Lane Ends

Guest Editorial

As a longtime Leucadia resident, I am profoundly concerned about the prospect of losing one lane of northbound traffic on Highway 101. Sometimes experts and citizens alike can’t predict the consequences of changing traffic patterns. In the mid-90s the city of Solana Beach, urged on by nearby residents and consultants, erected a stop sign at Ocean St. and Highway 101. The result was nothing less than disastrous. Southbound traffic backed up in the morning past Chesterfield Ave. Residents soon discovered the noise, exhaust and traffic levels increased to the point that the stop sign was thankfully removed. Fortunately, for Solana Beach the fix was quick, cheap and easy.

My concern is the possible traffic nightmare resulting from shutting down one lane of traffic will be too costly to reverse. Coming home from the south in the late afternoon could be the most unpleasant part of the day. That, however, is not my biggest concern. Has anyone considered the prospect of an emergency evacuation from the south? We saw this scenario unfold in Texas with residents attempting to evacuate urban areas. Restricting traffic flow without the ability to temporarily restore the disabled traffic lane in the event of an emergency seems shortsighted and possibly dangerous.

R. Young

Visitor Center Update

Creatia

Leucadia is the Art and Soul of Encinitas. Leucadians are deeply innovative and creative. This image is a scan of an oversize postcard that came in the mail a while back. It was from Leucadia artist George Bredehoft.

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Funky Leucadia Garage

Moonlight Lofts Update: Work/Live

The Artists Colony was replaced by the Artists Lofts, which was eventually marketed as the Lofts at Moonlight. JP had described the Artists Colony as, "The cool swanky Artist Colony and all it's fun nooks and crannies..." The owners of the property decided to execute their property rights as they are spelled out in the Encinitas Municipal Code and state law, there by replacing a gathering space and a walkable destination/local attraction with 20 condos and commercial units on the ground floor.

Each of the units are two+ bedroom and come with two parking spaces. Originally, the units were marketed as condos. According to one of the residents, they were all converted to rentals because they were not selling.
When these Lofts were being developed, there was talk that the new residents were going to walk to work. You know, the live upstairs and work downstairs concept. I thought it was funny to act as if that were a new option. There are already mixed use buildings on the 101 and there is a ton of residential right behind the 101 shops in Leucadia.

In Moonlight Lofts, there is a small customer parking lot under the ground floor. Inclusion of such underground lots can add substantial project costs, but it is worth it because there will be a lot of auto activity associated with Moonlight Lofts. Right now there is plenty of parking. If the shops ever get fired up it is going to be tough for visitors to avoid overflowing into the neighborhood.

The Den was the first shop to open. Cool shop.

The proprietor also owns a shop in Carlsbad and if I recall correctly, she said she lives in Temecula. She definitely said she lived outside Encinitas, so that means she did not live upstairs.

Some of the other commercial space has been leased since I spoke with the owner of the Den. A local guy openned a hot dog shop and a couple law firms moved in. Other storefronts are still empty.

In 2008 the council banned certain uses (ex: Law Firms) of ground floor space in Downtown Encinitas.

NCT: Regarding the limit on downtown ground-level space, incumbents James Bond and Houlihan as well as challengers Collier and Doug Long said they support the ordinance as necessary to promote a "walkable" downtown business district.

Does this mean the occurence of law firms at the Moonlight Lofts indcates this project has not successfully created a walkable environment? Will the city also exclude law firms (and other uses) from other "walkability" target areas?

I spoke to one of the residential tenants last week. The interior of the units is high-end. I was told that most of the tenants are young professionals. No families. There is no place adjacent to the apartments for the kids to routinely play (i.e. semi-supervised).

Although, being able to walk to the bars and restaurants was considered a great asset of the apartment for the tenant I spoke with, she drives an auto to work. After talking to tenant and shop keeper it appears that most of the tenants drive to work (each unit does come with two parking spots).

Some of the units have cool city light views. Some also have motel views. Urban living comes with some down sides and living next to the motel can mean being impacted by disturbances emanating from the motel. This was an issue for the tenant.

Motel View

Surf Writer Touches Swamis Contest

Chris Ahrens is one of our communities' assets. He keeps the surf community reflective and grounded and gives glimpses of the surf to the wider population. He writes stuff for Risen, a column for The Coast News, and books about surfers.

This week Chris wrote about contests at Swamis. Ahrens echos the Leucadia blog (because the Leucadia Blog is awesome):

...To me this is more about the rights of local citizens than Swami’s itself. While I believe that nobody has the right to rope off a public area to accommodate a few, many friends strongly disagree...

Chris addresses the propaganda about localism:

...Swami’s is now home to a variety of surfers from young up-and-comers to soulful rock dwelling guardians, to those who appear in response to the omnipresent surf cams that plaster its pretty face worldwide. Still, the place remains a fun, gentle break populated by a generally friendly group of wave riders, who look to escape the loud world that press us ever deeper into smaller corners.

...Since then a daily contest is held between those who ride big boards and small boards and those who sit in the outside pack waiting for set waves, which lately includes beginners brazenly snaking waves from the more skilled...

Friends from L.A. had a good laugh learning about the Swamis localism propaganda this weekend. In LA there are spots were the local crew gets high on Meth before paddling out. They aren't very friendly.
I'm pretty sure no one has had a knife pulled on them at Swamis. That happened in the LA line up. There are breaks near Santa Barbara where the local crew post "guards" along the paths to the breaks. The "guards" use physical intimidation to keep the waves uncrowed.

Then there is The Ranch. The last undeveloped stretch of private land in Southern California. According to surfline:

Couple these militant day-trippers with the numerous landowners who surf, and you've got a healthy crew of fiercely protective locals to contend with whenever a quality swell -- the area picks up both summer souths and winter norths -- hits. First timers boating or, arms willing, kayaking in, will almost certainly be met with scowls and frowns of disapproval, if not outright shouting and physical hostility.

If a contest is to be held as a symbolic act against localism the promoters have picked the wrong break. It would be much more interesting if they took the contest north. They would also get better waves, but this contest is not about surfing.

See Also: The localism card is propaganda to trick the public.

Moonlight Beach Cleanup Sunday 2:30 pm

Want to help clean up the filthy and disgusting Moonlight Beach? Be there for the afternoon cleanup Sunday 2:30-4:30 pm

Meet at the restrooms.

Compostable trash bags and gloves will be provided.

Organized by Surya Scott Doc Wohl

After Christmas-recycling packaging and the tree

North County Times: MAKE CHRISTMAS A LITTLE LESS WASTEFUL BY RECYCLING

Holiday trees, wreaths, garlands and cut flowers can also be recycled. While some botanical decorations can simply be placed in your designated green waste cans, trees need a little extra attention.
First, remember to remove all lights, ornaments, tinsel and, yes, the tree stand.
Then cut the trees in half and trim off the branches. The tree sections can then be placed in your green waste recycling cans or left curbside on the next collection day, depending on your city's specific rules. Generally, flocked trees cannot be recycled, so they will have to go into the trash or be dropped off at a tree recycling center.

Leucadia Prefab

New Prefab on Vulcan

Recent Prefab off Andrew

Dwell Mag has done a lot of coverage of prefab homes. Some of the prefab designs in Dwell are outright sicion.

BuisnessWeek writes:

The graceful forms and rich materials used in these homes defy the popular preconception of prefab housing as drab and primarily utilitarian. Since the components of the Dwell Homes and other modernist prefab houses are often less expensive because they're mass-produced, design becomes the priority.

In addition, pricing is attractive: Prefab promises a budget-efficient option because of controlled costs. The Dwell Homes, for instance, are priced on average at $175 to $200 per square foot, based on a two-level, 2,500-square-foot home. Other modernist kit homes, like the LV by Rocio Romero and the Wee House by Alchemy Architects, can run as low as five figures.

Here is a slide show of Dwell houses.

Keep Christmas Funky!

Christmas Tradition: Retread Post

The SD Reader followed up on the Moonlight Christmas tree. It is a cool story. Read it here. Here is a clip:

"This year it took a day and half and eight guys to string them up,” says Miano, who has made legal provisions to ensure that the tree is lit up at Christmastime even if she no longer owns the house in the future.

Lights

Secret Garden

Anderson's La Costa Nursery on La Costa Avenue is always fun to visit. It has lots of suprises around every corner and it has a secret garden tint. It is one of the great places to pick up a cool green gift in Leucadia.

The staff is super friendly.

The secret garden gift shop stuff is on sale and Christmas items are 40% off.

Cool pots.

Winter in Encinitas

Big eucalyptus trees on the coast highway are mostly associated with Leucadia but downtown Encinitas has some ones as well. This fountain area in the Lumberyard is a nice place to sip a hot chocolate while Christmas shopping.