DEC. 16, 2016
A7
T he C oast News
Leucadia Club receives liquor license after council stalemate By Aaron Burgin
Erosion caused by heavy rains took out about 75 feet of the Coast-to Crest Trail adjacent to Del Mar Horsepark along the San Dieguito River. A new plan to stabilize the bank was recently presented to the 22nd District Agricultural Association. Courtesy photo
New plan offered to reconnect Coast-to-Crest Trail By Bianca Kaplanek
DEL MAR — Plans to build a 6-foot wide prefabricated bridge to reconnect a portion of the Coast-toCrest Trail washed away by heavy rains early this year have changed. At the Dec. 13 22nd District Agricultural Association board of directors meeting, senior environmental planner Dustin Fuller said a new option is to use soil from the south overflow lot restoration project to shore up the bank along the San Dieguito River that eroded and took out about 75 feet of the trail during a Jan. 7 storm. The collapsed bank is west El Camino Real, adjacent to Del Mar Horsepark, which is owned by the 22nd DAA, which governs the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority, which presented the bridge alternative at the October 22nd DAA meeting, sought to repair the damage. But a California Coastal Commission permit issued to the 22nd DAA prohibits “future channelization” such as berms, riprap, walls “or other substantial alteration … constructed to protect the development from flooding or erosion.” Director David Watson, a land use attorney who was not at the Oc-
tober meeting, said at the November meeting that he didn’t support the bridge option. The 22nd DAA is currently restoring back to wetlands a lot south of the fairgrounds on Jimmy Durante Boulevard that was used for overflow parking during the summer fair and thoroughbred horse races. Fuller said the plan is to use about 250 cubic yards of the approximately 30,000 cubic yards being removed. He has asked that that amount of “good, clean soil” be held onsite until decisions are made. He said he has spoken to many of the stakeholders, including the California Coastal Commission, which didn’t oppose or support the proposal. Fuller said commission staff noted, however, that there is precedent. Some of the dirt was used on the buffer south of the golf driving range at the south end of the east overflow lot. Additionally, the Army Corps of Engineers indicated it could issue an emergency permit for the work. The San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy has pledged support. “I hope the various agencies that are involved in all of this will come up with a reasonable and via-
ble fix,” Peter Shapiro, SDRVC president, said. “This is a very, very important section of the trail to make the connection eventually between here and Del Mar and all the way through to the other side of Lake Hodges,” he added. “We encourage any viable fix that will work and we’re here to help support that.” “So it’s looking good that we could potentially do this,” Fuller said. “But I have no approvals (or permits) at this point.” He said willow mats and plantings will be added to help secure the bank. “I don’t know that it would prevent a failure in the future,” Fuller said. “That whole area is prone. I couldn’t guarantee that it wouldn’t happen again there or along Horsepark.” The cost has not yet been determined. The conservancy pledged $19,380 to pay for a soil study for the $90,000 bridge project. Trish Boaz, SDRVC executive director, said those funds were earmarked for the soil study so board approval would be needed to redirect them. “But the board fully supports a quick resolution to this problem,” she said.
Oceanside’s Joe Balderrama Park may soon see two soccer fields If funds are approved, construction could begin next summer By Promise Yee
OCEANSIDE — Kids who play soccer on the open grass area at Joe Balderrama Park may soon see two recreational soccer fields thanks to a city grant application. The City Council approved an application for a state Youth Soccer and Recreation Development Program grant to fund the fields on Dec. 7. If the grant is approved, it will add two fields that will support informal soccer clinics and practices led by parent volunteers for more than 60 kids, ages 6 to 17. The neighborhood soccer club began when a dad and his sons took to routinely playing soccer at the park.
Soon other kids asked to join. “An Eastside family had started to hold soccer practices for their two sons as a way to keep them involved in sports and out of gangs and drugs,” Maria Yanez, city housing and neighborhood services management analyst, said. “Other residents started to ask if he could coach their children as well.” As the group of players grew other parents helped with the coaching. Soon community groups, including the Eastside Neighborhood Association, donated soccer balls and cleats to encourage kids in the newfound healthy activity. For the most part weekly practices continue to be informal scrimmages and games. Some of the players have become solid teams. Their winning soccer games have brought the community together to cel-
ebrate local pride. “They participated in a Latino soccer league tournament in which they were able to place for their age group, and dedicated the trophy to the neighborhood group in appreciation for their support,” Yanez said. Soccer is a positive focus in the Eastside neighborhood, which has been an area where identified gang members have resided since the 1990s. Yanez said investment in the fields would affirm parents who are taking action to initiate a positive change. “These soccer fields would help validate the dad and parents that are taking proactive measures to combat gang involvement and drug use with their kids,” Yanez said. Better fields would also provide more recreational and competitive opportunities for neighbor-
hood kids. “Many of these youth would not leave the neighborhood to attend soccer clubs and leagues outside of Eastside, nor would they have the finances to pay the soccer club fees,” Yanez said. The city’s grant application requests $355,000. Installation of the fields is priced at $400,000, and includes ground leveling, irrigation, field lights, goal posts, and a ten foot buffer area for spectators. The matching $45,000 will be included in the city budget as part of its public works, parks maintenance costs. If grant funds come through, construction of the new public fields could begin next summer. Joe Balderrama Park also has a recreation center, community resource center, playground area, tennis courts, and basketball courts.
ENCINITAS — A private social club in Leucadia will receive the permit to serve alcohol to its members despite the City Council’s stalemate on the vote. The City Council voted 2-1 to deny the appeal of the neighbors, who fiercely argued against granting the Leucadia Club’s request for the license, but failed to reach the quorum required to deny it as a body. Three members are required to vote on the issue, and with the council already short one due to a vacancy on the board and newly elected Councilwoman Tasha Boerner Horvath having to sit out the vote because she was on the Planning Commission that decided the issue in August, the council’s vote Wednesday night had to be unanimous. Councilman Mark Muir, however, voted in favor of denying the permit request, citing the cumulative impact of the licenses being approved in the vicinity on the surrounding neighborhood. “I try to put myself in the neighborhood’s position,” Muir said. “I tried to look at the legal impacts and the unintended consequences of making a decision of no regret.” As a result, the decision of the planning commission stands, which upheld the permit request in August. Mayor Catherine Blakespear and Councilman Tony Kranz sided with the planning commission, which voted in August to grant the permit to the club, located off of Leucadia Boulevard and Coast Highway 101, which bills itself as a club where career-minded people can gather to network and brainstorm ideas.
The club’s owners urged the council to uphold the commission’s decision, arguing that they were trying to be good neighbors and were following all of the rules. The appellants, neighbors Scott Carter and Tim Calver, argued that the request for an alcohol license and permit were directly counter to the club’s original approval in 2014, which prohibited alcohol at the club. “We were assured that alcohol was not going to be an issue, and low and behold, here we are,” Carter said. “The proposal is to circumvent the original resolution... to me that is morphing... we are changing the intent of their business into something that was specifically addressed that the couldn’t do in the future, yet here we are.” Calver, a high school journalism teacher whose home is accessed by an alley behind the bar, spoke about the impacts another liquor license would have on property value, the peace and quiet of the surrounding neighbors and the precedent it would set for future businesses. “I hope no other residents are put into a corner like this, having to appeal and attend meetings for the right to peace, quiet and safety,” Calver said. “These are issues that no resident should have to come beg their city for.” Originally, the club sought a less restrictive license, but the planning commission postponed a vote to allow the club to apply for a Type 57 license, which only allows alcohol to be served to members and guests, as opposed to the Type 42 license they applied for initially, which allows for any adult to come and buy alcohol.