6/27/18 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Naked guy breaks into Days Inn hotel room

10 News:

Sheriff's Deputies responded to an Encinitas hotel room Tuesday night after reports of a break in on Encinitas Boulevard.

Upon arriving, deputies were told that a naked man broke into the Days Inn room around 10:15 p.m., and several teenagers were inside.

Deputies tell 10News that the man was staying in a room on the third floor and the teens, in town for a school field trip, were staying on the second floor.

The man got into the room, but eventually jumped off the second story of the building and landed on the windshield of a car below.

Motorcycle fatality at Moonlight Plaza

CBS 8:

According to authorities, the motorcyclist was popping a wheelie around 11:45 a.m. in the 400 block of South Coast Highway 101 when he lost control and slammed into the back of a patrol unit driven by a deputy.

Wheelie or no, it sure looks like a southbound deputy made a left turn in front of a northbound motorcyclist.

UPDATE: Victim is Carter Yarborough, 48.

Council removes four more sites in contentious, late-night meeting

Del Mar Times:

At just about 2 a.m. June 21, the council voted in favor of removing two of three HCD-recommended sites, as well as two additional, contested sites. Mayor Catherine Blakespear and Council member Tasha Boerner Horvath opposed the motion.

[...]

In addition to the elimination of the El Camino Real South parcel and Dewitt property, Kranz also recommended removing the former Frog's Gym site at 780 Garden View Court and a site on Rancho Santa Fe East in Olivenhain, with Deputy Mayor Joe Mosca and Council member Mark Muir agreeing. Both added sites received strong vocal opposition from residents at the meeting.

6/20/18 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Neighbors organizing against upzoning sites

... in Cardiff ... and in Olivenhain.

Well, it worked for Quail Gardens "L-7"!

But with time running out for HCD certification and placement on the November ballot, is it too late? Tomorrow night's City Council meeting should be a doozy!

Why didn't Sheriff's Department warn public there was a rapist on the loose in Encinitas?

NBC 7:

According to the complaint, the earliest evidence against Winslow stems from a March 17 incident when he allegedly kidnapped and raped a 54-year-old transient. The other alleged crimes occurred May 13, May 24 and June 1.

There is no indication, however, that SDSO investigators warned the public about that series of sex crimes, all but one of which was violent in nature.

While it’s unknown if the department had any identifying information about the perpetrator, law enforcement routinely sends out warnings and alerts that include a description of the suspect or other information that could help residents protect themselves and generate leads that help the investigation.

An SDSO spokesperson has since last Friday declined to provide any information about what the department knew about those earlier attacks, whether it issued any sort of public alert, and if not, why it chose not to inform the public.

Planning Commissioner Jody Hubbard to run for Council

Coast News:

Encinitas Planning Commissioner Jody Hubbard tossed her hat into the City Council ring, announcing her decision on June 10 through a campaign launch party. Hubbard will vie for District 3, which represents constituents in Cardiff and part of New Encinitas.

Mark Muir currently occupies the seat and has not publicly stated whether he will run for re-election in November. No other District 3 candidates have emerged yet.

[...]

Hubbard has been endorsed by Teresa Barth, former mayor of Encinitas, and by Lisa Shaffer, former deputy mayor.

Winslow charged with kidnapping, rape

10 News:

Former NFL player Kellen Winslow II was arrested for the second time in one week Thursday on charges including kidnapping, rape, and sodomy.

Winslow, the son of legendary Chargers tight end Kellen Winslow, was originally booked on a residential burglary charge on June 7.

The new charges filed Thursday include:

- Kidnapping with intent to commit rape - 2 counts
- Forcible rape - 2 counts
- Forcible sodomy - 1 count
- Forcible oral copulation - 1 count
- Residential burglary - 2 counts
- Indecent exposure - 1 count

It's unclear how, or whether at all, the new charges relate to the original burglary.

NBC:

SDSO Lt. Michael Blevins told NBC 7 there were multiple victims associated with the new charges but would not say how many. Blevins said the alleged incidents happened in the Encinitas area, but not in the Park Encinitas mobile home park where he was arrested last Thursday, June 7.

UPDATE: Encinitas Advocate:

Among the charges in the complaint:

- Kidnap, rape and forced oral copulation of a 54-year-old woman in March;
- Kidnap, rape and sodomy of a 59-year-old woman in May;
- Indecent exposure in May;
- Burglary with the intent to rape a 71-year-old woman in June;
- Burglary with the intent to rape an 86-year-old woman also in June.

And all the gruesome details are at Deadspin.

6/13/18 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Blakespear running for re-election

North Coast Current:

Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear announced her plans to run for re-election this November in an email to supporters Sunday, June 10.

“I’m excited to announce that I’m running for re-election as your Mayor in Encinitas this fall, and I wanted you to be among the first to know,” Blakespear wrote.

The more things change...

This Mary Fleener cartoon is from 2013.


(click to enlarge)

Planning Commission meeting gets contentious

U-T:

The Encinitas City Council should take another look at the 19 sites it is proposing to rezone for high-density housing and reconsider some of them before putting the list on the ballot in November, the city's Planning Commission unanimously agreed Thursday.

After hearing hours of testimony from 50 public speakers, commissioners said the speakers had made some very convincing points about the unsuitability of some of the sites. The commission didn't vote on which ones ought to be pulled from the controversial list, saying that highly politicized decision was the council's to make.

But, several commissioners said, at least three sites added late in the review process were prime removal candidates and one new site mentioned Thursday night should be added to the list. Both audience members and commissioners forecasted gloomy prospects for the ballot measure if the list remains as it is.

"If these three to four (sites) remain on here, there's really no shot it's going to pass," Commissioner Al Apuzzo said, referring to several sites that faced intense opposition from neighboring homeowners that night.

Kellen Winslow II arrested in Park Encinitas trailer park burglary

CBS 8:

Former NFL tight end Kellen Winslow II, the son of San Diego Chargers legend Kellen Winslow, was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of burglarizing a residence at the Park Encinitas Mobile Home Park.

Winslow was spotted around 2:40 p.m. walking into a residence at the park in the 400 block of North El Camino Real by a neighbor who lived nearby, according to Lt. Karen Stubkjaer of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.

The neighbor confronted Winslow because he did not recognize him as being the resident who lived there, Stubkjaer said.

The 34-year-old Winslow left the scene in a black SUV and deputies spotted him a short distance from the park, she said.

Winslow, a Cardiff homeowner, has had brushes with the law before.

Levin claims victory in 49th Congressional District

Coast News:

Republican Diane Harkey emerged as the top vote-getter after the June 5 primary election in the race to replace Darrell Issa, who did not seek re-election. The State Board of Equalization member will likely face Orange County environmental attorney Mike Levin, who leads Sara Jacobs and Doug Applegate with thousands of ballots remaining to be counted.

Sara Jacobs is still ahead of Levin by 200 votes in San Diego County's results, but Levin has a 2000-vote lead in Orange County.

Rehab racket comes to Encinitas

Coast News:

The proliferation of addiction recovery centers in Southern California coastal communities has given rise to the catchy nickname “Rehab Riviera.”

Largely unregulated and often incredibly expensive, these sober-living homes and rehab facilities for drug and alcohol addiction have led to numerous homeowner complaints in cities like Costa Mesa.

Leucadia residents at the City Council meeting on May 23 voiced their concerns that Encinitas could be the next stop on the Rehab Riviera if the city does not do something to regulate sober-living homes.

A lot of these places are a complete scam. They lure people to do rehab in a luxury location, bill the insurance thousands of dollars a month, then throw the patients out on the street when the insurance runs out. More on the racket at NBC Los Angeles.

Election results

Encinitas politicians go 1 for 5: Boerner advances to general election, Gaspar distant 5th, Stocks and Muir fail to break single digits but siphon enough votes to keep Graham and Republicans off the general election ballot.

It will take a while to count since so many people vote by mail now, but a lot of the races aren't very close. Jacobs and Levin are neck and neck for 2nd in the Congressional race though. Results here.

Leucadia Bull Taco location to get trendy Asian restaurant from D.C.

Eater San Diego:

Chiko, the Eater Awards 2017 editor’s choice winner for Game Changer of the Year in Washington, D.C., is winging its way to North County, where it will open in Encinitas later this summer. Named for the two cuisines — Chinese and Korean — that the menu most represents, it’s been an out-of-the gate hit since its opening last July and remains one of the toughest tables to score in the nation’s capital.

Housing update effect on traffic gridlock

From the Inbox:

Does the state law on the Housing Element upzoning require traffic gridlock?

To be fair, we already have LOS level F gridlock in many places around Encinitas, and you can't get worse than F, can you?