NCT link
The former greenhouses were sold by David Meyer, who is married into the Ecke family, to Barrat American Incorporated, a company that once gave Encinitas councilman Jerome Stocks illegal campaign contributions.
The willy nilly John Kerry style homes will sit on elevated fill dirt, giving them a dominating presence on the quiet street. Naturally the neighbors are not happy. There was no answer to why another recent development project on the same street was not raised.
The planning commission pretty much told the angry mob that it was too late to do anything about it, that they should have spoke up earlier. The neighbors protested that they were not actually notified as the city claims.
Someone brought up this excellent point, why is the site graded if they don't have the grading permit yet?
Things that make you go hmmmm...
The neighbors started a blog called Leucadia Cares.
Don't forget that David Meyer pretty much ran Mayor Danny Dalager's campaign.
ReplyDeleteGood call on the John Kerry jab. "The answer is neither yes or no" The planning commission lives in the twilight zone.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone tell me why that strange house getting built on La Costa Ave. does not have any windows facing that incredible ocean view?
There was a pretty good ltr to editor today in NCT commenting on previous Community Forum piece (like a longer ltr to editor) comparing property rights and taking of land to current Ecke deal. Letter pointed out that New London took land and evicted homeowners, who didn't want to give it up. In the Ecke's case, they are going back on their word.
ReplyDeleteLeucadiacares.blogspot.com group had a meeting for the neighbors this past Sat. We wish them luck. How can they prove they were not notified? Can Barratt prove they were noticed? What does Leucadi Town Council say? Barratt claims LTC and neighbors within 300 ft. of project were noticed. Why would protesters not say anything to start?
Anti Nantucketers probably need to get ahold of the plans as submitted at the original citizens participation plan, which supposedly no one attended, and see if they disclose the raised pads, and the pre-permit grading.
'No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.' John Donne (1572 - 1631)
ReplyDeletere above
ReplyDeleteThis quote seems pertinent, too:
ReplyDeleteThe whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. -Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970)
Russell would not have had a problem with someone claiming that they are certain that 2 * 7 is 14.
ReplyDeleteWe must act as if somethings are certain when the evidence is clear, otherwise we can never move forward.
There is all to be gained by being humble, but all will be lost if we are timid.
Exactly, Anonymous, humble yes, timid, fearful, apathetic, or in denial, no.
ReplyDeleteBy coming together, we increase our power. If we do not question authority, we lose the ability to think for ourselves. If we do not make conscious choices, we cannot act, only react. We do need to be certain of some things, to be able to discern, to know ourselves. Perhaps then we might better attempt to understand the plots and motivations of others.
Importantly, we can learn from the past, from mistakes, from triumphs, from previous concepts and misconceptions. We want to be able to take one another at our collective word, so our world makes sense.
For a dialogue to take place, we cannot be too afraid to question. We surely cannot be so naive as to think that power has not corrupted those openly (or secretively, behind the scenes), always profitably, pulling the strings.
The audience gasps and laughs while the marionettes flash and whirl. We may know the puppet masters are behind the curtain, but we are caught, trapped in the virtual reality of the status quo, the program, the system, the machine.
If the stings become tangled, the puppets shrug and seem to spin free. Are they real? Are we real? Ask Gepetto.
After dealing with this issue for a while it's obvious that many key people in the planning department and certainly on the planning commission do not have any sense of design. How can SUBDIVISION all colored the same with the same assortment of exterior shingles (New England/NANFUCKET) be considered "CUSTOM HOMES". This is just too awful. For the city to accept David Meyer's/Barratt's contention that these are all "custom homes" is outrageous. Barratt's own website says they are "Semi-Custom homes". Then the city accepted this custom home development as a subdivision and allowed them to take the highest point on the newly filled grade to begin the height requirements. Most of the houses should be 3-5 feet lower.
ReplyDeleteBarratt says they want to be good neighbors. Let them reduce the height of the homes and change the exterior design to LEUCADIA STANDARDS. Ask us - we can tell you what they are. Certainly the staff at city hall doesn't know.
The homes on the eastern plot have not gone through a design review yet and may be exempted yet again. It's time to act now. Contact the head of the planning department and voice your concerns.
Demand that the city review each home and make it conform to and fit properly into Leucadia.
Contact Barratt and ask them to reconsider their designs and overbuilt homes. This won't be the only project they want to build in Encinitas. This is a chance for them to prove they can be sensitive to our special WEST COAST environment. Their designers and VPs certainly don't understand the area.
We're told that David Meyer just purchased the greenhouses on Hymettis. WATCH OUT - he's no friend of Encinitas...only the plannng department and some council members.
do you guys remember the $100,000+ worth of negative campaigning in the last City Council election.
ReplyDeleteThat was 1/2 David Meyer(an Ecke).
It worked and he got his way. The Ecke family says they can't afford to build new greenhouses (funny they they are bulldozing them) but the family has enough cash to run insanely large pr campaigns. So, they don't have money to waste and they must not have thought that campaigning in would pay off. Did it?
Ahhh, David Meyer: the man behind the clown.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040828/news_1mc28clown.html
And also the guy who purchased the www.maggieforcouncil.com Web domain "because it's a (Web address) I would like to have ... (with) a name I might associate with something I was doing."
Kaye story: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/10/24/election2004/encinitas/22_03_3710_23_04.txt
Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.
— Andre Gide
FP (thread killer)