Density bonus comes to Bella Vista

The Coast News:

Several hundred Encinitas residents and multiple homeowners associations oppose a proposed 17-unit residential development in a rural Leucadia neighborhood, claiming the project’s “excessive” densification goes far beyond the land’s current zoning designation and will negatively impact the surrounding communities and coastal resources.

This is the hill east of Saxony overlooking La Costa.

Sure, it's hard to feel sorry for neighbors who are faced with a development of half-acre-ish lots when so many neighborhoods in Encinitas are facing real high-density development problems.

But isn't the wholesale re-writing of zoning laws a violation of the property rights that people understood at the time they bought their properties?

On moderation

Jeepers! People in Encinitas politics are as crazy as the Trumpers and anti-Trumpers nationally. The comments are a dumpster fire.

I can't fix crazy, but a brief comment on a couple of misconceptions in the comments recently.

1) I haven't been censoring or deleting comments recently. If your comments disappeared it's because they got caught in Google's automated spam filters, likely due to a history of spammy comments from your account or IP address.

2) Susan Turney does not moderate the blog.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Fletcher out

Fox 5:

Nathan Fletcher is resigning from his role as San Diego County Board of Supervisor for the 4th District, he said Wednesday on his social media account.

The announcement comes amid allegations of sexual assault and harassment against Fletcher.

BMW Encinitas closing

 North Coast Current:

BMW Encinitas, which was located at 1302 Encinitas Blvd., closed March 20 and merged with BMW Carlsbad, according to a notice on the dealership’s website. Signs were off the buildings by March 24.

They had problems in the past with not enough space to store their inventory.

Nothing lasts forever

 

Woman gets probation for stealing Encinitas family's dog

Encinitas Advocate:

A former Amazon delivery driver who stole an Encinitas woman’s dog while delivering packages was placed on probation Thursday, March 16, for a term of one year.

Dena Vindiola, 37, was arrested last October, about three weeks after a golden retriever named Finn went missing from his owner’s Hollyridge Drive home. Vindiola pleaded guilty earlier this year in Vista Superior Court to a count of grand theft of personal property.

Earlier story here.

Bluff collapse at San Elijo campground

 Encinitas Advocate:

A 30- to 40-foot-wide bluff collapse at San Elijo State Beach in Encinitas on Thursday,March 16, prompted the closure of a nearby parking lot and staircase, officials said.

The cliff failure off South Coast Highway 101, near Birmingham Drive, occurred between 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., said Jorge Moreno, a spokesperson for California State Parks, in an email.

10 News video here.

Council might bring back red light cameras

Union-Tribune:

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a divided Encinitas City Council voted to cancel the city’s red-light camera contract, saying the tickets that motorists received were far too high and the program didn’t work as intended.

All three of the people who voted to remove the cameras — Catherine Blakespear, Jody Hubbard and Joe Mosca — are no longer on the council, and the issue of whether to use cameras to catch red-light runners is resurfacing.

At a city Mobility and Traffic Safety Commission meeting Monday, Commissioner James Gross said the council acted too hastily in 2020 and should reconsider the issue now.

Watchdogs go quiet

From the inbox:

Encinitas Watchdogs group run by Morris family has disappeared on Facebook. could be because of legal battles or something else, page completely deleted . Might be time for a new post on Undercover open thread. Godspeed!

Encinitas man killed in RSF crash

NBC 7:

A 28-year-old Encinitas man died this weekend when a vehicle he was driving slammed into a tree in Rancho Santa Fe.

The crash happened near 16224 Rambla De Las Flores at about 3:45 p.m. Saturday, according to the California Highway Patrol. The unidentified victim was driving a silver Toyota Matrix eastbound on Rambla De Las Flores and "for reasons still under investigation, the driver veered off the roadway and collided (with) a tree," the CHP said.

UPDATE: Victim identified as Christopher Woodworth, according to social media a La Costa Canyon High School graduate and saxophone player.

Lake Drive sinkhole expands

U-T:

An already large sinkhole on a cliff in the Cardiff area of Encinitas grew bigger after more than an inch of rain fell Friday, city officials said Saturday.

That means the work to fix it will take longer, and is now slated to run through April, the city said in a news release.

The sinkhole is on the western shoulder of Lake Drive, between Wales and Sea Village drives, in the vicinity of a 48-inch corrugated metal pipe that takes runoff from the road to the bottom of a canyon.

Officials didn’t say how much bigger the hole on Lake Drive had grown after 1.3 inches of rainfall Friday, but said crews were working over the weekend to shore it up and stabilize the bottom to prevent further erosion.

Fallen eucalyptus disrupts rail service

North Coast Current:

The North County Transit District reported disruptions to its Coaster commuter train service through Encinitas on Wednesday, March 1, as stormy weather whipped through San Diego.

“Expect significant disruption to services due to a downed tree blocking the tracks in the Leucadia area,” NCTD reported at 2:20 p.m. on its Twitter service alert account. “We will be updating this stream with updates and instructions for passengers.”