Affordable housing or park?
That's been the long and contentious debate over the empty city-owned lot located at 634 Quail Gardens Drive in Encinitas.
In June, the Encinitas City Council discussed an affordable housing development of 30 to 45 units on the site.
No decision was made and the council formed a task force instead to explore locations for affordable housing in Encinitas.
But a proposed $100,000 donation brought the controversial lot back to the agenda during Wednesday's City Council meeting.
"I want to do something good for my neighbors. They've been good to me. I've really enjoyed living in Encinitas," said Encinitas resident Glen Johnson.
He has offered the city the money to build a park on the lot and name it after his wife, Sally Johnson.
"Even though my wife is deceased, and I may join her in a few years — I hope many years ... I want to leave something for posterity," he said.
His letter of commitment expressed flexibility in the type of park but he envisions, "a low-intensity natural park with primarily native plants, such as Torrey Pine, Coast Oak, and Sycamore trees, and other plants that will attract birds, butterflies and other wildlife."
His offer was met with cheers and applause from some residents in support of a park.
Including 10-year-old entrepreneur Oliver Pratt, who presented his own offer.
"I worked all Summer searching for golf balls in the Encinitas Ranch golf course bushes. Cleaning them with my little sister and then selling the upcycled golf balls and brownies back to the golfers on the course," Pratt said. "So far, I’ve made a whopping $1,542," he said.
Before the city can accept the donations, the Parks, Recreation & Cultural Arts Department would need to study the feasibility of a park on the 9-acre lot.
Other speakers who support a park said the green, open space is needed for the housing developments already being built nearby.
"Quail Gardens Drive is already going to absorb over 1,000 housing units between Leucadia Boulevard and Encinitas Boulevard," said Dick Stern, the president of the Encinitas Ranch Community Association.
But housing advocates argued the City Council should wait for the affordable housing task force report in November before making a decision.
"The purpose of that task force is to look at every single city-owned property and other sites in our community so that we can find a way to build an affordable community and we have just started those meetings," said Bob Kent, an Encinitas resident and member of the task force.
Others had mixed feelings about the donation.
"If I had $100,000, can I just offer something to the city and hope it gets done? It seems like a very undemocratic process to me," Aaron Hebshi said.
Council was divided and voted 3-to-2 to approve the study of a park also due later this year.
