Pacific View rezoning proposal heading to Encinitas council
At tonight's city council meeting school officials and their consultants will show a replacement plan developed in cooperation with neighbors that calls for housing and offices on the 2.8-acre site.
The plan for the only public school campus in downtown Encinitas has been two years in the making, and at least one more year of hearings and debate is expected before any construction begins.
That's because the campus today is zoned only for public or semi-public buildings, such as churches, medical or government offices. The council on Wednesday will decide whether to authorize the city's staff to begin processing the zoning change requested by the school district.
When completed, the change would need the approval of at least four City Council members. The state Coastal Commission also would need to approve it.
I think this comment on the NCT.com page sums it up, Delaney wrote on May 22, 2007 12:15 PM:
"I thought that the original owner of this property sold it to the EUSD for one dollar under the assumption that the Pacific View property would always be used as a beautiful school site for the children of Encinitas. That is, obviously, not what is going to happen. As a public school teacher, mother and life-long Encinitas resident, I am truly sorry that the property will not be used for the local Enci kids at all."
and this, Diane wrote on May 22, 2007 5:07 PM:
"Medical offices are not public/semi public buidlings -- they are for profit commercial ventures - why should the City subsidize cosmetic surgeons! As for Pacific View that land should be used for children -- why not put some soccer fields there and downsize the proposed sports complex so many residents are opposed to at the Hall Property. The last thing we need is another new development of offices and residences that will block our ocean views. That land should be preserved for children, and their children."
I think this site could be used for downtown Encinitas employee parking and overflow summer beach parking. But, you know what would be great? If it was a school!
As downtown Encinitas increases it's density with more condos, lofts and duplexes shouldn't the city prepare for more kids in the area? Or, are we to assume that all the new residential developments will just be summer rentals or occupied by childless singles?
I though we were promoting walkability.
ReplyDeleteRemove the school from walking distance of our city's future high density hub and there goes walkability and required driving twice a day (there are no more school busses).
The school should be rebuilt because we are going to have so many people and families living right there.
The city will use emminent domain to take control of the Pacific View site for the new and future City Hall.
ReplyDeleteThis falls within the zoning and there is not a damn thing the locals will be able to do to stop it. In fact any local that opposes the building will be labeled anti enviromental because the building will be "GREEN".
Apparently ocean views will be an inspiration to city staff while standing around the office water cooler!!
Imagine the pagentry and fireworks when city officials cut the ribbon to open the NEW Encinitas City Hall.
Remember you read it here first!!!
RSPB
To preserve its quirky downtown core, city may limit ground-floor office space
ReplyDeleteBy Angela Lau
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 23, 2007
ENCINITAS – It never hurts to think ahead.
Encinitas' downtown may be prosperous, but business leaders worry that its proximity to the ocean and its beach-town quirkiness could be the commercial center's undoing.
In an effort to make sure downtown remains a shopping and tourist attraction, the City Council today will consider whether to ban new offices on ground-floor space on South Coast Highway 101 and to give owners of historical properties incentives to preserve their buildings. The proposals would cover an area of downtown bounded by Encinitas Boulevard on the north, K Street to the south, the ocean and just east of Vulcan Avenue.
Encinitas is not the first coastal city to want to protect its downtown.
The Del Mar City Council in April imposed a moratorium that allows only retail shops in vacant building space downtown to boost its declining sales tax revenue.
Jennifer Grove, executive director for the Del Mar Village Association, a merchants' booster association, said most of Del Mar's downtown street-front space is used for nonretail purposes.
By contrast, the commercial heart of downtown on South Coast Highway 101 is 90 percent retail and 10 percent office use, said Peder Norby, executive director of the Downtown Encinitas MainStreet Association.
And Norby wants to keep it that way. He is behind the push for a predominantly retail downtown.
“The day could come when there could be 60 to 70 percent office on the ground floor and the rest is retail because this is a 'lifestyle district' where people choose to locate offices due to the location,” Norby said.
“A typical retail is 1,500 square feet. It has two clerks and customers. An office can put in 100-square-foot cubicles and 15 employees. We are actually seeing some of that downtown.”
Downtown is not the city's major revenue generator, contributing 8 percent to 9 percent of the city's $11.7 million in sales tax revenue this fiscal year, said Darlene Hill, the city's finance manager. The rest of the money comes from the Encinitas Ranch Town Center and other shopping centers on El Camino Real, outlets along Encinitas Boulevard, and commercial areas in Cardiff and Leucadia.
But it is reasonable to expect downtown's ability to generate sales tax to continue to grow, Norby said. Between 2001 and 2005, downtown's contribution to the city's sales tax revenue increased by $300,000.
To further secure downtown's charm, Norby suggested adding a historic overlay zone to downtown's master plan to encourage owners of historical properties to preserve them.
Such a move would give owners the right to use their buildings for more purposes than are allowed under current zoning laws. For instance, Norby said, a home could be used as a coffeehouse, a museum or a bookstore.
Under existing laws, the owner of a single-family home may be limited to residential use even after obtaining a historical designation for the property, city Planning Director Pat Murphy said.
Some of the historical buildings downtown include the La Paloma Theatre at South Coast Highway 101 and D Street, built in 1928; the Third Street boat houses, built in the 1920s; and the former H & H gas station, built in 1933 on South Coast Highway 101, now occupied by RoadOne.
The idea of preserving downtown as a shopping and eatery magnet was welcomed by Deputy Mayor Jerome Stocks.
“Encinitas is a destination place where people want to locate,” Stocks said. “We need to take steps to protect downtown. Cities that don't have suffered.”
thats abouts the second smart thing that Jerome has said.
ReplyDeletethe first was the City needs to address that dangerous railroad crossing at Leucadia Boulevard.
Keep it up Jerome, your mind is finally starting to work properly. Hopefully, next you will start speaking intelligently about walkable communities meaning more walking and less cut through traffic.
I'm sad that I couldn't attend the Council Meeting. Since the density is going to be less than was planned by the previous Superintendent, I hear that the "neighbors" and Council were happy with the downsized zoning proposal.
ReplyDeleteI had been hoping for a pocket park, yes, with overflow parking. I agree that this should remain mainly open space, with a couple of fields.
I thought Teresa Barth had suggested no zoning changes without a public vote?
BOOOOO Evergreen tree cutters! Yes, the billboard companies do not own the land, only are buying the right to display their awful advertising.
ReplyDeleteI was a student at Pacific View where I was blessed to have Mrs. Dismuke, Mrs. Lux, Mrs. Gregory, Mrs. Read, Mrs. Jones and Mr. Iufer as teachers ( in that order). I hate to see any school sell out to retail, wholesale or just about any other use. I think the property has been disgracefully pimped by the owners. Not one of my teachers taught real estate. It's sad to realize that that's the only thing they needed to teach.
ReplyDeleteI hope that the zoning changes requiring retail on the first floor apply to Leucadia as well. The existing office spaces in Leucadia offer nothing to the downtown experience except a blank building face.
ReplyDeletepacific view soccer fields or are they to close to Dalager's business for his tastes? He doesn't mind regional sports parks in someone else's back yard but no soccer fields near his business.
ReplyDeleteThe council action on the Pacific View property was not final approval but direction to staff and EUSD to move forward with the process to request a zoning change.
ReplyDeleteThe community still has time to get involved with the process before the final decision is made.
Contact the planning department to be included on the notification list for future meetings.
The Pacific View site should be used for Little League baseball games.
ReplyDeleteThe elimination of the school site doesn't just affect the neighbors, but all the homeowners in the EUSD. They will all have to bear any costs from this poor use of the district's assets. The property could be used as a temporary park until such time as it may again be needed as a school.
ReplyDeleteLast anonymous, I agree with you. A temporary park and overflow parking.
ReplyDeleteNO ZONING CHANGE!