5/31/17 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Hipster hoteliers meet Keep Leucadia Funky locals

Del Mar Times:

A Planning Commission discussion of a remodel of an older existing Leucadia hotel into a small luxury hotel will continue in June.

The proposed project, by Encinitas-based 101 Hotel, Inc., calls for the demolition of the interior of the existing 45-room Portofino Beach Inn, at 186 North Coast Highway 101, to reconfigure the layout to allow for a 44-room boutique hotel called The Ray with a full-service restaurant, complimentary valet parking for guests, a 600-square-foot lobby and new eight-foot sign on Coast Highway 101.

It would also include indoor and rooftop bars.

Neighbors, and at least one planning commissioner, aren't amused.

5/24/17 City Council meeting open thread

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Airbnb eliminating "affordable housing" in tourist areas

We've already seen in Encinitas how vacation rentals and second homes for the rich quickly put an end to Smart Growthers' utopian dreams.

The LA Times explores further:

As short-term rental websites such as Airbnb explode in popularity in Southern California, a growing number of homeowners and landlords are caving to the economics. A study released Wednesday from Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, a labor-backed advocacy group, estimates that more than 7,000 houses and apartments have been taken off the rental market in metro Los Angeles for use as short-term rentals. In parts of tourist-friendly neighborhoods such as Venice and Hollywood, Airbnb listings account for 4% or more of all housing units, according to a Times analysis of data from Airbnb's website.

A search for Encinitas on Airbnb shows hundreds of units currently available.  The prime-location apartments and condos envisioned by the failed Measure T would have been even more likely to end up as vacation rentals.

Perhaps Encinitas' Housing Element Task Force should consider a prohibition on vacation rentals in any new developments that take advantage of upzoning?

Crossbow bolt fired into Encinitas home

10 News:

On Vanessa Circle on Saturday afternoon, Gretchen Schmidt and her husband heard a noise, then found an arrow on their bedroom floor.

It was about 18 to 20 inches long with a metal tip. Brett Scott, owner of Willow Creek Archery, identified it as crossbow bolt, which can travel up to a quarter mile at high speeds.

The bolt pierced a screen, two glass panes and blinds, before landing feet from the bed.

No, it's not Olivenhain again. This is New Encinitas just behind El Camino Real.

5/17/17 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Coastal Commission orders Rail Trail moved to east side

Union-Trib:

The commission voted to support a 1.3-mile route east of the railroad tracks along San Elijo Avenue from Chesterfield Drive north to Santa Fe Drive.

“I’m shocked,” said Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear, who had spoken eloquently to the commission in favor of a placing the bicycle and pedestrian paths along Coast Highway 101 west of the railroad tracks.

“I’m very disappointed,” Blakespear said. “We’ve been working on this for the last year. I don’t know what else we could have done.”

[...]

Only a few residents supported building the trail along San Elijo Avenue.

“We need new infrastructure, and we need it on the east side where it belongs,” said former Encinitas Councilwoman Lisa Shaffer.

What a million dollars will buy you in Encinitas

The stunning 237 La Mesa Avenue.

Fraternity member from Encinitas among 18 charged in Penn State hazing death

The February Penn State fraternity hazing death has recently made national news as details come out:

[Timothy] Piazza, a 19-year-old sophomore and pledge at Penn State's Beta Theta Pi fraternity, died on Feb. 4, after he fell down the stairs during a pledge ceremony at the house on the night of Feb. 2. Fraternity members did not call 911 until the morning of Feb. 3, about 12 hours after Piazza's fall, according to a report on the grand jury's investigation. Piazza's death "was the direct result of traumatic brain injuries," according to the forensic pathologist.

The eight or nine full-color and full-broadcast-quality cameras at Beta Theta Pi showed that Piazza’s skin had turned gray by the morning of the 911 call, Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller told ABC News. The color change was especially noticeable in the final 40 minutes before the 911 call -- the time period prosecutors call the "cover-up" -- during which the students allegedly wanted to make Piazza appear healthier than he was by trying to dress him in clean clothes, Parks Miller said.

More from Philly.com:

After his initial fall, members of the fraternity moved him to a couch "and hovered over him for hours" but did not seek emergency help until the next morning, about 12 hours later, [District Attorney Stacy] Parks Miller said, though injuries were visible to his stomach and head.

According to the grand jury presentment, Kordel Davis, a newly initiated fraternity member, told other members that Piazza needed to go to the hospital late on the night of the party. He said he was rebuffed by Neuman, who shoved him and said that the members had the situation under control.

Overnight, Piazza fell several more times as he tried to move about. He lastly fell a second time down the basement stairs, where he would remain for hours before the fraternity members discovered him in the morning, Parks Miller said.

His chest was bare, he was breathing heavily, and he had blood on his face, according to the presentment.

2016 La Costa Canyon graduate and long-time Olivenhain resident Luke Visser is among the 8 of the 18 suspects facing the most serious charges:

Luke Visser, 19, of Encinitas, California: Aggravated assault, involuntary manslaughter, simple assault, reckless endangerment, hazing, alcohol-related charges.

5/10/17 City Council meeting open thread

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Tortilla Flats fire sale

Almost a year ago, the Leucadia Blog highlighted a new house in the Tortilla Flats neighborhood selling for more than $2 million.

The sellers just dropped the price to $1.7 million, and Redfin predicts a quick sale.

Lazy Acres parking

Nice work, City of Encinitas!

That's why we pay those six-figure pensions: you can't get planning and engineering talent like this on the cheap!

Police action

Encinitas Boulevard at Vulcan right now. That's a car up in the trees beyond the woman on the phone.

Coastal Commission staff pushes Rail Trail back onto east side of tracks

From Preserve Cardiff Rail Corridor, a petition before the May 11 Coastal Commission vote:

URGENT UPDATE - Coastal Commission staff report recommends Commissioners vote to place the Coastal Rail Trail BACK IN THE CARDIFF RAIL CORRIDOR.