Rail Trail supporters respond

From the Inbox:

I am writing to set the record straight on the planned Cardiff Rail Trail after Encinitas City Council members Kristin Gaspar and Mark Muir recently wrote a letter about why they voted "No" on the Cardiff Rail Trail (which passed the Council 3-2 in May of 2015).

I am a member of the "Friends of the Cardiff Rail Trail", a group that supports the new trail along with the proposed at-grade railroad and road crossing at Montgomery Street. I created the yesrailtrail.com web site and its new sister site cardiffrailtrail.com.

While I respect Gaspar and Muir for going on the record with their opinions and the rationale for their vote, I am compelled to respond to some of the inaccuracies and scare tactics in their letter.

First of all, contrary to what Gaspar and Muir assert, the rail trail project enjoys a great deal of support in Encinitas. I know this because we have a list of nearly 900 supporters that grows every day. We have hundreds of strongly supportive emails, posts, and comments that are all attributable to actual residents (and these are not the automated form letters that Gaspar and Muir cite as overwhelming evidence of opposition). We also recently conducted an online non-partisan survey about the trail that was surfaced to 15,000 Encinitas residents and garnered several hundred responses. The bottom line from the survey is that Encinitas as a whole supports the trail with its east-side alignment by more than 2:1 and the community of Cardiff is in favor of it as well (albeit by a smaller margin than the rest of the city).

Gaspar and Muir respond to Cardiff neighbors' Rail Trail concerns

An e-mail from Mayor Gaspar and Councilman Muir to a group of residents who met with them about the Rail Trail:

The Coastal Rail Trail project is not new; it was originally envisioned in the late 1980s. Several prior councils recognized the negative impacts this project would have on our coastal community and, as a result, did not support it.

While some focus on the limited benefits of this project, such as encouraging people out of their cars and onto bikes, they fail to recognize the negative impacts associated with the project for the Cardiff community.

A primary reason citizens oppose this project is the change it would bring to this iconic area. The Cardiff rail corridor is the last undeveloped piece of coastal habitat in the area. It is an open space with a natural path and sandstone formations that is used regularly by joggers, pedestrians, dog walkers, children and cyclists. The rail corridor also provides parking to countless Encinitas beachgoers and those who stop to watch the sun set over Swami’s. The proposed project will pave over the natural path and line it with a 4 foot fence. It will also dramatically reduce beach parking. These changes dramatically alter the character and charm of this beach town community in an area where people frequently visit or have invested millions of dollars to buy property, presuming it would remain relatively untouched by development. As such, we believe that the Cardiff rail corridor should be preserved for current and future generations of Encinitas residents rather than developed.

To converse or not to converse, that is the question

From the Inbox:

This article "Council signals hesitant support for ‘community conversations’" was in last Friday's Coast News.

Of note is Shaffer's quote: “I am tentatively supportive, but reserve final commitment until I see what the content is, because it could go either way.” One has to wonder whether her "could go either way" comment stemmed from the result of the recent forum she held with Mark Muir. Things there certainly did not go Shaffer/Muir's way if they were hoping to talk people into a HEU "yes" vote next year. HCD admitted to the crowd that affordable housing was not possible without (nonexistent) State subsidies and Habitat for Humanity said they could build homes but only on donated land.

Parks & Rec Commissioner Mosca's former Sierra Madre constituents still avidly follow his career

Joe Mosca must have made a real impression on Sierra Madre during his brief time as council member and mayor there. Years later, an update on the re-launch of his political career in Encinitas immediately draws more than 50 comments.

Late night driver driving away from downtown 101 inexplicably hits trees, rolls over

CBS 8:

Sheriff's deputies say the driver was heading north on Coast Highway 101 shortly after midnight when he hit two small trees on the side of the road.

The collision caused the truck to rollover on its roof.

At this time, it's unclear what caused the accident or whether alcohol was involved.

El Callejon closing

Long-time local favorite Mexican restaurant El Callejon has lost its lease and is leaving Moonlight Plaza at the end of January. The restaurant will reportedly open a new location in the Rancho Santa Fe village.

HT: EU commenters.

Drunks of Encinitas

Sunday night DUI checkpoint catches two more drunk drivers in Encinitas' late night drunk district.

Wrong-way driver in fatal crash was Encinitas resident. The guy drove the wrong way on I-5 all the way from the Mexican border to Encinitas before killing two people. David Elmore, 29, had previous addresses both in Pacific Beach and at the Quail Pointe apartments at 924 Encinitas Boulevard. Elmore's Facebook page lists him as a bartender at Seasons 52, a chain restaurant chain with locations in La Jolla and downtown San Diego.