Council addresses homeless shopping cart theft

 Encinitas Advocate:

First, it establishes that it’s unlawful under city municipal code to remove a shopping cart from a store’s premises or be in possession of a cart in an off-site area. Second, it makes it unlawful for stores to allow shopping carts to be abandoned, details how stores must identify the carts that they own, and states how quickly stores must collect abandoned carts. And, finally, the proposed ordinance spells out city code enforcement employees’ role in dealing with carts that have been dumped in hard-to-reach spots, such as stream beds, Steenblock said.

Steenblock said Encinitas spends about $3,000 to $6,000 a year in labor costs to remove abandoned grocery carts from places where they shouldn’t be. The city keeps them for 30 days in hopes that their owners will claim them, but typically that doesn’t happen, and the city ends up having to dispose of them, he said.

Restaurant seating in parking spaces gets 2 1/2 year extension

Encinitas Advocate:

Coast Highway 101 restaurants and other Encinitas eateries that were allowed to build temporary outdoor dining areas on public roadways and private parking lots during the COVID-19 pandemic can keep them for at least another two years, and probably permanently, the Encinitas City Council decided Wednesday, Dec. 20.

The council voted 4-1, with Councilmember Bruce Ehlers opposed, to continue allowing the outdoor eating areas on a temporary basis until July 1, 2026, and directed city employees to craft an ordinance that would make these temporary areas permanent. Also, city employees were asked to put together a fee system, so the city can soon start charging rent for the ones that have been built on parking spots in the public road right-of-way.

12/20/23 City Council meeting open thread

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Fatal crash on Cantebria

Encinitas Advocate:

A woman died after her minivan crashed into a retaining wall in Encinitas Tuesday night, Dec. 19, sheriff’s officials said.

The collision was reported just after 11:30 p.m. on Via Cantebria near Via Montoro.

Investigators determined the vehicle was headed north on Via Cantebria when, for some reason, it left the road, struck a pole or a streetlight, and then crashed into the wall, officials said. Deputies and paramedics tried to help the woman, but she died before she could be taken to a hospital.

12/13/23 City Council meeting open thread

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Swami’s benches return with anti-homeless armrests

NBC 7:

The benches were gone for more than two weeks while they were being refurbished, according to the city. Upon their return, the benches now feature an armrest in the middle.

“Armrests on City benches are the preferred standards due to providing distancing functions or boundaries for personal space, separation between seats for more people to utilize it at once, and deterrents to skateboarding," the city said in a statement.