Escondido

Construction of a 20-acre water amusement park on Champagne Boulevard north of the Lawrence Welk Village retirement community was approved Thursday the county’s Planning and Environmental Review Board.

The water park, to be called “Waterfun Paradise,” was proposed by Carlsbad resident Bert Morrow and will feature four lakes, with water slides and a machine capable of producing four-foot waves for surf-mat and bellyboard surfing. The park will also feature a restaurant.

The park would have a daily capacity of 2,000.

The park itself will cover 12 acres now given to a quarter horse ranch; the rest would be used for landscaping and parking.

Opposition to the park was voiced by Lawrence Welk Village residents who complained of noise and increased traffic along Champagne Boulevard, the Old Highway 395 which runs parallel to Interstate 15.

But county planners say most visitors to the park probably will drive there by way of I-15, exiting at Old Castle Road and doubling back on Champagne Boulevard three-quarters of a mile to the water park, rather than by driving on Champagne Boulevard directly in front of the retirement community.

The planning and environmental review board ordered that Morrow widen Champagne Boulevard at the park site and help pay for a traffic signal at Champagne Boulevard and Old Castle Road. The board also banned the consumption of alcohol on the site.

Residents of Lawrence Welk Village said they might appeal the planning board’s decision within 10 days, thereby sending it to the county Planning Commission for a public hearing.

The rolling hillside property is zoned for low-density residential and agricultural use, but the zoning allows for such recreational uses as the water park if a major use permit is granted.