Hello Rain

Leucadia Nights Friday, Dec. 7th

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L101 Slideshow

Leucadia Blvd northbound to La Costa Ave. There is no other stretch of coast highway like this in California. It is truly a special place. Notice the major gaps in the tree canopy, this is only going to get worse.

Leucadia Blvd Backup

This is a photo of the second Leucadia Blvd roundabout currently under construction. Roundabouts promise to smooth the flow of traffic, but only one problem here, the traffic is gridlocked at a dead stop. The stoplight at Vulcan, the train tracks and the coast highway intersection all create a perfect storm of traffic, backing up through the roundabout and all the way to the stop sign (and beyond on weekends). After I took this photo I sat through three red lights and one train before making it across the coast highway. The total wait from the time the photo was taken to getting through the Hwy101 intersection clocked in around 12 minutes.

NCTD to Cut Down Trees on L101

If you cruise northbound on the Leucadia coast highway you may notice glimpses of spray painted red X's on many of the eucalyptus trees that line the 101 and train tracks. A red X means the tree is going to be cut down. A green X means trimming. You may notice that some of the trees with red X's are obviously dry and dead, but several of them look vibrant and healthy. The NCTD counts 40 large trees on the 101, they have slated at least 7 of them (maybe more) for removal.

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The majority of this beautiful row of trees are marked with red X's and will be cut down. Probably because some are on that slight slope. I remember that in the early 90's a branch from one of these trees fell onto the railway during a storm.

This tree is marked with a green X, meaning trim branches. Of course, there have been many incidents in recent history where L101 trees that were supposed to be trimmed have been completely cut down.

The large tree on the left is obviously dead but the large tree on the right of the photo has a full green canopy, however it is marked to be cut down. The center tree has some green leaves but is also marked with a red X. When these trees are gone this section of L101 will look very dry, dusty and barren.
The large tree in the foreground is the only one that leaps out at you as a dead tree.



These three giants are to be removed despite only one of them appears to be dead by the layman's eye.

The NCTD fears that the trees on the left of the photo will fall onto the tracks. Nobody wants that to happen but the question is, can the older taller trees be trimmed and maintained with outright removal? Without the highway tree canopy the look, feel and ambiance of coastal Leucadia will drastically change.

Area residents enjoying the NCTD's Scorched Earth policy.

See the NCTD's budget projections on the ETA Blog, click here.

Unclear on the Concept

Sweet, Crisp Leucadia Fall 2007

Another classic Thanksgiving weekend in Leucadia, the western edge of the home of the brave and the land of the free. Notice the copious amount of sand--not a cobble stone in sight. Photo taken this evening.

Please Post a Comment on Jerome's Blog

Encinitas city councilman and NCTD board member Jerome Stocks is one of the bloggers over at the Red County Blog.

His latest post complains about the lack of comments from the public so please click here and leave a comment for our friend and leader Jerome.

ENC101 2009

The new mixed use development that promises to transform the look and feel of downtown Encinitas, Pacific Station, has a website up: www.pacificstation.net

Developer John Dewald confirmed to 101 Coordinator Peder Norby this morning that a 25,000 square foot Whole Foods market will be the main tenant. While I remain critical of many design elements of Pacific Station, I am happy to have a grocery store return to the Encinitas coast highway, especially one that specializes in quality organic goods.

The Whole Foods press release is as savory and elegant as the food it sells: Created to satisfy and delight their customers, the new location promises to be an unrivaled culinary experience, offering a fresh and distinctive approach to the grocery shopping and dining experience that customers have come to expect from Whole Foods Market. All the latest, most innovative natural and organic offerings will be incorporated into the store. Whether shopping for the families' groceries, grabbing a hot lunch or having salmon grilled to order, shoppers will be amazed by the selection and variety of natural products that are available to choose from.

I can only speculate what the traffic is going to be like on that section of downtown but the many residents who live in the downtown Encinitas beach area should be thrilled to have a full service market they can walk to.

Pacific Station will have two three-story buildings, a two-story restaurant and two levels of underground parking on the 1.39-acre lot between E and F streets. The 33-foot-tall buildings would be among the tallest in downtown Encinitas

In other ENC101 news, an ACE Hardware store has opened in the Lumberyard shopping center to rave reviews for it's customer service. ACE is in the space Casady's Organic Market formally occupied.

NOOOOooooo! Not Yardage Town!!!

Yardage Town has been around since before I was born. I can't believe it's closing down *sob*.

Sign On San Diego Covers Leucadia Tree Memorial

A tree falls in Leucadia... and a memorial springs up

"Say what you want about Leucadians but the folks who live in the small beach community nestled between Interstate 5 and the Pacific Ocean definitely love their trees.

After an old Torrey Pine was cut down last week on a vacant lot on Orpheus Avenue an impromptu shrine memorializing it quickly appeared.

Dozens of flowers were placed in front of the property which sits just south of Leucadia Boulevard and several signs and posters were affixed to the chain link fence.

Messages ranged from proclamations of love for the tree as well as words of - well, not love - for the property owners."

click here (includes photos)

Leucadia Blog: Orpheus Tree Shrine

New City Intimidation Ordinance?

At the last council meeting, on the consent calendar (there is no public discussion on an item unless it is pulled by the public or a council member), there was an ordinance to amend two chapters of the municipal code.

click image for large view

click image for large view

The blocked out passages are from a highlighter pen, sorry about that:
C. The presiding officer and D. of Section 403 of the California Penal Code

D. is the section to be added. The sheriff already has the authority to do this.

Section A. and C. already state that. My take on this is that the stronger wording of Section D is meant to intimidate people.

Local activist Lynn Braun pulled the item so there was council discussion. The vote to approve the amendment was 3-2 (boys against the girls).

I am calling this the Braun Amendment. I believe it is an effort to intimidate and silence Lynn Braun who is a perennial thorn in the side of the Encinitas city council. I have criticized Lynn Braun in the past, encouraging her to take public speaking classes to help her at the podium. But it's the council's job to patiently listen to to public speakers for those precious 3 minutes, no matter how uncomfortable it may make them.

As for the 2nd reading, all new ordinances must be "read" (voted on) twice at an open meeting. My guess is that the 2nd reading will probably be on Dec. 5th or Dec. 12th.

It's Poinsettia Time

I dropped by the Ecke Ranch Friday morning and Paul Ecke III showed me the new crop and breeds. The live poinsettia wreath was impressive. It's hard to believe that next week is Thanksgiving and that it's already time to start giving poinsettias as gifts to friends and family. It seems like summer ended yesterday.






Ecke farming out his poinsettia crop