxury, visitor-serving, coastal accommodations," Massara said. While Massara and others fight the slow gentrification of Oceanside, the popularity of pricey, infill housing continues to grow. Buyers quickly snapped up about 40 row houses built near a transit station, even as the price for houses on lots as small as 2,500 square feet hit the mid-$400,000s. Developers are now looking for other infill opportunities, and the conversion of a former telephone switching station to live/work lofts is going forward, Clark said. East of Interstate 5, several housing projects are going forward, including a 600-acre master planned community with 800 to 1,200 homes, a golf course, parks and a neighborhood commercial center. But, more importantly, development of the 400-acre Ocean Ranch Corporate Center is underway. In September, IDEC Pharmaceuticals closed escrow on 60 acres in the industrial park where it will build a 1.37-million-square-foot research and manufacturing facility valued at $1.25 billion, according to Jane McVey, the city's economic development director. Biotechnology research companies have congregated around University of California, San Diego, approximately 25 miles south of Oceanside, but opportunities for expansion near UCSD are limited. "We have an industry in its infancy in San Diego that has nowhere to manufacture this stuff," McVey said. "The timing is just right. What it has done is given us other opportunities." The city waived most development impact fees to lure IDEC and its 2,400 jobs, most of which will be in the $45,000- to $65,000-a-year range. The city and Hon Development Corp., the Ocean Ranch developer, are aggressively marketing the site. With only 0.62 jobs per household, Oceanside needs employers, and the city hopes the industrial park will eventually provide 7,000 to 8,000 jobs. Next to the Ocean Ranch Corporate Center is the 150-acre Rancho Del Oro Technology Park, which has developed rapidly in the last few years. The fact that until recently Oceanside had 550 acres of mostly undeveloped, industrially zoned land that was not being marketed presented a remarkable opportunity, especially considering the town's location between Orange County and San Diego, McVey said. That location has helped make Oceanside's Amtrak station the second busiest in the state. Now, the North County Transit District is working on a light rail line from Oceanside to the inland city of Escondido that is scheduled to open in 2004. Oceanside is taking advantage of its six future light rail stations by preparing land use plans for the areas. The city should complete studies for those plans by year's end, Blessing said. Contacts: Michael Blessing, Oceanside planning director, (760) 966-4770. Jane McVey, Oceanside economic development director, (760) 435-3355. Doug Clark, Oceanside redevelopment director, (760) 435-3539. Diana Lilly, Coastal Commission analyst, (619) 767-2370. John Daley, Main Street Oceanside president, (760) 439-1319. Mark Massara, Sierra Club Coastal Program coordinator, (415) 665-7008.