12/12/18 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

UPDATE: Everyone wants Streetscape ASAP. Blakespear wants a bike lane to replace the “sharrows”  in the interim while Streetscape takes months or years. Kranz and Streetscape advocates don’t want bike lanes because they will remove the urgency of Streetscape.

City planners coordinated with Surfrider to push Beacon's skyway

From the Inbox:

These were brought up several times again at this past Thursday's Planning Commission meeting. One speaker printed out a set for each Commissioner so they would have hard copies.

After being asked specifically at the first meeting whether there was any prearrangement with Surfrider, Brenda Wisneski stated adamantly there was not. Later in the meeting she was caught out when the attached was shown.

The city in general and Brenda especially have an ongoing difficulty with what it means to be transparent. It's a word they use frequently, but rarely apply.

E-mail exchange between city staff and Surfrider here.

Beacon's skyway rejected again

Del Mar Times:

In their 3-2 vote, with Chairman Glenn O’Grady and Commissioner Jody Hubbard opposed, the commissioners took the unusual step of denying the latest proposal for a design review permit on the grounds that the project shouldn’t have been before them at all that night.

It’s only been a few months since commissioners rejected the previous proposal and city planning regulations state that unless a project’s backers are submitting a vastly different redesign, they must wait a full year before submitting a new plan, Commissioner Bruce Ehlers said as he put forward the denial idea.

His proposal was immediately backed by Commissioner Al Apuzzo, who hadn’t attended the July meeting when the previous proposal was rejected but said he had reviewed both that plan and this new one.

CalTrans bridge collapses at San Elijo Lagoon?

That’s not good.

UPDATE: Part of the design?

Cyclist critically injured on 101 in Leucada

Coast News:

The executive director of the Cardiff 101 Main Street Association, a staunch pedestrian and cycling advocate, was critically injured Saturday morning when she was struck by a truck while riding her bicycle in Leucadia.

Roberta Walker was struck shortly after 6 a.m. on North Coast Highway 101 in front of the Leucadia Post Office. The impact of the collision threw her a significant distance and she was briefly unconscious.

Walker was transported to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, where she is listed in critical but stable condition after suffering serious injuries to her brain and spine, as well as several broken bones, according to Kellie Shay Hinze, Walker’s friend and executive director of Cardiff 101’s sister organization, Leucadia 101 Main Street.

Dueling commentaries on Measure U

In this weekend's Coast News (not yet online):

Former Mayor Sheila Cameron:

Encinitas residents have no problem with conforming to state law guidelines. It is what the City Council itself has voted to include that made Measure U untenable. As one citizen stated to the Council, "We trust the state more than we trust you." That was a clear signal to the council that they were proceeding in the wrong direction. Here are the main issues voters had with Measure U:

1. Height: Our City Council requires 33- to 42-foot-tall buildings. The Housing & Community Development Department (HCD), the state agency, has no height recommendation. Proposition A -- the Right to Vote Initiative that allows us to vote on density and height of projects, requires 30 feet. Presentations were given at City Council meetings, to the mayor and council members showing buildings that were build locally, demonstrating that three stories can be built within the 30-foot height limit with the required 30 units per acre. Otis builds elevators at 28.5 feet that fit into a 30-foot structure. Despite repeated speeches and demonstrations by the public, the mayor and council proceeded with this huge height increase that only catered to developers wishes.

Current Mayor Catherine Blakespear:

Now that I've been re-elected with nearly 84 percent of the vote, I'm happy to continue letting you know in this column what we are working on at city hall. I'm honored by your overwhelming support!

[...]

My feeling remans that, in our two attempts, the city worked in good faith with tremendous dedication of time and resources to develop a housing plan that both met the state requirements and addressed community concerns about design standards and site selections.

Pick up a hard copy of the Coast News to read the whole thing.

Leucadia burglar caught on camera

CBS 8:

Terrifying moments for a Leucadia woman when a man broke into her home while she was inside.

The woman was able to chase him off, and now police are looking for the suspect who was caught caught clearly on camera by the victim's doorbell camera.