Sierra Club sues Coastal Commission
City gives official OK to letter urging clean energy By Bianca Kaplanek
SOLANA BEACH — Like the adjacent cities to its north and south, Solana Beach agreed to send a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission urging the state agency to consider clean energy resources rather than new fossilfuel-based power plants to replace power previously generated from San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. “The clean energy industry is growing rapidly in our region and is providing stable, long-term, high paying jobs for our residents,� the letter states. “Spending billions of dollars on new natural gas plants would create a negative impact on our economic prosperity by burdening ratepayers with the cost of new expensive energy which we don’t need and at a time when our constituents are also faced with the prospect of paying for the decommissioning costs of San Onofre,� it continues. The letter also states building new fossil fuel plants is contrary to the city’s climate action plan because the facilities would increase greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. SONGS has not been generating power since January 2012, when it was shut down because of a small radiation leak that resulted from premature wear on tubes in its steam generators. Efforts to restart the plant were unsuccessful and it was permanently retired this past June. The letter notes that during the past two years without SONGS there have been no significant challenges to local power supplies. According to San Diego Gas & Electric, a minority owner of SONGS, conservation, clean energy and natural gas are being used to make up lost power from the nuclear plant. Officials say renewable resources such as solar and wind are not enough. One speaker at the Jan. 8 City Council meeting disagrees.
Suit challenges approval of permit over vacant lot
“You hear a lot of people say that solar can’t do the job, but that’s wrong,â€? Roger Davenport said. “For the last five years we’ve been living in a house that’s completely powered by solar energy. We are powered by what falls on our garage roof. “Hopefully we can get more solar instead of more nukes or gas ‌ plants,â€? he added. The letter is being sent as the CPUC is considering approval of the Pio Pico Energy Center in Otay Mesa, which it rejected about a year ago. SDG&E reapplied to build the plant in June after SONGS, which provided about 19 percent of the region’s energy, was shuttered. “We are all together here faced with a monumental decision that’s going to affect the people here in Solana Beach and our whole region for decades,â€? said Pete Hasapopoulos, a representative from the Sierra Club, which requested the letter from Solana Beach. “The notion that we need more gas plants to take care of life after San Onofre, that’s ‌ not temporary,â€? he said. “We’re talking about an investment in dirty energy for decades. So this is not a small matter. We’re beyond the days of talking about, ‘Hey, someday we’re going to have all this green energy. And we’re going to have a green economy. We’re already here. “San Onofre has been down nearly two years and we have not had related blackouts because of that,â€? Hasapopoulos added. “The notion that the lights are not going to stay on simply is not true.â€? “This is really important,â€? Councilwoman Lesa Heebner said. “What they’re proposing is peaker plants. Those are plants that are used in extreme cases when usually it’s because we’ve got hot weather. What’s at the peak? Our sunshine, so I think that we’d be able to replace it with that.â€? Encinitas and Del Mar approved sending similar letters to the CPUC in December.
By Bianca Kaplanek
DEL MAR — The Sierra Club San Diego filed a lawsuit on Jan. 8 against the California Coastal Commission, challenging the agency’s Nov. 13 approval of a permit that allows the 22nd District Agricultural Association to continue using a vacant lot east of the Del Mar Fairgrounds for year-round parking and other activities. The permit is one of several needed by the 22nd DAA, which oversees the fairgrounds, to move forward with consent orders that resulted from a settlement reached in March 2012 to resolve and mitigate past unpermitted development and activities at the state-owned facility. The 22nd DAA used vacant lots to the south and east for parking during the fair and horse races before establishment of the Coastal Act in 1976 so the commission hasn’t challenged those uses during those events. It was additional uses
By Bianca Kaplanek
DEL MAR — The 2014 summer horse races at the Del Mar Fairgrounds will remain “Cool as Ever,� as the famous slogan promises. But the iconic blue and gold diamonds have been scratched from the lineup as the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club readies for the 15-day fall meet this November. “We can’t use the summer advertising,� DMTC president Joe Harper said. “It’s an entirely different meet. We have to rebrand it. “It’s important to get off on a good foot,� he added. “The blue and gold just won’t work in November.� The theme for the fall meet, which runs Nov. 7, 8 and 9 and Thursdays through Sundays for the remainder of the month, is “Old Hollywood.� Harper said he has been working with
east overflow lot — less than 5 acres — should be restored because a recent study indicates there are more wetlands there. Coastal Commission staff recommended using the lower third of the east lot for a maximum of 10 years for parking only during the San Diego County Fair and summer and fall
It’s safe to say that if the Coastal Commission approved the staff recommendation we would not have filed the lawsuit.� David Grubb Sierra Club Representative
result, officials sought to continue using the parcel east of Jimmy Durante Boulevard for year-round temporary events such as a pumpkin patch, Christmas tree sales and parking, as well as additional future temporary events. County Supervisor Dave Roberts and representatives from several environmental groups and the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority said the southern third of the
horse races. The staff recommendation also required that a conservation easement be immediately be placed on that same section of the east lot. But commissioners voted 7-3 against the recommendation and granted the fairgrounds a 10-year permit to use the east lot year-round for parking and other events with a requirement that two traffic studies be done in that time —
one of which fairgrounds officials plan to begin immediately. “The Sierra Club California has long fought to protect our San Diego wetlands, which are a unique natural resource,� Sierra Club representative David Grubb wrote in a press release. “We were deeply troubled when the Coastal Commission itself violated the Coastal Act by authorizing the uses sought by the Agricultural District. Sacrificing our already limited wetlands is not the solution, especially when there are alternatives.� Grubb said the Sierra Club isn’t opposed to all conditions of the permit. “But we can’t pick and choose and slice and dice,� he said. “We have to object to the entire decision.� He said the organization supports the JPA’s suggested compromise, which was reflected in the staff recommendation. “It’s safe to say that if the Coastal Commission approved the staff recommendation we would not have filed the lawsuit,� Grubb said. He also said the Sierra Club has no current plans to sue the 22nd DAA. “They didn’t make the bad decision,� he said.
Hollywood — the city, not the recently closed racing venue — to put together an event to “capitalize on the motion picture industry.� He said he is talking with “horse owners with a great deal of influence in Tinsel Town� in an effort to re-create the early days of the race track’s founding members, actors Bing Crosby and Pat O’Brien. Harper provided the update at the Jan. 14 meeting of the 22nd District Agricultural Association board of directors while presenting the DMTC budget for approval. According to the document, revenues for the fall meet are estimated to be $8.3 million, with the district receiving an additional $400,000, not including profits from food and beverage sales. Expenses are expected to be approximately $7.85 million, with about $1.77
million earmarked for the rebranding campaign. With the closure of Hollywood Park, Del Mar and Santa Anita are the only two major thoroughbred venues in Southern California, although Los Alamitos Race Course in Orange County is renovating its track to accommodate thoroughbreds. As part of the approval process from the California Horse Racing Board for the fall dates, Del Mar, Santa Anita and Los Alamitos are required to contribute to a fund that will address stabling and off-site training facility needs in Southern California due to the loss of such facilities at Hollywood Park. The industry needs to accommodate about 3,400 horses, Harper said. The fund will provide for future stabling and training of thoroughbred race horses, which is critical
to the ongoing success of the industry in Southern California, according to the budget report. DMTC’s contribution to the fund for 2014 is estimated to be $1 million, although that expense is not fixed. Harper also reported the widening of the turf track is on schedule and within budget. Officials are also considering options for the synthetic Polytrack, which has reached its expected 7-year life of usefulness. Harper said rocks are coming through because of wear. Santa Anita converted back to dirt and with Hollywood Park closed, there are no other venues with a synthetic course. Del Mar could be making a change, he said, because the plan was to provide consistency for the horses when racing in Southern California.
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during other times of the year that were considered violations. As part of the settlement the 22nd DAA agreed to restore back to wetlands a 9.5-acre unpaved dirt parcel known as the south overflow parking lot. Because the fairgrounds will lose about 1,250 parking spaces as a
Fall race meet goes ‘Old Hollywood’ in honor of celebs who started it all
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