Residential Customer Del Mar CA, 92014 ECRWSS
Volume XVI, Issue 31
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Aug 9, 2012 Published Weekly
Safety Tower celebration
Del Mar revitalization plan gets council go-ahead • Measure to appear on November ballot
■ Accomplished eye surgeon devoted to family, medicine and sports. Page 4 Chelsea Buser, Anique Hermann, Taylor Tinley, Pat Vergne, Lauren Humann and Shelly Rathsam celebrated the completion of the Safety Tower at a recent event, “Midsummer Night of Fun and Frivolity,” held at En Fuego in Del Mar. The event was hosted by the Friends of the Powerhouse and the Del Mar Lifeguards. See page B12. PHOTO: JON CLARK
Solana Beach mayor will not seek re-election ■ Meet the men behing the campaign. Page 5
BY CLAIRE HARLIN After five, four-year terms on the City Council, Solana Beach Mayor Joe Kellejian will not seek reelection in November, he announced last week. He said is retiring from city government to dedicate time to other opportunities — both public and private leadership roles. Kellejian has been involved with local government since the early 1980s,
serving on the Town Council before Solana Beach incorporated. His first term on Joe Kellejian City Council began in 1992. “In the last 20 years I don’t think there has been a
day that I haven’t thought of how to make Solana Beach a better place to live,” he said. “I truly love this city.” Growing up in inner-city Los Angeles, Kellejian was a self-described “latchkey kid” who was exposed to crime and drugs. He had a gun pulled on him for the first time in 6th
See MAYOR, page 6
Plans to place antenna facility at CCA put on hold ■ Ovarian cancer survivor lives life ‘joyously’ while educating others about disease. Page B1
The San Dieguito Union High School District has put on hold plans to install a wireless communication facility atop a building at Canyon Crest Academy in Carmel Valley, according to district superintendent Ken Noah. The issue has been removed from the agenda of the board’s Aug. 16 meeting, so it will not be discussed at that meeting as previously reported. Noah said the topic has been tabled indefinitely
at this time. However, when the issue is placed on a future agenda it will be for the board to decide whether it wants to establish a policy against the placement of any antenna facilities at a school site. If they decide to allow the placement of antenna facilities at school sites the district would discuss and establish rules and regulations for that process, Noah said. — Staff report
Traditional Sales. Short Sales. Auctions. Steve Uhlir •
Broker/Owner •
BY CLAIRE HARLIN The Del Mar City Council on Aug. 6 gave its final approval of a revitalization plan that has not only been in the works for decades, but could dictate the next decades of development and drastically change the Village if it is approved by Del Mar voters in November. The unanimous approval and decision to place the Village Specific Plan on the general election ballot brings to a head an effort that has collectively cost the city more than $1 million over the years and has been the topic of dozens of civic meetings and public outreach events held by officials. The Aug. 6 meeting wasn’t the first time Del Mar residents packed council chambers and deliberated for more than three hours on the issue. Opposition to the plan lingers despite an intricate and interactive drafting process, which involved making significant tweaks to the draft plan since its release in March. City staff reduced the total development threshold in the Village from 600,000 to 500,000 square feet, and they also took the roundabout proposed for 15th Street out of
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SEE PLAN, PAGE 6
Two plead not guilty in theft of cars BY KELLY WHEELER City News Service Two men accused of stealing three expensive cars over the past year — including a Ford GT worth at least $250,000 — pleaded not guilty Aug. 2 to 11 felony charges, including auto theft, grand theft and owning or operating a chop shop. George William Moore, 48, and Gabriel Castano, 30, each were held without bail because they were on probation at the time they were charged with the current offenses. Castano faces nine years and
eight months in prison if convicted. Moore — who has a 1984 conviction for burglary — faces 13 years and eight months if convicted, Deputy District Attorney John Philpott said. The defendants are accused of stealing the 2005 Ford GT from a home in Rancho Santa Fe and two Porsches from other residences in the past six months to a year, the prosecutor said. Police said the Ford GT disappeared over a three-week period in June and July.
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the project description, as directed by the council on July 30. To eliminate contention regarding building height, officials also chopped 4 feet — originally designated for roof articulation meant to add character — off of the proposed limit, raising it from 16 to 26 feet on the west side of Camino del Mar. “This is an extremely good plan,” said Terry Sinnott, who had been urging the council to postpone the vote to gain more pubic support. On July 30, a research firm hired by the city presented a survey that revealed only half of Del Mar voters favor the plan. “I don’t want to end up with a split community,” Sinnott said. “For the people who are concerned about the plan, I would just encourage you to have a little faith … in the people representing the community. I am sure that if this is approved we are going to take those concerns to heart and implement it in a way that’s the best for the community.” Most opposition to the plan surrounds the addition
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See THEFT, Page 6