Leucadia highway improvements, Workshops set for next week

This photo demonstrates the classic beach rural flair that Leucadia is famous for, but a decent streetscape project is needed for a functional mainstreet.

Plans advance for Leucadia highway improvements

By: ADAM KAYE - Staff Writer
Workshops set for next week

ENCINITAS ---- Plans to beautify a 2-mile stretch of North Coast Highway 101 advanced Thursday, as design consultants addressed the Encinitas Planning Commission and a staffer announced dates for public workshops later this month.

Michael Peltz of MW Peltz + Associates told the commission he has nearly 30 years of experience as a landscape architect. He said his firm is based in Solana Beach and he has lived in Encinitas since 1984.

He said he anticipated spending four months to gather public comments and develop a plan to beautify the heavily-traveled highway between A Street and La Costa Avenue.

For years, community members have demanded improvements to Leucadia's commercial strip, where motels, antique stores, car dealerships, restaurants and other businesses sit shoulder-to-shoulder in a hodgepodge of eclectic architecture.

This month's meeting schedule includes:

- A presentation before the Encinitas City Council at 6 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 505 S. Vulcan Ave.;

- Part one of a two-part community workshop at 6 p.m. Feb. 21 at the Oak Crest Middle School auditorium, 675 Balour Drive;

- Part two of the workshop at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 23 at City Hall. The session includes a walking tour of the project area and brainstorming sessions.

During the walking tour, participants can observe places where motorists and pedestrians may be in conflict and get a "big picture" look at the project area, Peltz said.

When the group returns to City Hall, participants can plot their ideas and other details on aerial photographs of the highway.

Planning commissioners took no action on Thursday but offered comments of their own.

On the topic of motorists and pedestrians, Commissioner Virginia Felker said that when parking on the coast highway, opening the car door can be tricky.

"You have to time that with cars whooshing by and bicyclists," she said.

Commissioner Gene Chapo, who represents Leucadia on the panel, said the plan was a long time coming and he was excited to get it started.

He said the first round of detailed planning ---- from A Street to North Court ---- should extend one block farther north, to Athena Street. That way, the historic building that houses Pannikin Coffee & Tea could be included, he said.

Chapo said he hoped that plans would include methods for controlling traffic.

The city's right-of-way is 100 feet wide, and Chapo said the designers could take advantage of that width to create crosswalks, bus stops and parking on the east side of the highway.

As successful as streetscape improvements have been in downtown Encinitas, Leucadia needs a different design, Commissioner Mark Steyaert said.

"I'd really be in favor of some varied treatment to really make it stand out as different," he said.

Alluding to flooding problems, Commissioner Tom McCabe said the city has adopted policies he opposes, which include requirements that some buildings on the commercial strip elevate their ground floors as much as three feet above the level of the sidewalk.

He asked Peltz to provide "strong, professional recommendations" addressing the consequences of that policy.

McCabe hinted that less could be more when beautifying a strip of highway rich with history.

"Sometimes a lack of design is better," McCabe said. "I hope you look at (the highway's history) seriously."

The City Council has budgeted $4.2 million for the Leucadia streetscape project through 2013; the Peltz firm's contract totals $276,000.

After the meeting, Peltz said his company designed Solana Beach's Fletcher Cove Park, which opened last summer and received awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects and from the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

Also, he said, the firm produced a master plan for the coast highway through Solana Beach.

In Encinitas, the company designed the landscaping inside the roundabout on Santa Fe Drive.