12/18/19 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Council plans to borrow $30 million for Leucadia Streetscape

Encinitas Votes:

Item 10C for City Council meeting on Dec. 18, 2019. Re: Leucadia Streetscape and $30 million dollar loan

Council plans to ban straws

Encinitas Advocate:

A proposal to phase out the use of plastic straws and utensils at fast-food restaurants and takeout places in Encinitas will go before the City Council this week.

Initially, the proposed ordinance, which the council is scheduled to consider Wednesday, Dec. 18, will require fast food workers to ask first before they hand out plastic straws or utensils to their customers. Some months later, plans call for a phased-in ban of plastic straws but not utensils, city environmental programs manager Erik Steenblock said.

And they said the moral panic over plastic straws was subsiding.

Cardiff fire burns duplex on Stafford Avenue

KUSI:

An investigation was underway Friday into the cause of a fire that tore through an Encinitas duplex and left a resident with a minor injury.

The blaze, which was reported around 11 p.m. Thursday in the 300 block of Stafford Avenue near Oxford Avenue, also destroyed a truck in the driveway, according to the Escondido Fire Department.

The fire burned both garages on the first floor of the two-story duplex before spreading to the rest of the residence, Encinitas Fire Chief Robert Ford said.

Power lines also fell in front of the driveway, making access difficult for firefighters who got the flames doused in about an hour.

A man, who was the only person in the duplex, was able to get to safety, but suffered a minor injury and was treated by paramedics at the scene, Ford said.

NBC 7:

Author and screenwriter Michael Allin, known for writing the classic Bruce Lee film "Enter the Dragon," was rescued from his burning Cardiff home late Thursday night by two teenage neighbors.

12/11/19 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Restaurant closures on El Camino Real

San Diego Reader:

What’s happing to restaurants on Encinitas’ El Camino Real? In the last two months, eight restaurants have closed in the ten blocks between Encinitas Boulevard and Leucadia Boulevard.

The latest being on November 25. The owners of the Greek American Family Restaurant, opened since the 1980s, reportedly wanted to retire.

Gone are franchised or corporately owned restaurants of Noodles and Company, Subway, and Firehouse Subs. Also out of business, vacant, and up for lease are the former locations of locally owned businesses Pie Craft, Swirls Frozen Yogurt, and 2 Good 2 Be Bakery. (The McDonalds in the Encinitas Ranch Town Center was closed three weeks ago due to fire. Its expected to be reopened.)

101 is also seeing businesses struggle. There, it seems the rents are being set by the very profitable bars, and other types of businesses can't afford it. Two restaurants have failed quickly at the old El Callejon site, and it remains vacant, as do the former Whole Foods and Ace Hardware sites.

Car burglaries go unpunished

From the Inbox:

Car burglaries in some California cities are at crisis levels. Prosecutors say their hands are tied.

My street gets hit weekly. People don’t even bother reporting anymore.

From personal experience and Nextdoor.com posts, car burglaries seem to be common throughout Encinitas. Lack of response from the sheriff's department has led many people to stop bothering to report the crime.

What's your neighborhood experience?

Who is committing the burglaries? Vagrants, local druggie kids, gangs from out of town? Anybody know of anyone caught and prosecuted?