PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92025 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
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VOL. 28#, N0. 53
JAN. 2, 2015
SAN MARCOS -NEWS
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.com The Encinitas City Council is forming a subcommittee to address the effects of global warming and sea level rise on the community. Photo by Bill Reilly
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Subcommittee will SFNEWS examine effects of sea level rise . on city By Aaron Burgin
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And here is at the intersection of Carlsbad Boulevard and Carlsbad Village Drive in Carlsbad. The sign, a 14-year-and-three-month passion project of Carlton Lund was installed on Monday night. A hydraulic crane hoisted the 25,000-pound sign that spans some 81-feet into place. A formal lighting ceremony is slated for Jan. 8 at 5:30 p.m. Lund is hoping to have thousands of people come out for the ceremony. Photo by Tony Cagala
Train track trenching considered in Village By Ellen Wright
CARLSBAD — As part of a longterm plan to improve transportation throughout the county, officials from the San Diego Association of Governments hope to increase the amount of train tracks to ease the flow of train traffic. SANDAG Officials are looking to add double train tracks in Carlsbad. Most of the city is already double tracked, with the exception of the southernmost rail section, between the Avenida Encinas bridge and Encinitas, and the north section of the city in Carlsbad Village between Pine Avenue and the Buena Vista Lagoon to Oceanside, according to the city’s Community Relations Manager Christina Ray. Double tracking would improve the flow of trains, which can back up north and south of the single tracks. In an attempt to mitigate the sound and disruptions of more trains, There are three railroad crossings in Carlsbad, one at Tamarack Avenue, Carlsbad Village Drive TURN TO TRACKS ON A14
and Grand Avenue. The city is looking into lowering the tracks to accommodate an increase in train traffic. Photo by Ellen Wright
ENCINITAS — As a coastal community, Encinitas residents have unique reason to be concerned with global warming’s impact on rising sea levels, City Council members Tony Kranz and Lisa Shaffer said. But to date, the city’s response to the looming threat has been minimal. “We are concerned that we are not doing as much as we should to address our vulnerability to sea level rise on our bluffs and beaches,” Shaffer said at the Dec. 17 city council meeting. “We recognize that the environmental commission has it in its work plan but they haven’t really gotten a lot of traction on it.” To that end, the City Council recently formed a subcommittee to address the impacts of sea level rise on the city’s bluffs and beaches. The council voted unanimously to create the body, which will consist of two council members and two environmental commissioners, who will meet to develop a city plan to address rising sea levels and its effect on Encinitas’ coastline. The subcommittee will actively recruit neighboring cities, organizations and local coastal property owners to join in on the
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discussions. Encinitas has around 300 homes and structures that abut the coastline, including the Self Realization Fellowship Temple and its popular meditation garden, which attracts 100,000 visitors annually. Current sea level research indicates that California could see as much as a 55-inch rise in sea level over the next century, which would threaten a number of the local beaches and several homes. While the final vote was unanimous, there was some dissent in regards to the scope of the subcommittee. Shaffer and Kranz’s original recommendation included the subcommittee drafting a proposal for a consultant study so it could be included for consideration in the 201516 capital improvement budget talks. This was met with resistance from Councilman Mark Muir, who said he believed the best course of action would be for the city to re-engage with regional groups that were already undertaking climate change and sea level rise discussions, such as the San Diego Association of Governments, TURN TO SEA LEVEL ON A14