MANDATORY EVACUATION FOR COMMUNITY OF OLIVENHAIN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Encinitas EOC

October22, 2007

PHONE: (760) 944 5046 8:30 p.m.

MANDATORY EVACUATION FOR COMMUNITY OF OLIVENHAIN

A mandatory evacuation of Olivenhain, east of Rancho Santa Fe Road and north of El Camino Del Norte, has been ordered by Encinitas Fire Department. Reverse 9-1-1 notification has been requested through the San Diego County Sheriffs Department for residents in the area. No other evacuations for Encinitas residents have been ordered as of 8:30 p.m.



A shelter has been established at the Encinitas Senior and Community Center at 1140 Oakcrest Park Drive. The shelter offers basic care and shelter including food, drinks and restroom facilities and evacuees are encouraged to bring their own bedding materials if possible.



If any further evacuation is necessary, the Encinitas Fire Department and San Diego County Sheriffs Department will be notifying residents in affected areas in person or via Reverse 9-1-1.

Fire Updates

CITY OF ENCINITAS MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Richard Phillips

October 22, 2007

PHONE: (760) 944 5046 2:30 p.m.

ENCINITAS ACTIVATES EOC IN RESPONSE TO FIRES

At approximately 10:25 a.m. today the City of Encinitas activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in response to fires in San Diego County. Currently, there are no fires burning within the City of Encinitas. This area includes the communities of Cardiff, Leucadia and Olivenhain.



A precautionary evacuation of Olivenhain, east of Rancho Santa Fe Road, has been ordered by Encinitas Fire Department. Residents in the affected areas have been notified by Reverse 9-1-1. No other evacuations have been ordered as of 2:30 p.m. A shelter has been established at the Encinitas Senior and Community Center at 1140 Oakcrest Park Drive.



All Encinitas fire stations are staffed and additional personnel are on standby. The Fire Department is asking residents to stay at home and stay indoors. This is especially important for citizens with heart problems, asthma and those with breathing difficulties.



If any evacuation is necessary, the Fire Department and Sheriffs Department will be notifying residents in affected areas in person or via Reverse 9-1-1.

October 22, 2007
No further evacuations in Encinitas

From SDUT newsblog:

The city of Encinitas announced this evening that no further evacuation is needed. Earlier today, the city issued an advice for precautionary evacuation of Olivenhain east of Rancho Santa Fe Road.

A shelter has been established at the Encinitas Senior and Community Center at 1140 Oakcrest Park Drive.

The Fire Department asks residents, especially those with heart and respiratory problems, to stay home and remain indoors.

If any evacuation is necessary, the Fire and Sheriff's departments will notify residents by telephone.
Posted by Angela Lau October 22, 2007 06:43 PM

Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Update

The Encinitas Community/Senior Center has been opened as an Emergency Evacuation Center. We are offering basic care and shelter including food, drinks and restroom facilities. It now looks like we will be open through the night. We’d like to make it clear to all residents that we are a basic shelter; we do not have beds or cots and we are not equipped to give medical care or personal care. We will offer dinner and breakfast as well as pillows and blankets. We also have an area for small pets.

Angry Skies above Leucadia

The view from my roof this morning...

B&B, Barth and Brown

City council person Teresa Barth is hosting a meet and greet Saturday, November 10, 2 - 4pm at the Cardiff-by-the-Sea Library Community Room. At 2:30pm she'll give a brief update on 2007 accomplishments and what is planned for 2008.

This comes on the heels of Barth's major statement against closed session city council meetings which city watchers have long complained violate the Brown Act.

Barth said Wednesday night she will not attend any more closed-session meetings until the city switches its 24-hour notification policy for closed-session agendas to 72-hour notification. She said she wants citizens to have time to prepare to testify before the council begins discussions.

San Diego Union Tribune story

10news.com story

North County Times story

North County Times editorial

Brown Act.org

Ralph Brown sez: Don't violate my act bro..

Open Comments Allowed Once Again

Due to the volume of angry e-mails from frustrated people who want to post comments on this blog but are having a hard time signing up a Blogger account I have decided to open the blog up to anonymous comments again.

The daily traffic for the Leucadia Blog is still very high but the comments sections have gone down from an average of 30 per post to 1 or 2. A lot of people are posting comments on the North County Times and Union Tribune websites but are frustrated by the delay and occasional editing. I have decided to open up the comments section on this blog once again.

All I ask is that you don't threaten to kill each other anymore, other than the comments are usually pretty insightful, funny and interesting.


I don't want to start censoring post but I may decide to delete obvious agent provocateurs if I'm feeling crabby.

And, as always you can e-mail me your editorial rants if you feel the print media isn't printing your letters often enough. funkyleucadian@gmail.com

Carlsbad Police State

Did anyone else go through the check point on northbound Rancho Santa Fe Rd, just before the entrance to San Elijo Hills, on Thursday, October 18th?

All 4 lanes of traffic were narrowed down to 1 lane. I thought it was road construction at first but then noticed the dozen or so police cars.

There were two electronic signs, one read "check point ahead" and the other "drivers license and safety" which then flashed over to "inspection" and something about having your papers ready.

About 10 cars were pulled over on the side of the road, mostly yuppie soccer moms with kids in the car. Not illegal aliens of guys who look like Osama, but blond ladies returning from Starbucks.

I didn't get any good photos of the police because I assumed I would be pulled over as well and was switching my digital camera over to video mode so I could tape the experience. By the time I had the camera ready I was waved through.

The searches were obviously random. The traffic delay was close to 30 minutes.

From the constitution of the United States of America:

Amendment IV (the Fourth Amendment)

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Longboard Grotto Loses Parking to Strange Curb

I've been a huge advocate of sidewalks being installed in Leucadia but this has me scratching my head. What is the purpose of this curb element and why take away precious parking in an area where small business parking is already scarce?

On weekends it's not unusual to see up to 6 vehicles parked here. I guess now the surf trucks will just have to drive over this curb in order to park?

Carlsbad's Plans to Gentrify Ponto will cost Encinitas millions

Carlsbad is like our jock older brother who takes steroids and drives a monster truck and ask to borrow money from you at the worst time possible.

NCT.com story:

Encinitas challenging Ponto plan

ENCINITAS -- The Ponto Beachfront Village Vision Plan could leave Encinitas footing the bill for up to $4 million in roadwork, according to a report headed to the Encinitas City Council Wednesday.

Plans to develop 50 acres in Carlsbad -- opposite Batiquitos Lagoon from Encinitas -- would dump up to 5,000 vehicle trips a day onto La Costa Avenue, an Encinitas road that would need new lanes and signals to accommodate the traffic, Encinitas planning Director Patrick Murphy wrote in a report to the council.

Carlsbad has proposed that developers of the controversial Ponto plan contribute $5.3 million toward the cost of improving La Costa Avenue.

"The Encinitas engineering staff ... believes the estimate is significantly low," Murphy wrote, adding the cost "is more likely to be $7.9 million to $9.3 million."

The Encinitas City Council will consider authorizing Murphy to outline the discrepancy in a letter to the city's neighbor to the north when the council meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday at 505 S. Vulcan Ave.

Carlsbad's City Council is expected to hold a public hearing on the Ponto plan Oct. 23.

Our 2 Miles of Beautiful but Flawed Coastal Corridor Seeking Some Sweet TLC

Here is yesterday's Union Tribune story on the upcoming workshops to further improve the coastal corridor infrastructure. This is nice because a few years ago the discussion was all about blight and eminent domain. Now we are talking about realistic improvements that the taxpayers deserve.

Seeking roadside assistance on 101

Workshops expected to get Leucadians' input
By Angela Lau
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

October 10, 2007

ENCINITAS – Leucadians may soon have a chance to redesign the two-mile stretch of North Coast Highway 101 that passes through their community.

Tonight, the Encinitas City Council will consider whether to award a $231,000 contract to Solana Beach-based MW Peltz+Associates to create a streetscape plan for the highway.

Before putting pen to paper, the consultant is expected to hold several community workshops beginning in January or February to hear what renovations residents want along the highway from A Street to La Costa Avenue, city Planning Director Pat Murphy said.

This promises to be Encinitas' next major rejuvenation project, after spending $5.2 million for a six-block downtown streetscape project in 2002 that brought wider sidewalks, new benches, medians, street lamps, landscaping and decorative retaining walls. Lack of funds halted plans to extend that renovation an additional five blocks south.

The coast highway through Leucadia is a less cohesive commercial strip than downtown. The road is lined with restaurants, art galleries, shops, motels and empty lots on the west side, and a railroad right-of-way on the east. Sections are without sidewalks and the area typically floods during winter rains.

Roughly $4.2 million has been earmarked through fiscal year 2012-13 for the project, but Murphy expects to need more money because of rising construction costs.

“We are very excited,” said Morgan Mallory, a board member of the Leucadia 101 MainStreet Association, a nonprofit booster organization. “Oh Lordy, we were hoping we are still alive when this happens.”

He and Leucadia Town Council President Rachelle Collier said they already know what they want: slower traffic and more trees.

“We are anxious to maintain the canopy and improve the traffic here so that we do not encourage (Interstate 5) bypass traffic and maintain the rural atmosphere,” Mallory said.

“We have so much traffic that is going by our businesses we feel the vast majority of them are using 101 as a thoroughfare to get somewhere else, not to enjoy our community,” he said. “We want to create an environment that is business-and pedestrian-friendly and maintain the flavor of Leucadia.”

To reduce speeds, Mallory suggested:

Narrowing North Coast Highway 101 from four lanes to two, allowing for one lane each way.

Reducing the speed limit, currently at 40 mph.

Installing roundabouts.

Mallory also suggested solving some of Leucadia's longstanding parking problems by creating more parking on the east side of Highway 101.

Leucadians have been lobbying for safer roads for more than a decade.

Some of the community's older roads, Highway 101 included, were built for buggies, not pedestrians, the community's leaders have said. And, as cars replaced buggies, the highway became what Leucadians call a speedway.

The city has developed a growth plan for the community that is now being implemented.

The first step was taken recently when city contractors began building sidewalks on North Coast Highway 101.

Sidewalks are also being installed on Leucadia Boulevard, which connects the coast highway with El Camino Real. The city also is building roundabouts at two intersections on the boulevard to slow traffic. The sidewalks and roundabouts are expected to be completed by December.

The coast highway streetscape is meant to complement those improvements.

When the consultant finishes the design document, it will become a template for future developments, Planning Director Murphy said. Developers will be asked to implement some of the beautification and traffic requirements.

Like in downtown Encinitas, the plan could call for such things as specially designed streetlights, sidewalk art, benches, landscaping and road improvements, Murphy said.

The city will phase in its share of the North Coast Highway 101 improvements, starting with the southern half-mile section from A Street to North Court. The construction date has not been determined, Murphy said.

There are some good comments posted on the UT website on this story, click here.

Leucadia Roadside Park, it ain't what it used to be

The park now looks bare. What should we do next? How should our funky little park be managed? What should it look like and how can it serve the community?


The green trees before they met their doom.


Art Wall 2007


The classy Scott Saw painting of the park back when it was really cool.


The cypress euthanasia.


The back half the park is actually quite lovely. The addition of the cool beachy art tiled trash cans was a nice touch. I miss the picnic table though.


The park sans trees. Maybe the park needs a cool public art installation or a small fountain with cool landscaping like a rock garden or a small permanent stage for the Art Walk, Leucadia Nights and other events?

Leucadia Nights tonight 6-9pm

PSA: Recycle your E-WASTE on Saturday

Recycle your E-WASTE

Computer Monitors, Laptops, TV’s, Cell Phones, Printers, Fax Machines etc.

Saturday, October 6th – 10:00 am – 5:30 pm

Paul Ecke Central School

185 Union Street-Leucadia


EASY CURB-SIDE DROP-OFF

Proceeds benefit the Leucadia Mainstreet Association, The Paul Ecke P.T.A. and Mother Earth

(858) 272-7054

Where will your E-Waste end up? Watch this video,

More Chopping, a mistake?

City crew was up early this morning cutting down the last cypress tree in the roadside park. Word is they were only supposed to cut down the evergreen that is listing to the side.

*update--both trees were removed.

Missing Something?

Spotted this flyer posted on the corner of W. Glaucus and Hwy101.