A8
T he C oast News
OCT. 14, 2016
Aquatic center final project to be shared over next three months Farm Lab decision could come with little fanfare By Promise Yee
OCEANSIDE — Residents will get one more look at plans for El Corazon Aquatic Center during the next three months. The final project and environmental impact report will be shared at public meetings in October, November and December. The center includes a 56-meter competition pool, instructional pool and kids splash pad. There is also seating for 600 people, a shaded deck area, full locker rooms and an administration building. The state-of-the-art facility will use green design elements that include solar energy and rain water irrigation. New resilient materials and high-efficiency equipment will be a major improvement over the two dated city
swimming pools that are too small for competition events. “It allows a lot of opportunity for the community to expand aquatic youth participation, and additional public amenities and services,” Nathan Mertz, city capital improvement projects engineer, said. Mertz said there are no changes to the project since it was shared last year. El Corazon Specific Plan designates what architecture and landscaping are allowed, and plans follow those guidelines. Once the aquatic center gets City Council approval, city staff will see the project through its final design phase, and get it ready for construction by April 2017. “(Following approval) We will be working on con-
struction documents, permits for water, sewer, building,” Mertz said. “It will be a shovel-ready project for when funding becomes available.” A funding source for the $12 million project still needs to be finalized. The City Council is expected to decide whether and how much to refinance in city bonds when it gives project approval in December. Council approved the refinancing of $9.5 million in city bonds in June 2015, with a promise from Councilwoman Esther Sanchez the money would be reissued to fund the aquatic center. In order to allocate funds to the aquatic center the project’s design work must be completed. Mayor Jim Wood and Deputy Mayor Chuck Lowery have expressed past concerns
about bond refinancing that is paid by homeowners. Lowery requested more community education and public input. Peter Weiss, former city manager and current city consultant, said refinancing bonds would not require a tax increase because they would be paid with the money the city now uses to pay for the Civic Center. If bonds that are set to be paid off in 2019 are refinanced they could be used to build the aquatic center and other priority projects, such as a fire station, beach restrooms and railroad quite zone. Up to $25 million can be refinanced. Aquatic center plans will be presented to the El Corazon Standing Committee Oct. 18, Planning Commission on Nov. 7, and the City Council Dec. 7.
“Actively involved with volunteer groups such as the Carlsbad Animal Shelter, Junior Achievement, and Meals on Wheels, I have come to better know the needs and wants of our city.”
By Aaron Burgin
ENCINITAS — A nine-minute meeting at Encinitas City Hall held when most people were getting off of work on Tuesday afternoon could decide the fate of a major expansion of the Encinitas Union School District’s farm lab. The school district, which launched its farm lab in 2014 on a 10-acre site on Quail Gardens Drive, has proposed expanding the activities on the site by adding two portable classroom buildings, a re-locatable restroom, a barn, hoop house, gazebo and updates to the farm fields. The expansion has both supporters, who believe the farm lab provides students with a unique educational experience not provided by other districts — and detractors, who argue, among other things, that the farm lab is a waste of taxpayer dollars. The city discussed the project at what is known as a zoning administrative
hearing on Tuesday at City Hall. It’s a public meeting, but not in front of a board such as the City Council or Planning Commission, rather in front of a hearing officer, zoning administrator Roy Sapa’u. Decisions are not made at the hearing, but are made later by the city’s acting planning director, Manjeet Ranu. Tuesday’s meeting lasted nine minutes and only featured two speakers: Mim Michelove, who oversees the farm lab for the district, and Gerald Sodomka, a resident who urged the city to let the Planning Commission decide the project’s fate. The city received two letters, one in opposition to the project and the other that expressed concern the project would alter the community’s character. Sapa’u said the city would render a decision on the project in no later than two weeks.
Consultant: Scrap San Marcos ‘Main Street’ concept By Aaron Burgin
PRESERVIN G PROTECTING ENHANCING
Carlsbad “Since my election in 2008, I have and I will continue to donate my city council salary to local non-profits.”
Vote to Re-Elect Keith Blackburn for Carlsbad City Council November 8th
Keith4Carlsbad.com PAID FOR BY: RE-ELECT KEITH BLACKBURN FOR CARLSBAD CITY COUNCIL 2016, FPPC 1301691
SAN MARCOS — Nearly 10 years ago, the San Marcos City Council approved a plan that would transform the area due south of San Marcos Boulevard and San Marcos Creek into the downtown the city never had, teeming with new housing, retail and office space. On Tuesday, a consultant hired by the city told the City Council to scrap those plans. Rather than a retail-driven “Main Street” concept, the consultant team recommended the city retool the plans for the Creek District into one driven by multiple housing types that dramatically reduces the retail component and eliminates the office component altogether. Instead, the consultants recommended the city focus on improving San Marcos Boulevard, the city’s main drag, to make it the city’s downtown commercial, retail and restaurant hub, which would complement the housing in the creekside area. “You already have a Main Street, it’s San Marcos Boulevard,” said Gary London of the London Group, which performed the feasibility study presented at the Tuesday morning workshop. “The question is how can you complement San Marcos Boulevard and make it the main street that it is, with a little TLC.” The City Council, which asked its staff to revisit the Creek District plans last year, voted unanimously to have staff return with a work plan that shows what it would take to change the plan and a timeline that would take the plan from concept
to the council for a vote, with the public involved each step of the way. Some of the council expressed disappointment the dramatic shift being proposed by the consultant, but said the new direction might be necessary to ensure the Creek District can actually be completed. “It’s definitely deflating,” said Councilwoman Rebecca Jones, who was a member of the Creek District specific plan task force from 2005 to 2007. “But I still think we can come up with something that the community can love and will still be an asset to the community.” The original Creek District plan approved by the City Council calls for 2,300 homes, 1.2 million square feet of retail space and 590,000 square feet of office space. Under the changes proposed by the London Group, the amount of retail in the entire project would be pared down to 140,000 square feet. The reason for the proposed changes: the city can’t support that much new commercial, retail or office space, they consultants said. “This is what we think the opportunity is for the Creek District moving forward,” London said. “To make the district much more highly residential-centric and disperse the commercial opportunity, which is far less than what was articulated in the earlier versions, to places like San Marcos Boulevard and the University District. “There is a little bit of commercial, not the kind of commercial that was TURN TO MAIN STREET ON A23