4/18/18 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Leucadia Streetscape appeal

Waves to Ride Blog:

The Encinitas Local Coastal Program (LCP) reflects the California Coastal Act of 1976. The Leucadia 101 Streetscape project is inconsistent with one or both in these ways:

• On page 4, the city of Encinitas Planning Commission Resolution No. PC 2018-12 states that “the project is not located between the sea and the nearest public road.” That’s erroneous. The project is in the first public road for the half mile of Highway 101 from La Costa Avenue to Grandview Street. It proposes to reduce that half mile from four lanes to two and install four roundabouts in it. Three of the four would be one lane. Those factors alone would restrict beach access at the Grandview stairs. By choking southbound traffic in the first public road gateway, the project would also restrict beach access south of Grandview.

• One of the stated purposes of the project is to reduce traffic volume on Highway 101. It proposes to do that by shrinking nearly 2.4 miles of highway from four lanes to two and by installing six roundabouts. Five would be one lane. Fulfilling that purpose with those features would inherently restrict beach access. The project would discourage visits to the beaches by non-residents and slow visits by residents.

Unnoticed "stakeholder" meetings promote taller buildings, less parking

The city recently held two "stakeholder" meetings on housing that were not noticed to the public and attended by staff, consultants, and developers.

Recommendations coming from the meetings include raising the height limits to three stories and 37 feet, and reducing parking requirements.

Details on the attendees and recommendations can be found in the agenda report for this Wednesday's council meeting.

Stocks comeback?

New campaign video here.

Blackout!

SDG&E:

Quail Gardens parcel stays in the housing plan

Parcel L-7, the object of opposition from dozens of neighbors speaking at the council meeting last night, is still in the plan. The property is north of the EUSD Farm Lab on the east side of Quail Gardens Drive.

Del Mar Times:

A controversial piece of city-owned land will be included in Encinitas' proposal to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) after nearly four hours of debate between residents and city officials at the April 4 City Council meeting.

The council voted three to two, with Council members Tony Kranz and Mark Muir dissenting, to keep the “L-7 parcel,” at 634 Quail Gardens Lane, on the list of properties to be included in the city's draft Housing Element Update, which it will send to the HCD on April 13 for a 45-day review period. Also included on the list of 16 properties are the Dramm and Echter farm — which has been proposed as an "agrihood," a neighborhood built around an agricultural property, and was formerly suggested as a cultivation site for marijuana — and the strawberry fields on Manchester Avenue.

City Council meeting open thread

Special meeting on housing update.

Please use the comments to record your observations.