Local woman sought in Lumberyard jewelry store burglary

NBC 7:

Two suspected thieves, a man and a woman, entered a jewelry store in Encinitas by removing the Plexiglass windows and stealing about $30,000 worth of jewelry.

The burglary occurred on Aug. 22 around 4:30 a.m. inside the Three Sisters Jewelry Store on South Coast Highway in Encinitas, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) confirmed.

SDSO released photos of the suspected thieves Thursday.

The woman, identified to be Lily Coelho, has a felony warrant out for her arrest. She is still at large, Sheriff's officials said.

It appears Coelho most recently lived in Carlsbad, though she lived on Hermes in Leucadia in 2013.

This Facebook profile describes Lily Coelho as a graduate of Sunset High and a dancer who works at Pure Platinum.

San Diego considers curbs on vacation rentals

U-T:

Under Bry’s suggested regulations, homeowners would be allowed to rent out only their primary residences on a short-term basis but for no more than 90 days a year. By clamping down on such rentals, Bry says her proposal would effectively shut down the transformation of single-family homes by absentee investors into what she calls “full-time mini-hotels in residential zones.”

The same issue is beginnning to affect Encinitas' coastal neighborhoods. So far, the city likes the hotel tax revenue and the neighbors aren't complaining too much. Of course, turning residences into vacation rentals exacerbates the housing shortage that everyone is so worked up about.

P.S. How about prohibiting vacation rentals in any new complexes built in the high-density zones being created in the new Housing Task Force plan? That would further the goal of creating real housing, without infringing on the property rights of existing residents and owners.

8/16/17 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Blakespear supportive, Barth skeptical of 2-story housing plan

Coast News:

Encinitas can develop an affordable housing plan that limits buildings to two stories and less than 30 feet in height and satisfy its regional housing mandates — but they’ll have to make some concessions to get there.

This was the word from a report authored by a city-hired consultant who unveiled his findings at a recent housing element task force meeting.

[...]

Former Councilwoman Teresa Barth in a recent newsletter questioned the trade-off.

“Will more crowded-in two story buildings be better than limited three story buildings with setbacks?” Barth said in the newsletter.

Blakespear acknowledged that the city would have to make some concessions to satisfy voters’ concerns about building heights.

How badly do you really have to mess with the setbacks? One acre at two stories is 87,120 square feet. That's enough for thirty 1000-sqft apartments plus with almost two thirds of the land left over for setbacks, parking, and green space. Make the units more affordable at 800 or 900 square feet on average and you have even more room.

8/16/17 City Council meeting open thread

What did we miss?

Hit-and-run vehicle possibly found, driver appeared under influence

10 News:

A car possibly linked to a hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a woman was found in the Mira Mesa area, according to San Diego police.

Officers responded to a call at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday regarding a white 1998 Mercedes-Benz with front-end and windshield damage parked in front of a Pizza Hut in the 8000 block of Mira Mesa Boulevard.

According to police, officers arrived and found a man inside the car while a female passenger was inside getting a pizza.

The woman was questioned, and the man -- who police said appeared to be under the influence -- was detained.

Stephanie Berger-McKenna's friends and family are posting updates on her condition here.

UPDATE: Wrong car, but police say they still have good leads.

Hit and run on bicyclist in Leucadia 101 "sharrows" lane

Del Mar Times:

Authorities are looking for a person who struck a woman with their [sic] car and fled the scene on Aug. 11. in Encinitas.

Deputies from San Diego County Sheriff's Department's North Coastal Station responded to the area of North Coast Highway 101 and Basil Street at 10:07 p.m. in response to reports of a vehicle versus bicyclist collision, according to a news release from the Sheriff's Department.

A preliminary investigation found a 30-year-old woman was riding her bicycle southbound in the designated bicycle "Sharrow" lane when she was hit by a vehicle, authorities said.

The car then fled the scene southbound, and the woman was taken to Scripps La Jolla Hospital with severe head trauma, according to the Sheriff's Department.

The suspect vehicle was described as a 1993 to 2000 Mercedes C series, silver or white in color. Authorities said the car has damage to the front grill.

Instagram:



UPDATE: Cyclist identified as 29-year-old Stephanie Berger, in a medically induced coma.

There can't be that many pre-2001 Mercedes C Series cars registered in the area, can there?

Consultant finds Measure T's building height increases completely unnecessary and number of upzone sites vastly more than required

Del Mar Times:

Lower building heights and fewer units than what were proposed in Measure T could be possible in Encinitas' next housing element update, a consultant told the city's Housing Element Task Force in a meeting Aug. 10 at city hall.

Dave Barquist, project manager for the Orange County-based Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., whom the task force hired as its consultant earlier this year, analyzed potential scenarios at the meeting to see what could fit in a cap of 30 feet or two stories, suggesting overlays could mean the number of parcels goes down from 195 — the number proposed in the failed Measure T — to as little as around 70.

This would eliminate any site that would yield fewer than 16 units, including smaller sites downtown and in Leucadia that were included in Measure T. Although the sites are the same ones proposed in Measure T, which have already been through environmental review, Barquist noted this plan would reduce the total number of sites.

So why didn't the city council get a second opinion before trying to cram Measure T down our throats?

And is Marco Gonzalez going to apologize for calling Measure T opponents liars?

And does Lisa Shaffer still want to impose unnecessary, unaffordable high density on Encinitas?

High-density housing, Encinitas style

$3500/month for one bedroom in Pacific Station.  With a view of the back wall of Nixon.

Fortunately, the loading dock immediately below has been a lot quieter since Whole Foods left.

Encinitas $100,000 pension club expands to 19

Mark Muir is still the pension king at $185,000 per year.

Transparent California:

Name	Pension	Years of	Year of
		Service	Retirement
Mark Muir	$184,888.08	34.21	2011
Donald G Heiser	$162,463.68	33.79	2006
Joseph W Bunn	$157,929.12	31.02	2010
Jeffrey S Henry	$153,603.96	33	2013
Michael P Daigle	$138,536.16	28.71	2015
Talmadge F Tufts	$131,159.16	33.35	2005
Vincent-Peer Hubner	$121,711.20	Beneficiary	2011
Darlene R Hill	$113,748.96	36.26	2009
Gary A Reeve	$111,970.88	34.71	2002
Robert M Romero	$111,576.36	35.1	2009
Robert J Lamarsh	$108,832.26	33.46	1992
David L Moore	$106,583.88	31.73	2007
Richard S Phillips	$103,726.92	25.99	2014
Thomas E Curriden	$102,611.28	31.59	2013
Charles Essex	$102,604.32	31.27	2014
Darrin R Ward	$102,011.76	21.26	2014
John C Gonzales	$101,669.40	30	2014
Steve M Walsh	$101,651.88	32.41	2006
James R Kelly	$101,395.68	30.57	2007

8/9/17 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

District elections could pit Kranz against Boerner

Seaside Courier: Encinitas likely the next North County city to go with district elections
.
This would result in four council districts plus the at-large mayor. Muir lives in western New Encinitas, while Mosca lives in Olivenhain, so their districts would be unlikely to collide. Kranz and Boerner, however, both live in western Leucadia, so it would take extremely shameless gerrymandering to create separate districts for them.

Another open question is whether elections would be every two years or every four years. Voters showed an overwhelming preference for 2-year elections when asked about the mayor position, but politicians usually prefer to face the voters as infrequently as possible.

San Dieguito grad & Seaside Market employee sentenced to 21 years

Last year we brought you the strange tale of longtime local 53-year-old Robert Parker, who had a bad morning and robbed a restaurant and was shot by cops after crashing his motorcycle.

He was sentenced to 21 years, which is way more than people get for trying to kidnap and rape underage girls these days.

Which one do you think is a bigger threat to the public in the future?

Beavis & Butthead kidnapping duo due in court today

Jeremiah Owens' and Christopher White's arraignment is scheduled for 1:30 PM.

UPDATE: Denied bail.