by The Editors on November 14, 2007
It came as no real surprise to anyone, but last night the Carlsbad City Council voted unanimously (as the seemingly do for most development plans) to approve the environmental impact report on the Ponto Village Beachfront Vision Plan, according to a story in the San Diego Union Tribune.
It envisions 180 hotel rooms and 126 time-share units in an upscale resort overlooking the lagoon; a 215-room Hilton at Poinsettia Lane and Carlsbad Boulevard; and a 269-room hotel on Ponto Drive. . . . The plan also projects 128 condominium units, shops, restaurants, a wetland interpretive park and trails.
Looks like it’s all downhill from here.
“This is a very special place in our community,” Councilwoman Julie Nygaard said before voting for the plan. “There’s a lot of increased amenities. In the end we’re going to come out with a really nice place for our community.”
Yeah, special like Main Street in Huntington Beach. Wahoo!
[Link: San Diego Union Tribune]
by The Editors on November 12, 2007
The wheels of progress seem to simply grind everyone into submission through sheer boredom. We’re reminded of a line from Tolstoy’s War and Peace quoted by Liesl Schillinger in the New York Times:
Where the issue is undecided it is always the most stubborn who come out victorious.
We’re not big fans of what’s called The Ponto Vision Plan, but at the same time we’re becoming less stubborn each day. Tomorrow, starting at 6:00 PM, the Carlsbad City Council will again meet to make up for a discussion that was postponed October 23 because of the fires.
At the meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, council members will debate whether to accept an environmental report on the Ponto planning document. That report was ordered two years ago after strong public opposition to the development plan surfaced.
If you still care, show up at City Hall Tuesday at 6:00. We might see you there.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on November 8, 2007
We have to admit that there is something frightening about allowing the Carlsbad City Council to make any decisions related to “design” or “architecture.” That said, in a vote of 3-0 the Carlsbad City Council Tuesday night approved a revised master plan and and design guidelines changes to Carlsbad’s Village, according to an article in the San Deigo Union Tribune. Councilmen Matt Hall and Mark Packard did not vote because they own property in the Village.
“The council voted, instead, to allow building heights of 45 feet if at least 50 percent of a roof is sloped. . . The council also voted to allow commercial buildings in much of the redevelopment area to be built up to the sidewalks, as long as their upper floors are tiered back. But the council is requiring the first floor of residential buildings to be set back from sidewalks an average of 10 feet. . . . The council also . . . approved a compromise to allow up to 35 [residential] units per acre [previously it had been 23].
The only thing the council rejected (thankfully) was a proposal let developers put in 15 percent fewer parking spaces “if their projects gave incentives to use public transportation” whatever that means.
[Link: San Diego Union Tribune]
by The Editors on November 6, 2007
Planning Commissioner Julie Baker and “active local volunteer” and Rotary Club of Carlsbad Secretary Ed Scarpelli (pictured right) have been named Carlsbad Citizens of the Year by the City of Carlsbad, according to the North County Times.
Baker, 52, is the former executive director of the Carlsbad Education Foundation, where she helped establish the Kids Are Worth a Million fund-raising campaign for local schools. . . She also is active in the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation, the Carlsbad Friends of the Arts, the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce and the Carlsbad Federation of Republican Women.
Scarpelli, 70, arrived in Carlsbad in 1979 from Wilbraham, Mass., to help establish a builders’ lending division at a mortgage company. He originally trained as a teacher and taught industrial arts for 13 years in New York state before taking a sales job that would send him to Europe for several years.
The awards ceremony, which was scheduled for October 23 has been rescheduled for November 13 at 4 PM at City Hall located at 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on November 4, 2007
According to an interview in the San Diego Union Tribune, the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce has the “second largest chamber membership in San Diego County and the 10th-largest in California.” We did not know that. In fact, we didn’t even know that Ted Owen was the president and chief executive officer or that he had a staff of 15 employees. But we’re learning all kinds of things today thanks to Mr. Owen:
This is a very civil city that has $80 million in the bank. We had an $8 million surplus at the end of 2006, and the city pretty much likes to listen to its residents and provide them things. . . They wanted a golf course; we built one. They wanted an aquatic park; we’re building one. They wanted (a water desalination plant); we’re building one. Those things cost money, and a city with wealth and that’s well-run can do that.
Hey Ted, we’d like a proper skateboard park near the Village. Are you building that?
[Link: San Diego Union Tribune]
by The Editors on October 21, 2007
When the Carlsbad City Council meets on Tuesday October 23, 2007 Mayor Bud Lewis is expecting a large crowd to be on hand to voice their concerns about what is being called the Ponto Vision Plan, according to the North County Times.
Victor Ramirez, who lives in the Hanover Beach neighborhood, said Friday that the council can expect to hear from just as many public speakers as the planning commission did last month. . . “I think maybe even more,” he said, noting that his community has a Ponto meeting coordinator who is encouraging people to come. “I think they’ll have a full room and maybe overflowing.”
The mayor says the council will go until 10 PM and if they’re not finished it will be put off until next week. That sounds like a plan.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on October 21, 2007
Jim Courtney and Michael Pfankuch would like to take the one-acre lot that houses old Carlsbad Boat Club on the north shore of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon and put in a 26-unit, 40,500-square-foot time-share condominium complex, but according to a North County Times story they’re the only ones excited about the project.
Neighbors say they think a three-story condo complex would be completely out of character for the quiet community made up of luxurious single-family homes. . . .The city’s Planning Department appears to agree. Staff members are recommending that the Planning Commission deny the permit that the project will need to proceed.
Courtney and Pfankuch have an uphill battle. If they get past the Planning Commission and the City Council they still must have their plans approved by the Costal Commission.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on October 12, 2007
According to a Barbara Henry story in the North County Times the Carlsbad City Council voted unanimously last month to give themselves a 10 percent raise in November of 2008.
Under state law, council members are allowed to raise their salaries 5 percent a year, and their last raises went into effect in 2006, said Julie Clark, the city’s human resource director, as she discussed why the 10 percent figure was picked. “Whatever small increase there is, is to me very worthwhile,” Mayor Bud Lewis said Wednesday. “Just preparing for a council meeting … takes the whole weekend.”
What this means is if they’d given themselves any larger of a raise it would have been illegal. Aside from all the perks of being a big power swinger in local politics City Council members really don’t make all that much. After their raise next year they’ll make $17k a year.
We’ve always wondered what would happen if a City Council was outrageously well compensated; paid so well that they would have the independence to make decisions that really were in the best, long-term interest of the community. But that would never work, would it?
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on October 5, 2007
It’s going to get a whole lot easier for people from Vista to invade Carlsbadistan as Faraday Avenue finally opens to through traffic today after a “grand opening ceremony” at 11 AM, according to the North County Times.
The long-awaited, $16 million road extension will give drivers a straight shot from the western edge of Vista city limits at Melrose Drive to Orion Way in Carlsbad. It will provide a direct east-west connection between the two cities’ business parks. . . “It’s a big deal for the North County transit system,” Carlsbad Mayor Bud Lewis said Thursday.
While City officials seem ecstatic with this transit development to us it’s just one more bridge over the moat that for years offered us protection from Vista. Guess the only good thing is that Faraday doesn’t really connect to the beach. When Cannon opens all the way to Vista, then we’ll really be in trouble.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on September 23, 2007
Leave it to the Oceanside City Council to ignore a recommendation from their own Planning Commission and approve an “82-room hotel, a restaurant and four 3,400-square-foot condominiums” on the northern shore of Buena Vista Lagoon, according to an opinion piece by Judi Wilson in the North County Times.
Buena Vista Lagoon, located on the border between the cities of Carlsbad and Oceanside, was designated California’s first Ecological Reserve in 1969. From far inland, along Buena Vista Creek, this ancient watershed nourishes the only fresh water lagoon in San Diego County, offering shelter, food and nesting habitat to a vast variety of birds and animals.
The Buena Vista Audubon Society along with several other groups is going to appeal Oceanside’s decision to the California Coastal Commission. For more info visit the Buena Vista Audubon Society Thursday September 27, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. at the Nature Center, 2202 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside.
[Link: North County Times]
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