APRIL 17, 2015
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T he R ancho S anta F e News
Nayel Nassar River Path extension making giant strides makes it two with Double Dutch By Bianca Kaplanek
REGION — The $25,000 Markel Insurance 1.40m Grand Prix in San Juan Capistrano April 9, kicked off the first of multiple showcase events during the third and final week of the Blenheim EquiSports Spring Classic series. Nayel Nassar on Nakich Double Dutch (Madeleine Wilson, owner) executed the skills that earned him the top prize in the 2013 HITS Zoetis $1 Million Grand Prix. The 23-yearold Stanford graduate, who represented Egypt in the 2014 Alltech World Equestrian Games as well as the FEI World Cup Finals, calculated a slick track. Riding clean in 35.25 seconds, he narrowly beat Gonzalez. Final results for the $25,000 Markel Insurance 1.40m Grand Prix, were: 1. 454 - Nakich Double Dutch - Nayel Nassar - Madeleine Wilson - 0/0/35.253 2. 870 - Clear Me - Eduardo Menezes - Ilan Ferder - 0/0/35.365 3. 874 - Quilebo du Tillard - Enrique Gonzalez - Enrique Gonzalez 0/0/35.451 4. 442 - Zanzibar - Tanya Levorchick - Megan Camaisa - 0/0/37.553 5. 112 - S.F. Uryadi Jennifer Crooks - Olivia Cox-Fill - 0/0/39.194 6. 432 - Calvatos Z Allyssa Hecht- Neaulani Farms - 0/4/35.071 7. 791 - Cantori - Andrew Kocher - Aleece Jarman - 0/4/35.210 8. 561 - Baldira - Ray Texel - Mirador Equestrian + Paul Schockem√∂hle - 0/8/35.191 9. 212 - Santa Catarina LS La Silla - Bretton Chad - Stone Ridge Farms, LLC 0/8/36.025 10. 232 - San Diego Danielle Korsh - Danielle Korsh - 0/8/38.840 11. 582 - Paloma - Keri Potter - Melanie Brooks - 0/ EL 12. 459 - Unlimited Josephina Nor Lantzman - Josephina Nor Stables, LLC - 1/81.129 Enrique Gonzalez and his own Quilebo du Tillard were first to return. Gonzalez, who represented Mexico at the 2008 Olympics and competed at the 2014 Alltech World Equestrian Games, set a sizzling time to beat, going clear in 35.45 seconds. Several rounds later, Brazilian Eduardo Menezes and Ilan Ferder's Clear Me turned in the third dou-
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ble-clear in 35.36 seconds to sneak into second place. Partners in business, Gonzalez and Menezes are reportedly fierce competitors in the ring. While developing a solid string of horses, Menezes has set his sights towards competing in his home country at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. Tanya Levorchick and Zanzibar (Megan Camaisa, owner) were also double clear in a solid 37.55 seconds. Levorchick, a trainer at Logan Hill in San Diego, campaigned Zanzibar successfully throughout the 2014 Markel Insurance 1.40m Grand Prix series and placed eighth in the Final during the Las Vegas National Horse Show. Irish rider Jennifer Crooks and Olivia CoxFill's S.F. Uryadi were second-to-last to come back and laid down the final double-clear round in 39.19. This pair has a strong history representing Ireland at top-level events such as the 2012 BMO Financial Nations Cup at Spruce Meadows. Last to return, Allyssa Hecht and Calvatos Z (Neaulani Farms, owner) had the fastest time in the jump-off, zipping through the timers in 35.07 seconds, but an unfortunate rail kept them out of the top spot. Hecht recently earned a second place finish on Calero in last week's $40,000 Spring Classic II Grand Prix, presented by Orange County Register. Setting the time to beat early on, Nassar and Nakich Double Dutch clinched the win. “She's a 13-year-old Dutch-bred mare whose owner lives in Boston. She was here and competed on the mare last week, so I actually haven't shown this mare in a couple of months.¬† This is our first class together, so I'm really happy with her,” Nassar explained. “She's very careful and really fast.¬† The key is to get her to take a breath when she can and we managed to do that today.” With two Markel Insurance Grand Prix wins already under his belt, Nassar is thinking seriously about November's Final at the Las Vegas National. “We are usually on the West Coast then; if plans stay that way I'll definitely be targeting the class in Vegas.” Nassar has spent the last three weeks competing at the Blenheim EquiSports Spring Series with plans to go for the win in Saturday's $50,000 Spring Classic III Grand Prix on Andrew Ramsay's Bologna. “It's been great to be here for three weeks. This is a beautiful facility, with good prizes and footing that has been holding up very well.”
DEL MAR — Plans to extend River Path Del Mar, a quarter-mile stretch of land between San Dieguito Drive and the lagoon, are “moving forward with lightning speed,” Joseph Smith, the city’s associate planner, told council members during a project update at the April 6 meeting. River Path Del Mar is part of the San Dieguito segment of the scenic loop trail, a seven-mile hiking trail around the city’s perimeter that is divided into seven key sections. It currently provides pedestrian access along the river’s south edge between the river mouth and Jimmy Durante Boulevard. The extension would advance the path east from Jimmy Durante to the Old Grand Avenue Bridge viewpoint and bring the scenic loop trail one step closer to a future connection at the Crest Canyon segment. It is a joint project between the city and the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy for an estimated cost of $475,000, which includes project design, entitlements and easement acquisition, construction and environmental review and mitigation, Funds committed to date include $78,000 in private donations, $20,000 from the city and $10,000 from the Riverview project development agreement. The biggest financial boost came in September, when the conservancy received a $150,000 grant from the Neighborhood Reinvestment Program facilitated by County Supervisor
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Dave Roberts. The funds are designated for project design and environmental review and must be used by Sept. 15, 2015. There have been 23 stakeholder outreach meetings. Last month the San Dieguito Lagoon Committee recommended approval of the concept and alignments and started to work on recommendations for design elements such as picnic tables, bench styles, signage, vegetation buffers and fencing. City staff is working to complete the necessary authorizations from the various property owners as the project area spans 15 parcels, eight of which are privately owned and require public access easements. The project is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission in May, the Design Review Board in June and the California Coastal Commission and City Council this summer. Construction is slated to begin in October. Jon Terwilliger, senior management analyst, said a
portion of the project could definitely be completed despite the $217,000 budget shortfall. “You’d have to have a scaled-back project,” he said. “Maybe some of the finishing touches wouldn’t be there.” Work is expected to take about 55 days. “We have about a twomonth window, which is really toward the end of September through November,” Smith said. “That’s our target date to knock out the heavy construction.” Nesting season will be taking place and wet-season grading is prohibited, he said. If we miss that then we’re going to have to wait until the wet season and the nesting season are closed in early 2016, he added. The extension includes two planned alignments. A primary trail will allow pedestrians to walk near the river and lagoon. A secondary path will take them along the east shoulder of San Dieguito Drive. There will be three connections between the
two alignments, which will be mostly constructed with decomposed granite. Portions of the secondary trail will feature colored concrete and paved areas near the intersection of San Dieguito and Jimmy Durante. The project also includes two overlook areas with benches and two picnic areas. Cable post fencing will be installed at limited locations for public safety and to create a buffer from identified brackish marsh habitat. The California Coastal Commission is requiring that coastal sage scrub be replanted. Resident John Gillies asked council to consider replacing that with a saltwater marsh to restore wetlands. Although sage scrub requires no excavation, is drought tolerant and calls for about $10,000 worth of dirt removal, it is not native to the properties, would require irrigation, grows too TURN TO RIVER PATH ON 18
Design firm selected for City Hall project By Bianca Kaplanek
DEL MAR — Plans to replace City Hall took a major step forward April 6 when council members approved agreements with a design firm and an environmental consultant. “Tonight is a very exciting milestone,” Planning Director Kathy Garcia said. The Miller Hull Partnership LLC was selected from an applicant pool of more than a dozen architectural teams to provide design and construction documents for an amount not to exceed $550,000. A seven-member ad hoc committee made up of five residents and two council members was formed in January to recommend a design team for the project. The group first reviewed statements of qualifications that had been submitted from 14 firms. That list was narrowed to Architects Hanna Gabriel Wells, Miller Hull and Safdie Rabines Architects. “While there were many qualified firms, it was felt that these three firms were the best qualified with the most relevant coastal work, appropriate scale of built projects, experience with meaningful community participation, and understanding of the
Del Mar community,” the staff report states. Those three then submitted proposals that presented their approach to the project and a scope of work. Interviews were held with the primary team members. One firm was unanimously eliminated, and there was “a robust discussion around the final two,” Councilman Don Mosier said, adding that in the end,
“I know that food and wine does attract Del Mar residents,” Mosier said. “I’m looking forward to working with this team.” Mike Jobes, the firm’s principal designer, said his team spent a lot of time in the city “trying to understand where this project fits into the fabric of this town” and identifying “that real human scale that characterizes Del Mar.”
Council members recently awarded a contract to an architectural firm for design and construction documents to replace its deteriorating City Hall Photo by Bianca Kaplanek
Miller Hull “really seemed to understand the village character” and presented plans to build based on what is in the community already. He said the firm also has some clever ideas for community engagement, including hosting a barbecue.
He said a city hall can be more than a civic center. “It can be the heart of the community,” he added. “This is the kind of project that we love to do.” Miller Hull has offices in the state of Washington and, since 2011, San Diego. Council also authorized
a task order with RECON to prepare an environmental impact report for no more than $250,000, including TURN TO CITY HALL ON 18