David Meyer's new Density Bonus project

From the Inbox:

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There's a new Density Bonus project in town!  The Weston family is developing approximately 14 acres off La Costa, west of the I-5.  Last night's CPP (Citizen Participation Plan) meeting was fronted by none other than David Meyer, the self-described "Entitlement Consultant" for the Weston family. 

Meyer's "I always get my way from this city" attitude was evident as residents raised concerns about:

• the 450 cars expected to enter and exit daily through one outlet onto La Costa Blvd.
• the soil that has already turned up, among other ag leftovers, toxaphene, one of the worst known carcinogens.  Meyer was hardly conscientious about his handling of contaminated dirt on Nantucket projects (Sheridan and Andrew), with the City equally happy not to enforce compliance.  The City is currently deciding "whether" an EIR will be required on this project, even with the presence of toxaphene.
• Meyer's rounding up on base density, despite the Council's recent agreement with the BIA that future development will round down.  Meyer simply and with complete confidence stated: "The City is wrong."  When asked about his threat to sue the City if it required rounding down, Meyer claimed the person "had their information wrong," even though he had made recent public threats  to the  Council that he would, in fact, sue. 

Testy when asked about previous attempts to get out from under affordable housing requirements, Meyer attempted to rewrite history to a skeptical crowd.  Many present knew that the real story on the affordable units on Meyer's Saxony project is that they were traded away, but done under the builder's name, Shea Homes.  This was a typically slick move by Meyer, similar to his returning the two affordable lots at Nantucket to Barratt American before BA went bankrupt.  Meyer walked away from that one without building the two affordable units he'd promised.

His stock answer to everything was "it's the law," to which audience members responded "it's a sham." 

What remains to be seen is how far backward the City will continue to bend for Meyer, given the departures of Vina and Murphy.

Grief

A memorial shrine south of Las Olas:



The words in the picture frame are Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden.

In Loving memory of Tara Jean Murphy 1969 - 2013

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message 'She is Dead'.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

She was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Murphy was killed crossing the highway on April 7, 2013.

Super Harvest Moon total eclipse tonight

Take a look to the sky tonight.



The eclipse starts about 9PM, and will be total about 10PM.

9/23/15 City Council meeting open thread

The current city council has continued prior councils' practice of not providing written summary minutes of council discussion, but only "action minutes" which state the outcomes. Encinitas Undercover will provide a forum for observers to record what occurs at each council meeting.

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Fruit forest to honor Teresa Barth

Coast News:

A proposal to create a grove of edible fruit trees in Glen Park dedicated to former City Councilwoman Teresa Barth is up for consideration by the City Council Wednesday night.

What do you consider Barth's greatest contributions to Encinitas from her eight years on the city council?

SD Reader follow-up on Olivenhain drug house fire

San Diego Reader:

Neighbors who reported the house fire told authorities they saw a man, later identified as Jeremy Henry, 39, at a second-story window screaming for help. The man broke the window and climbed down with help from neighbors.

“He stated there was another person in the house to responding firefighters, before he was taken to a local hospital for treatment,” the medical examiner reported. Fire-department personnel attempted a rescue but were repelled by heavy smoke and fire.

“[Henry] said there was thick smoke and he could not see his hand in front of his face,” read the report. Bed posts blocked some of the windows, which made it “difficult,” and smoke alarms in the house were “inoperable,” the survivor reportedly stated.

Henry told authorities that Black was the only other person in the home. “He told deputy Backouris that he and the decedent had gone to sleep in the master bedroom on the second floor. He was awakened by black smoke filling the room and woke Shelby. He was able to find the window and broke it. He thought Shelby was right behind him when he went through the window,” according to the report. The woman’s body was found directly under the escape window.

Car Wars

Cranky old car driver meets earnest young bike advocate on Traffic Commission; hilarity ensues.

Commissioner Dave Hutchinson took issue with [Commissioner Brian] Grover promoting “complete streets” — roads that accommodate car lanes, as well as bike lanes and sidewalks.

“Your agenda, so it’s been revealed in the last couple of weeks, is anti-traffic,” Hutchinson said. “It’s complete streets, which cuts down the flow of traffic.”

Hutchinson also said that the commission’s mission is to ensure the steady flow of car traffic, not bike access.

“When I joined, this was the traffic commission ... biking wasn’t even in the vocabulary,” Hutchinson said. He added that the commission now has “this emphasis on biking, which is opposed to what we’re supposed to be doing in trying to get traffic to flow through this community. I have a real problem with that.”

In response, Grover quoted the city’s website, which states that the seven-member commission makes recommendations to the Encinitas City Council on “matters related to the circulation of motorized vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles and on matters related to public safety.”

UPDATE: An anonymous commenter says that the city is investigation whether Grover's communications with a subset of council members is a violation of the Brown Act, and another comment purports to quote one e-mail which might be in violation. What are the consequences to violating the Brown Act? We hear an awful lot about it but never hear any consequences.

UPDATE 2: Hutchinson responds.