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San Diego Community Newspaper Group
Thursday July 31, 2014
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 27, Number 18
Hope rekindled for expansion of tiny OB Branch Library BY DAVE SCHWAB | THE BEACON Where there’s a will, there’s a way. The will unquestionably exists with the renewed effort to expand Ocean Beach’s tiny — but vital — library. Now a way has to be found to pay for it. Originally built in 1927, Ocean Beach’s 4,579-square-foot branch library at 4801 Santa Monica Ave., one of the city’s oldest and smallest vaults of knowledge, has no meeting space or adequate seating or collec-
tion space to serve the beach community’s growing needs. “Several years ago, before the recession, beautiful architectural plans were drawn up, and preliminary land-use agreements were explored for a proposed 15,000square-foot library addition,” said Judy Collier, president of the Ocean Beach Friends of the Library (OBFL). Collier said nothing happened until a committee from the OBFL met recently with Mayor Kevin FaulconSEE LIBRARY, Page 5
WILD AND WACKY, BUT ALWAYS A SIGHT TO BEHOLD Mother Nature generated some wild and unexpected weather over the last week, churning out ear-splitting thunder, lightning flashes, heavy downpours and stiflng humidity across the beach communities and San Diego in general. The unusual summer weather patterns did, howPhoto by Jim Grant ever, create beautiful palettes of color like this one from the South Beach restaurant, adjacent to the Ocean Beach Pier.
City Council OKs OB Community Plan update 9-0 BY TONY DE GARATE | THE BEACON Making the firmest possible statement in support of promoting the community’s small-scale character, the San Diego City Council on July 29 approved a long-sought document designed to guide and regulate growth in Ocean Beach for the next 20 years — and guard against exceptions that allow bulky, out-of-scale housing. The surprising 9-0 vote to approve a
replacement to the outdated 1975 Ocean Beach Community Plan — the oldest planning document in the city — capped an, at times, agonizing process that began in 2002. After years of public meetings, consultant reports, studies and feedback, the only issue remaining that caused citizens to choose up sides was a staff recommendation to include tough-talking language designed to discourage variances to Ocean
Beach's unusually strict land development code. What makes Ocean Beach’s code so restrictive is known as the .7 FAR rule, which limits the square footage of nearly all residential housing west of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard to 70 percent of lot size, or floorarea ratio, and further requires 25 percent of that amount to be set aside for enclosed SEE PLAN, Page 5
Anchovy armada in OB fueling feast for sea life, sea birds Dolphins and pelicans take part in a free-for-all as the anchovy population explodes around the Ocean Beach Pier. Scripps Institute of Oceanography scientists said this is something they have not seen in years. Scientists know that anchovy and sardine populations have a cyclical nature tied to changes in water temperature. Courtesy photo by Jorge Valcarcel
BY JORGE VALCARCEL
Pros, cons cited after city’s OK of minimum-wage hike BY DAVE SCHWAB | THE BEACON
SPECIAL TO THE BEACON
If you have been out to the Ocean Beach Pier lately, you have probably seen the large numbers of pelicans, terns, dolphins and sea lions feasting. These predators are reaping the benefits of large schools of anchovies that have taken up residence along the shores in recent weeks. The first large school of anchovies was sighted in early July off Scripps Pier in La SEE ANCHOVIES, Page 4
Glen & Shannon have TEAMED UP with Phil’s BBQ and Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County to RAISE $100,000! See our community fundraiser on page 7.
Advocates of the tiny Ocean Beach Branch Library are beginning to find new hope for the expansion of the site after years of pushing for modernization and more Photo by Dave Schwab meeting space for public and private functions.
Will raising the city’s minimum wage to $11.50 an hour by Jan. 1, 2017 make San Diego more affordable for those with lower incomes, or will it ultimately harm workers by costing them a chance at jobs? That’s the question to be answered after a measure was adopted July 15 by San Diego City Council, which plans to boost the city’s minimum wage to $9.75 in 2015, $10.50 in 2016 and to $11.50 in 2017.
City Councilmembers also approved the measure during a second reading of the ordinance on July 28 — passing by a margin of 6-3 both times — to make the wage hike official in San Diego. Mayor Kevin Faulconer has threatened to veto the ordinance, citing ill effects on small businesses particurly, which he said could be forced to raise prices, cut store hours, lay off staff or even flee San Diego entirely. His planned action, however, SEE WAGES, Page 5