Politics

Solana Beach Impasse Over Alcohol Policy At Fletcher Cove Community Center

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published October 9, 2013 at 3:00 AM PDT

This story was published more than 11 years ago.

Fletcher Cove Community Center in Solana Beach, Oct. 2013.

Solana Beach Impasse Over Alcohol Policy At Fletcher Cove Community Center

Our Congressional representatives are not the only ones at an impasse this week; The city of Solana Beach is facing a deadlock that could result in a special election the city can ill afford.

Congress is at an impasse, and unresolved conflict seems to be in the air: in Solana Beach, a battle is over a charming community center perched on the cliffs overlooking Fletcher Cove.

Citizens donated $225,000 for its renovation.

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In August, the Solana Beach City Council came up with a compromise plan to open the Fletcher Cove Community Center for events. However, the plan limits parties with alcohol to once every two weekends.

Fletcher Cove Community Center in Solana Beach, overlooking the ocean and an ideal spot for public and private events. But it is in a residential neighborhood and has generated heated controversy over how often to allow events where alcohol is served.

Some neighboring residents believe that policy is too liberal. Others are adamant that it’s too restrictive. The latter group has collected more than 1,300 signatures to bring the matter to the ballot.

The move has put the council in a tough spot: Wednesday night, it must consider whether to remove the restrictions on events serving alcohol or face a special election at a cost to the city of $200,000.

That cost is almost as much as the citizens raised to renovate the center in the first place.

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.