Let's Tour North Leucadia (part 13)

On this section of our tour of Leucadia's coastal corridor, we have just walked past the Bar Leucadian and are now at the empty lot at the corner of Edgeburt Dr.

click all images for large view

This is an example of why it would be great if whomever bought this lot did something cool with it. I am a big "Keep Leucadia Funky" guy but I don't consider dirt sidewalks and puddles to be funky. This site has a lot of potential. What happens to our empty lots is very important for the future ambiance of Leucadia. I would like to see the lots purchased by heady developers/architects who would build modern 21st century projects that are LEED certified like this building.



See also: Leucadia!: Fun with Photoshop and Empty Lots

I had heard a rumor that the owner of the fine St Germain's restaurant in downtown Encinitas was interested in this lot and wanted to move the 101 Artist Colony here. Has anyone else heard this rumor?
Since this sign says commercial/residential coming soon for lease, I assume there is already a plan for this space. I truly hope they build a cool structure and not some god-awful Carlsbad style stucco monster, or something like that terrible building in Cardiff where Miracle's coffee shop used to be.


Ah, more info. This notice says that they are to be 9 condos on this location and the commercial space will be 9,879 square feet. I'm surprised they are only putting in 9 condos and not more.



It will be interesting to see what the future holds for this little block of north Leucadia.

Leucadia!: Let's Tour North Leucadia (part 12)

Mayor Bond Speech Highlights

Perennial Encinitas incumbent Jim Bond received a Raspberry from the North County Times and much criticism from the community for not preparing a speech for the State of the Community Address

Encinitas mayor delivers state of the community address

Roses&Raspberries

Highlights of Bond's speech include:

Assured crowd that we are winning the war on terror.

Gazed wistfully past crowd for 10 minutes and then gestured outward with his arm, "This used to be all cow pastures."

Started off by saying, "Good evening ladies and germs, I just flew in from Chicago and boy are my arms tired. Hey now, how about that Dalager and those Jews? Now thats a big matzah ball!"

Stressed need for Lacrosse fields at the Hall Park property.

On streets, "We need more of them and we need wider streets. Traffic will never be the way you want it. Cars are getting bigger and faster. They got smaller for awhile there. Remember the Le Car? What the hell was that about anyway? You will never be able to jump in your car at 7:30 in the morning and get to where you're going as fast as you want to because everyone else is trying to get there, too. What I'm saying is that the reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know."


Finally lost crowd when he said, "All in all, running for president of Carlsbad was the best decision I ever made."

Herb asks, "Wouldn't it be prudent?"

Unpublished Letter to the San Diego Union Tribune Re: Hall Park Property

by Herb Patterson

I was amazed to read your editorial on the proposed park in Encinitas as I have usually expected some kind of journalist integrity and research from the Union Tribune. Unfortunately this apparently did not happen here.

First, none of the opponents of this plan that I know do not object to a park at this location, they simply object to the current plan. A simple reading of the traffic engineer's report is all that is necessary to understand the problems here. At the best case scenario, assuming all the traffic engineers projections are correct and Caltrans cooperates fully [their plans for the I5 expansion in this area are not finalized], the projected mitigation of the traffic impacts of the park are not resolved until 2030. Even then, after a supposed full mitigation, several intersections are projected to still be at Level of Service “D” [levels of service are graded just like in school – “D” is not good]. The Encinitas General Plan strives for level “C” as a goal.

If the Appendix to the Park EIR had been checked, you would have found that the underlying traffic counts of many of the streets relied upon to make the report come from 2003 figures [ the last time Encinitas has done a a full City count]. These old figures were then “marked up” 2% a year for two years to get an approximate count as of 2005. The method of “marking up” has not proven to be an accurate method as I can document with figures from a similar location in Encinitas. The City of Encinitas is currently finalizing a Traffic Circulation which should contain current traffic counts.

Wouldn't it be prudent to wait before making a decision on the Park until after current figures can be studied ?

That's not all. There is a planned expansion of the Hospital across the street from the proposed Park, numerous schools within close proximity that are expanding or planning to expand, multiple new housing developments, etc. applying for zoning changes or building permits in the area of the proposed Park. Many of the intersections, on ramps, and roadway segments in the area are all ready running at
Level of Service D,E,or F currently. There currently is no plan to coordinate all these projects to prevent massive overload of the area surrounding the Park. Might not that be a good idea ?

The Park as presented in the EIR has 419 parking spaces. The traffic engineer envisions a worst case case use of the park for a soccer tournament [disregarding any concurrent usage] of 800+ trips to the Park. He suggests that offsite parking, trams, traffic cones, and traffic control a la the Del Mar fair will be necessary. This overflow of cars would severely impact an area that already has parking problems.
No off site parking has currently been secured nor is it known if any will be available other than in the area that will already be impacted by people coming to the Park. I don't think it is unreasonable to reduce the intensity of the possible use of the Park to somewhere around the parking capacity, do you?

In summary, we have a traffic plan the requires perfection to get to a goal set too low and relying on obsolete traffic counts, the results of projects undecided at this time, the whims of Caltrans as well as providing inadequate parking. I haven't touched on the inadequate access to the Park as planned or the impacts to the areas where the access would be nor have I touched on any of the other issues.

This park can not even be planned until such time as the City and Caltrans have finalized their on and off ramp decisions, the Circulation Study is complete and a coordination of the multiple projects around the Park is done. I wish it was as simple as “Ignore Park Opponents” as your headline read – if you had done your homework you would have known it is not that simple.

A couple of Hall Park letters the UT published link.

Encinitas' delays hurt today's youth

Leucadia!: Dan Dalager Constructs New Hall Park Statue

But who else except for surfers would notice...?

click image for large view


ON THE WATER: SURFING
Surfers willfully have head in the sand

By Brad Melekian
March 27, 2007

In many ways, being a surfer means being a naturalist.

This can seem like a silly thing to write in a place like San Diego, where most waves break within sight and sound of highways and apartment buildings, shopping centers and urban development.

But who else except for surfers would notice, for instance, the growth and development of an offshore kelp bed? What other “user group” can look at a patch of impenetrable dark water and tell an observer the exact shape of the reef that lies beneath? Or the depth of the offshore canyon leading to the beach? Or the levels of sand on the beach today compared to three months ago, six months ago, two years ago? Who else (multimillion dollar property owners excluded) considers coastal bluff erosion a matter pertinent to their daily life?

Consider the daily agenda of the tens of thousands of surfers in San Diego County, most of whom return morning and night to the same patch of ocean, monitoring either knowingly or through natural osmotic process the changes in the environment, and it's clear that, whether in ways subtle or pronounced, these people are indeed naturalists.

In this way, surfers tend to notice changes – the posting of building permits on a long-vacant beachfront lot, or the not-so-subtle rumble of bulldozers harkening the man-made addition of thousands of cubic yards of sand to a beach.

This latter example – the one involving the additional tonnage of sand – has been the subject of discussion lately as government officials and lobbying groups are considering a plan to spend north of $20 million to deposit sand on beaches from Oceanside to Imperial Beach.

Most surfers – particularly the older ones who have seen pockets of San Diego develop from sleepy beach burgs to metropolitan suburbs – are not surprised by such plans. As with previous projects for seawalls and jetties and parking lots, this latest sand initiative garners mainly a grimacing harrumph.

No matter their feelings on the topic, most surfers know something about sand. It can create waves and ruin waves, depending. Reef breaks covered in sand won't work as well as they might, and sandbars require the depositing of sand to function at their best. But more than anything, surfers know that sand is malleable.

In 2001, the San Diego Association of Governments spent $16.5 million to deposit sand on county beaches. They might have consulted surfers on this project, because any 15-year-old could have told them between his top turns that it would take precisely one strong wintertime northwest swell to rid the beaches of all that fresh white new sand (which is more or less what happened).

You see, one doesn't spend hours and days and years and decades of one's life looking at the same patch of wild ocean without learning from it. Namely, surfers have learned that everything, at least in nature, happens cyclically. And though many, if not most surfers, try to keep their daily sessions in the realm of the personal and not the political, it's hard not to feel affected by something as seemingly innocuous as sand on the beach when you're the one fronting that beach every day.

Surfers are nothing if not a migratory herd, willing to follow wind, tide, swell and, yes, sandbars wherever they might pop up, and through many changes. But as coastal development, seawalls, offshore construction and even sand replenishment continues to put the pinch on surfers, surfers are becoming less and less surprised when big bulldozers trumpet the arrival of the latest beach improvement – whether a sandbar, a parking lot or a seawall.

Like all good naturalists, they see it, register it and move on to the next wave.

Brad Melekian can be reached by e-mailing him at sports@uniontrib.com

Leucadia!: Kids have fun at beach despite cobblestone boogeyman

SANDAG Profile Warehouse

For those of you out there who love minutia, SANDAG has an interesting website where you can check out the population, income and housing stats of Encinitas and other north county cities.

For example, did you know that there are only 435 Black people living in Encinitas?

http://profilewarehouse.sandag.org/

Small Child's Day at Beach Ruined by Cobbles

Unless we spend millions of taxdollars these cobblestones will destroy the foundation of our community. Won't someone please save the children?

Leucadia!: Kids have fun at beach despite cobblestone boogeyman

Kids have fun at beach despite cobblestone boogeyman

Feinstein goes to bat for beach project

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer

NORTH COUNTY ---- U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., sent letters to a pair of federal agencies last week in a bid to jump-start a stalled $4.5 million study examining options for fortifying three miles of battered North County coastline.

Feinstein last week wrote top administrators with the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and urged them to resolve differences in the next 60 days over steps that need to be taken to soften the project's harm to the environment.

The project aims to restore "the historic sandy coastlines in the cities of Solana Beach and Encinitas, whose coastal beaches are among the most severely eroded in California," Feinstein wrote in both of the letters. read the rest here.

This photo was taken this morning around 10 am. in Carlsbad. You can see a thin strip of cobblestones at the base of the bluff. If they want to cover up these cobblestones with sand I don't mind. But the Army Corp of Engineers wants to go so overboard that it is disturbing. Notice the 100 yards of sand from the cobble strip to the waterline.

It is important to note that the new recovering kelp beds in Leucadia are much closer to the shoreline than in other areas of north county. The 2001 sand project smothered these kelp beds. There has been no kelp in Leucadia until late 2006 and early 2007. The sand is at a good level right now and we even have more sand this week than last week thanks to the early south swells we are now getting. I am deeply concerned about another massive sand project, it will destroy our kelp and ruin the quality of our surf spots which are used by thousands of surfers across north county daily. North county surfing is an economic engine and needs to be considered. It sounds like the politicians have drank the "no-sand-all-cobbles" kool-aid; a quick trip to the beach would reveal a different reality for them. The NCT's coverage of this story borders on propaganda in favor of the sand project. I want the 500 bluff dwellers to feel secure but we don't need to go overboard on this. I want Feinstein to be please be mindful of the kelp, lobster, fish, surf spots and tax dollars.

Leucadia!: "We're back to cobbles" >>>VIDEOS<<<

Gil questions the "Beautiful Sardine Can"

Downtown Encinitas project faces challenge




By: ADAM KAYE - Staff Writer

ENCINITAS ---- An activist said Friday that he supports a proposed commercial and residential center in downtown Encinitas, but will challenge the developer's plans for handling parking and occupancy.

Gilbert Foerster of Elfin Forest is appealing the Planning Commission's approval last month of Pacific Station, a planned three-story complex of condominiums, stores, offices and a restaurant on 1.4 acres on South Coast Highway 101 between E and F streets.

The City Council will consider Foerster's appeal when it meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday at 505 S. Vulcan Ave.

If the council upholds Foerster's appeal, developer John DeWald must apply the changes that Foerster has requested. If the appeal is rejected, construction on the project can proceed.

With 51,600 square feet of floor area, Pacific Station would be the largest development in downtown Encinitas since 1980, when the 80,000-square-foot Lumberyard shopping center opened on the Coast Highway.

DeWald expects to break ground on the $20 million project in six months. Construction would last 18 months, he said.

Last month, Foerster told the Planning Commission the project was one that he "hated to love," and that, "It's a sardine can, but a beautiful sardine can."

On Friday, Foerster said he wants the project to move forward, but also wants the City Council to restrict parking in its two-level, underground garage and to forbid renting of the condos to short-term vacationers. read the rest at NCT.com

Previous: Leucadia!: Pacifc Station, "a beautiful sardine can", Approved

Leucadia 101 News You Can Use

Home Improvement and Design Expo
April 1st 10-2 pm Leucadia Farmers Market. Springtime means getting projects done inside and out. Come see what’s new for your home and garden! (If you have a business related to these areas and would like to have a booth at the expo e-mail Paula Kirpalani

Façade Grants Available Does your storefront need a boost? The City of Encinitas in partnership with Leucadia 101 administers façade grants that can help with improvements such as: exterior painting; landscaping; window and door replacement…and much more. Contact the Leucadia 101 office for more details.

Scholarship Opportunity - A $500 scholarship is being offered by The Leucadia Town Council to any high school senior who is a resident of Leucadia (92024 zip code.) The deadline to apply is April 30, 2007. Contact Kathleen Lees at 760-635-7997 or Mary Fleener at 760-436-0775.

Neighborhood Meeting Six-Unit Condo project at 1911-1941 N. Vulcan
Friday, March 30, 2007 6- 7 pm at above location. Call 858-452-1231 for more info.

Public Forum on Identity Theft April 4th 6 – 8 pm Encinitas Community Center.

City of Encinitas Planning Commission Vacancy Applications are now being sought to fill an opening representing the Old Encinitas Community. Contact Deborah Cervone at the City if interested.

That's it for now!


Paula Kirpalani
Leucadia 101 Main Street
320 N. Coast Hwy 101

96k Cardiff Plan unpopular

Residents blasted a long-awaited plan for Cardiff's commercial district Wednesday, telling the Encinitas City Council that the document ignored what they had asked for at community workshops six years ago. No one seemed to support the plan, for which the city paid a San Diego-based consultancy $96,000.

Cardiff plan takes a thrashing

From the story:

No one seemed to support the plan, for which the city paid a San Diego-based consultancy $96,000.

"The Cardiff specific plan missed its target," said Bob Bonde, a longtime resident. "We do not want the business district converted into expensive, street-hugging stores, yuppie time-share accommodations or high-density housing complexes. We would like you to repair the infrastructure and clean up the six-block business district, but keep it basically the same."

Along the one-block-long Aberdeen Drive, the plan calls for structures built right to the sidewalk.

"After six years, we are still requesting a mini specific plan ---- alley improvements, sidewalks where there are none and zoning corrections to reflect what is on the ground in this six-block area," said Barbara Cobb, Cardiff Town Council president.

Council members also found little to like about the plan.

Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan said the plan wasn't what she expected to emerge from heavily attended workshops in the summer of 2001.

Among other issues, proposed landscaping includes "invasive" non-native plants and trees that could threaten views, she said.

It also lacked any analysis of historical preservation, according to Houlihan.

"There's a lot of troubling elements to this specific plan," said Councilman Jerome Stocks. "Maybe (the consultant) tried a little too hard."

Mayor James Bond said, "I'm OK with just making some improvements to the alley and the pavement and the drainage and moving on."

Even though Teresa Barth probably did the right thing by staying out of it because she lives in the area, it's kind of too bad. One of the reasons you elect a person from your neighborhood is because you hope they will watch out for it. Of course, it's a slippery slope because then you can come off as self serving.

Speaking of slippery slopes, raising height limits in an old neighborhood like Cardiff is dicey. You are really opening up a Pandora's box of potential lawsuits and view wars like in Del Mar. I don't think our city needs that kind of drama.

I have to disagree about the hating of the storefronts pushed forward towards the street, I've always hated the big parking lot in the front. Parking lots are ugly. Parking lots should located in the rear of a property most of the time. It really depends on the location itself, but for the most part I'd rather be able to see the storefront windows than look at a parking lot.

You can view the Cardiff-by-the-sea Specific Plan on the city of Encinitas website here.

Here are the lyrics to the song Cardiff-by-the-sea by the alternative rock band The Ataris:

The sea has become profoundly red as wine
The skies they bleed with fleeting passion tonight

Come sweet euphoria
Your light is blinding to thee
You feel as comforting as a mother's warm embrace
But still you're just as lonely as the sea

We gaze out upon the crashing waves
From this hillside graveyard masquerade

Sweet terrible angel
Embrace my soul with light
There's an honesty inside my lungs and its dying to get out
But still I'm helpless as an orphaned child

Can you cure this loneliness in my heart
In my heart
Can you cure this loneliness in my heart
In my heart

Euphoria, euphoria
Euphoria, euphoria
Euphoria, euphoria

See also Cardiff Town Council

*UPDATE--Good San Diego Union Tribune story on the Cardiff Plan click here.

LOOK EVERYONE, ORANGE SANDBAGS!

I heard a rumor that these orange sandbags are filled with cobblestones.

Leucadia!: Orange Sandbags? Gee, thanks.

"We're back to cobbles" >>>VIDEOS<<<

"We're back to pre-project conditions, which aren't very good," said Steve Aceti, executive director for the Encinitas-based California Coastal Coalition, an advocacy group representing coastal cities and counties. "We're back to cobble."

Area officials also are exploring funding options ranging from a sales-tax increase to beach parking fees to hotel taxes.








Leucadia!: Aceti Lies to NCT, "We're back to cobble."

Leucadia!: More holes in head, "Quality-of-life tax" proposed.

China's Big Brother Blocks NCT.com

China is a communist country with over 1.31 billion people.

The majority of China's 1.31 billion people are oppressed and don't enjoy the freedoms we have here in the United States of America.

China commits many human rights violations.

China is well loved by American corporations and American consumers because the majority of the 1.31 Chinese will work for pennies on the dollar. This means cheap stuff for us to buy at places like Wal*Mart.

Because we love low prices we Americans seem to turn a blind eye to communist China. This is despite that China is an emerging superpower with nuclear weapons. China's human rights violations rival that of Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Our endless thirst for low quality and low cost goods is creating an unprecedented economic growth in China that is unsustainable. This threatens not only China's environment but the world's. National Geographic link

China's prime minister recently promised to maintain "socialism for 100 years"

China has a totalitarian style of government and China's 1.31 billion citizens do not enjoy freedom of religion or freedom of the press. A good example of this is a website called Great Firewall of China where you can test to see if your favorite websites are blocked by Chinese censors.

Test to see if your website or blog is blocked by China's censors, click here.

The website of our local paper, The North County Times is blocked. You absolutely cannot access NCT.com from China.

North County Times bi-weekly columnist and developer Michael D Pattinson once wrote in his column that California should be more like communist China.

You can read this astonishing article here, unless you are in China of course.

Leucadia!: Michael D. Pattinson, Communist Sympathizer?

Wikipedia China

Human Rights Watch, China (also blocked by China's censors)

Thanks to rockmycar.com

Aceti Lies to NCT, "We're back to cobble."

Steve Aceti is everywhere. Photo downloaded from Cal-Coast.

I heart tax dollars...back to cobbles eh? Moonlight Beach, Encinitas Feb 2007

Cardiff campgrounds area looking north towards Swami's. The majority of the reefs are covered in sand.

Pro-tax lobbyist Steve Aceti lied to North County Times staff reporter Dave Downey in today's Sunday edition.

2001 beach benefits short-lived

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer

NORTH COUNTY ---- It was nice while it lasted. When the San Diego Association of Governments dredged up enough sand from the ocean bottom to fill Qualcomm Stadium and piped it onshore in the summer of 2001, San Diego County had some of the finest beaches around.

From Oceanside to Imperial Beach, once-narrow beaches suddenly were 25 to 100 feet wider than they were before the association spent $17.5 million and spread 2 million cubic yards of the fine material along six miles of the county's coastline.

But it didn't last. Winter arrived and storm swells battered the coast. And the manufactured beaches were swept back out to sea.

Within a year, most had thinned by 20 feet to 60 feet, according to a report by Gary Griggs, director of the Institute of Marine Sciences at UC Santa Cruz. Most shrank more the following year.

"We're back to pre-project conditions, which aren't very good," said Steve Aceti, executive director for the Encinitas-based California Coastal Coalition, an advocacy group representing coastal cities and counties. "We're back to cobble."


"We're back to cobble." HUH? Leucadia March 2007

Two photos appear in the NCT story, one is close up of someone walking barefoot across a patch of cobblestones. The other shows a surfer at the base of the cliffs at high tide. In both photos if you look closely you can see sand.

The North County Times seems to be part of the propaganda campaign to convince people that our beaches are sandless and covered with cobblestones. Surfers, regular beach goers and fishermen know this to be untrue. Our north county beaches have an incredible amount of sand for this time of year due to our mild winter. Our sand is increasing daily due to the recent south swells we just started getting which naturally replenish our beaches.

Recently, the association estimated the cost of such a project at $25 million. It would target the same beaches as last time: Oceanside, north Carlsbad, south Carlsbad, Batiquitos, Leucadia, Moonlight, Cardiff, Fletcher Cove, Del Mar, Torrey Pines, Mission and Imperial.

Leucadia does not need sand, Encinitas does not need sand, Cardiff does not need sand.

I surfed north Torrey Pines this morning, there is a lot of sand down there. The lagoon is functional and tidal and there is a big sandbar in front of the south bridge. Here is a photo of south Torrey Pines:


Aceti said the project could be tackled in 2009 or 2010, if the agency can secure needed money. Officials are setting their sights on obtaining a share of proceeds from the $5.4 billion Proposition 84 bond measure voters approved in November.

Area officials also are exploring funding options ranging from a sales-tax increase to beach parking fees to hotel taxes.

I have a hard time believing that Steve Aceti cares about the quality of our beaches at all, he is nothing more than a professional tax lobbyist. A freaking sales tax increase?!? We already pay almost 8% in sales tax. Gee, let's just jack it up to 10% while we are at it, right Aceti?

I think we've entered bizarro world. Developer Michael D Pattinson wrote a column for the NCT called Thank bureaucrats for sandless beaches which is so off base is it barely worth mentioning. Dave Downey wrote a strange article for the NCT's "science" section where our hero Steve Aceti says we would have more sand if Catalina island was bigger, Losing Ground: North County's shoreline victim of natural process (I wonder if they have ever heard of Point Conception?). Encinitas mayor Jim Bond who never met a tax increase he didn't like thinks there is no sand on our beaches because he has never even bothered to look. Pam Slater-Price thinks there is no sand. It goes on and on...

Photo taken last week in Leucadia, tax lobbyist Steve Aceti says, "We're back to cobble." mmmmm-kay?

Related Post: Leucadia!: Natural Sand Replenishment Currently Underway

Leucadia!: Leucadia beaches more walkable than downtown mainstreet Leucadia

Leucadia!: Thank you for your concern for our marine resources

Leucadia!: The Ebb and Flow of Our Sand Drama

Leucadia!: If only it were a little bigger

Leucadia!: Winter 2007--Most Sand Ever?

Leucadia!: Moonlight Beach Sand Check

Leucadia!: More holes in head, "Quality-of-life tax" proposed.

Hungry for Art in Encinitas

The Thursday night Brave Art gallery showing had a big turnout. This town is hungry for a good art scene. It would be cool if there was a hip art gallery on the Leucadia 101 corridor.

Fun with Photoshop and Empty Lots

Quickie photochops just for fun. Click images for large views.

Natural Sand Replenishment Currently Underway

Beacon's Beach, Leucadia California

This photo was taken Feb 23rd 2007. It shows the indicator rocks for North Reef and the boulder.



These photos were taken March 13th 2007. The south swells have already pushed up enough sand to cover the indicator rocks AND the boulder.
The dredging they've been doing in Carlsbad at Ponto and the power plant may also have contributed to this. There is a lot of sand moving around the beaches right now. If the government keeps their hands off we will have good waves and good fishing this summer.

"He did a good job of bringing it to the fore,"

Encinitas mayor delivers state of the community address

He spent at least half of his 30-minute address talking about himself and about Encinitas' early days as a city. Far less of his speech focused on the present and the issues the city faces.

Your thoughts?

Leucadia beaches more walkable than downtown mainstreet Leucadia

click images for large view, all photos taken Tuesday March 13th 2007

Beacon's Beach, Leucadia California. Big wide sandy beach with decent early season south swell. Note small kelp bed visible in the upper right portion of the photo.


Big wide sandy North Leucadia beach, great for jogging.


North Leucadia mainstreet around the same area as above beach photo.


Would you rather walk on the beach or down the coast highway in Leucadia?



Some patches of cobblestones down by Grandview Beach surrounded by sand and more sand.



Maybe we can scoop up those cobblestones and use them to make a sidewalk?

Thank you for your concern for our marine resources

I received this e-mail in response to an inquiry I made to the California Department of Fish and Game.


Thank you for your concern for our marine resources. Your e-mail has been forwarded to me since I am the marine biologist who is involved with beach replenishment projects in the area including the Corps project you discussed.

The Department of Fish and Game recognizes that beach erosion is a valid concern and that replenishment efforts may be beneficial to certain marine organisms, such as shorebirds and sand dwelling invertebrates. However, as you noted, replenishment activities can have negative impacts on other marine organisms and habitats. One of our main concerns with beach replenishment projects is the movement of sand and the persistent burial of reef habitat which supports various kelps and surfgrass, and the resultant adverse impacts on the sensitive and/or recreationally and commercially important invertebrates and fish that utilize those habitats during various life stages (e.g. lobster, urchins, crabs, abalone, fishes). A well designed beach replenishment project avoids beach fill in areas with sensitive marine resources.

A good example of a well planned replenishment project was the San Diego Association of Government’s Regional Beach Sand Replenishment Project (RBSP) back in ~2000. The RBSP designed a project that minimized impacts to sensitive resources. It avoided direct sand placement at areas with sensitive offshore resources and even reduced its initial proposed volume by one-third. The RBSP used analytical and numerical modeling to predict the movement of sand from receiver sites and the potential impacts to sensitive resources. In some cases, receiver site footprints were eliminated and/or modified in length and location to avoid impacts to these resources.

The Encinitas and Solana Beach Feasibility Study Shoreline Protection Project proposes large volumes of sand within areas adjacent to sensitive marine resources. In October 2005, we responded to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (DEIS/R) for the project. We expressed our concern that the project has the potential to significantly impact marine resources. We questioned the volumes of sand planned for beach fill in areas with sensitive marine resources and the lack of a comprehensive monitoring, mitigation, and restoration program. We did not believe the project fully evaluated the potential impacts upon marine resources and their habitats.

Please contact me if you have any additional questions.



Marilyn J. Fluharty
Environmental Scientist
CA Dept. Fish and Game, Marine Region
4949 Viewridge Avenue
San Diego, CA 92123
858-467-4231 fax 858-467-4299


Related post: Leucadia!: The Ebb and Flow of Our Sand Drama

The Ebb and Flow of Our Sand Drama

The bureaucrats are still convinced that our north county beaches are "sandless". Now our Encinitas mayor Jim Bond has drank the kool-aid. If only these people would just go to the beach and take a walk...

click image for large view

George's Beach, Cardiff yesterday, Sunday March 11th 2007. There appears to a lot of people walking on these "sandless beaches". Hell, the beaches are more walkable than downtown Leucadia.

Read Saving the Sand Coast News article by Wehtahnah Tucker click here

The city of Encinitas is now blaming the January 2000 bluff collapse on a lack of sand, this is nonsense. I was surfing D St that same day and there was a lot of sand that winter. The bluffs of south Leucadia have been bone dry for years and that is why they are fragile. Sand definitely helps reinforce the base of the bluffs, but you might as well stack sand to the very top if you don't want the bluff to have any failures. The bluffs are now like dry sandcastles that won't stay up. They need some moisture to stick together. You can test this yourself right now because there is lots of sand on the beach to make castles out of.

*Right before the January 2000 collapse that killed that poor women a squadron of heavy Camp Pendleton helicopters flew by. I remember because the windows at my house on H St were shaking. About 20 minutes later I remember hearing the sirens of the emergency vehicles heading towards the beach. Coincidence? Maybe, but there were some big Santa Fe freight trains that day too. Did this combination help contribute to that day's collapse?

Burning Question: Why is the city using the 2000 bluff collapse death to push their sand agenda when people keep getting killed on our roads, and the city won't address the infrastructure problems on those roads?
Sheriff's deputies probe fatal crash as school mourns
Encinitas chef was loving life when tragedy struck: Joshua Tiscareno, 29, killed in crash on Coast Highway

click images for large view

A few weeks ago there was a ribbon of the dreaded cobblestones at Beacon's Beach in Leucadia, but they were only two stones deep and are now covered up by sand again. Notice our nice big recovering kelp bed. This kelp bed wasn't even there at the beginning of the winter. This kelp bed is a very positive thing for surfers and fisherman. Ideally the kelp beds should stretch across the coast of Leucadia.


Saturday Feb 17th Beacon's Beach. Lots of sand, some exposed reef that the tourist enjoyed checking out. This reef is now mostly covered by sand again.

We are beginning to get some early season south swells that are pushing sand back on the beaches.

Look, the cobblestones are now covered up. Photo taken this morning, Beacon's Beach Leucadia.


From the Coast News article: In its initial recommendation, the Army Corps proposed sand re-nourishment of 628,000 cubic meters along a 2.4-kilometer stretch of Encinitas coastline with a scheduled program of sand renourishment every five years of 262,000 cubic meters. The costs would be split evenly between the city and the Army Corps.

the National Marine Fisheries Service and the state Department of Fish and Game, charged with protecting marine life, rejected the large amounts of sand proposed in the study. Studies have shown that too much sand deposited at one time would wash back into the ocean, burying offshore eelgrass and kelp and the reefs that provide a habitat for fish and lobsters.

If you are a surfer, fisherman, lobsterman, local beach lover, tourist or homeowner you should support the Marine Fisheries request for half the sand that the dreaded Army Corps of Engineers wants. The Army Corps massive amount of sand will choke off our kelp beds and ruin our surf spots. This will impact several levels of our local economy and will greatly affect our quality of life.