Oceanside’s housing density debate
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday October 23rd.>>>>
Oceanside is limiting the number of housing units that can be built in its downtown.. But is that in violation of state law?
That story just ahead, first let’s do the headlines….
There’s a special election coming up early next month..
Those who live in the county’s fourth district, Chula Vista and the Fallbrook or Rainbow water districts, who want to vote by mail, need to be registered by today (Mon).
Otherwise residents will need to go to the registrar's office in Kearny Mesa to register in person and vote.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) the San Diego County board of supervisors will consider looking into an unsafe camping ordinance..
The city of San Diego and Poway recently passed a similar ordinance to address a growing number of homeless encampments.
San Diego’s law prohibits camping in public when shelter beds are available and at all times near schools, parks and transit hubs.
Supervisor Joel Anderson is bringing the proposal forward.. He says it would be another tool to clean up encampments on a wider scale in the unincorporated areas..
Also tomorrow (Tuesday), county supervisors will consider a resolution to support a proposed amendment to the U-S constitution to change gun laws.
Governor Gavin Newsom calls the proposal the “Right to Safety Amendment” …
It would raise the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21, mandate universal background checks and ban assault rifles..
County Supervisor Terra Lawson Remer says she wants the county to take a stance on the issue and is asking supervisors to support the resolution.
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
THE CITY OF OCEANSIDE HAS PLACED A LIMIT ON THE NUMBER OF UNITS A DEVELOPER CAN BUILD IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA. CITY LEADERS SAY THIS WILL PRESERVE THEIR BEACH TOWN FEEL. BUT NORTH COUNTY REPORTER TANIA THORNE FOUND, THEY MAY BE GOING AGAINST STATE HOUSING LAW.
Oceanside city council voted recently to limit developments to 86 units per acre in the downtown area,.
In 2019 the cap was half that – 43 units per acre, but state housing laws pushed council to remove it and give developers unlimited density.
This led to the approval of larger and denser developments in the downtown area.
The assumptions are that we want to continue to develop everything and we want the development to be constant stream. This is our opportunity to say what is reasonable development. What is a development that we are actually seeking out to continue the development in our city.
Council member Eric Joyce said the limit can always be increased but once a tower is built, there is nothing that can be done.
Oceanside could make up for the limited housing downtown in other areas of the city.
That would need to be outlined in the city’s housing element plan submitted to the state.
And Oceanside’s plan is still under review.
A risk, housing advocates say could be flagged by state officials as a violation of housing law.
TT KPBS News
MEANTIME THE FIRST AFFORDABLE STUDENT HOUSING PROJECT IN DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO IS OFFICIALLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
EDUCATION REPORTER M.G. PEREZ HAS MORE ON THE APARTMENT COMPLEX THAT AIMS TO BRING SOME FINANCIAL RELIEF TO CITY COLLEGE STUDENTS.
The 8-story building will provide housing for 8-hundred students …at the corner of 16th and C streets downtown.
It’s prime real estate on the campus of San Diego City College. The community college district is using a 75-million dollar state grant to start design and construction in the next year….the additional 200-million dollars needed will come from bond money and a capital fundraising campaign.
Diego Bethea is City College Associate Student Government President…who says relief is on the way for students who need it most.
SOT A student doesn’t have to stress about that..or pick up extra hours just to make rent and can focus on studying.”
Rent could be as low as a thousand dollars a month for a studio. MGP KPBS News
Over the weekend, the Oceanside Unified School District hosted representatives from schools across the country.
Here’s reporter M.G. Perez again with more on the meeting that focused on mental health.
The School Superintendents Association came to Oceanside ,this weekend, to find solutions to the problem facing students coast-to-coast.
Mental health challenges following the COVID shut downs…and continuing with learning loss and declining enrollments.
Shari Camhi is superintendent of the Baldwin district on New York’s Long Island…with just 5-thousand students
SOT: “there are factors contributing to the anxiety in our youth …the fear that some of them are feeling….and it doesn’t matter if you come from East or West coast…it’s all the same.”
Oceanside Unified is a much larger school district with almost 16-thousand students…the 75 visiting school leaders toured some of the district’s north county campuses looking at programs serving students from a range of backgrounds and challenges,from the unhoused to military families.
MGP KPBS News
Coming up, how one San Diegan helped bring color and culture to Encinitas through public art.. We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.
AN EMBATTLED BIODIESEL FACTORY IN BARRIO LOGAN IS SHUTTING DOWN MOST OF ITS BUSINESS BY THE END OF THE YEAR. ENVIRONMENT REPORTER ERIK ANDERSON HAS DETAILS.
New Leaf Biofuels plans to close the firm’s fuel processing operations in Barrio Logan. C-E-O Jennifer Case says the company notified the Air Pollution Control District.
Jennifer Case, New Leaf Biofuel
00:00:48 – 00:00:59 “This decision was made due to economic conditions combined with the difficulties of continuing to operate under heavy regulatory and neighborhood pressures.”
Neighborhood residents have pushed for years to eliminate smells. The Environmental Health Coalition’s Nicholas Paul says the odors are generated as the plant turns used cooking oil into diesel fuel.
Nicholas Paul, Environmental Health Coalition
00:10:53 – 00:11:09 “This move by New Leaf wouldn’t have happened had it not been for community members advocating and organizing saying hey, you know I don’t want to live next to a biofuel plant, and elevating that to regulators.”
An expensive activated carbon filtering system got rid of the worst stench, but the move didn’t quash neighborhood opposition. The company will spend the rest of the year winding down the biofuel operations and helping 25 to 30 workers find new jobs.
Erik Anderson KPBS News
In other environmental news, SAN DIEGO RESEARCHERS SAY PUBLIC CRITICISM COULD BE A MAJOR TOOL TO GET COUNTRIES TO COMPLY WITH CLIMATE FRIENDLY GOALS THEY AGREED TO IN THE PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT. HERE’S REPORTER ERIK ANDERSON AGAIN.
Many of the world’s climate negotiators think making countries accountable for their international climate promises would be effective. U-C San Diego professor David Victor says the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015, but the pact has no enforcement mechanism.
David Victor, UCSD Professor of Innovation and Public Policy
00:05:17 – 00:05:31 “Each country every five years makes a pledge. Here’s what we’re going to do. And the naming and shaming mechanism is a way of looking and seeing whether the actions on the ground are consistent with the pledges that they’ve made. And if they aren’t, to then call out those countries.”
Researchers polled climate negotiators. They say shaming non-compliant nations would work best with countries that have ambitious goals. The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Erik Anderson KPBS News.
FROM CARDIFF TO LEUCADIA, ENCINITAS IS CHOCK-FULL OF COLOR AND CULTURE. IT COMES IN THE FORM OF MURALS AND OTHER PUBLIC ART PIECES.
REPORTER JACOB AERE EXPLORED THE HISTORY OF THE BEACH TOWN’S PUBLIC ARTWORK.
**ambi of walking tour**
As you walk, bike or drive along Highway 101 in Encinitas … it's easy to spot dozens of murals – but that wasn't always the case.
KEVN ANDERSON NAT POP
SOT 2354
14:01:45 - 14:01:51 (:06)
“There wasn't murals around. I had the whole town man, I did so many murals around here – down in Cardiff, everywhere.”
**ambi of walking tour**
Kevin Anderson would know … he has been a long time North County resident … and was one of the very first artists to paint murals in Encinitas.
He explains how it all started … with a mural depicting an idyllic nature scene back in 1995:
SOT 2354
Kevin Anderson | Mural Artist
13:58:37 - 13:58:55 (:15)
“And I started right on D street in Encinitas at a little Hawaiian restaurant – Kehlanis – and that was my first mural in Encinitas.”
**ambi of walking tour**
His work hasn’t slowed down since. The 66-year-old is constantly creating private and public art pieces across North County.
He stands in front of a large mural he recently painted of waves, birds and a plant-covered shoreline in the Leucadia neighborhood … and describes why public art pieces like his matter to a community.
SOT 2355
Kevin Anderson | Mural Artist
14:14:16 - 14:14:34 (:18)
“They're like windows, beautiful windows to look through to see something that you don't see everyday. It takes you out of the typical mindset of driving down the road. You're walking down the sidewalk and you're thinking all your thoughts and you look up and see this giant mural and you just go ‘wow.’ It just takes you away for a minute.”
**ambi of walking tour**
There used to be a few murals in Encinitas just a decade ago. They have now blossomed into an abundance … with many public art pieces focused on the environment and different cultures.
**NAT POP**
You can see them along Highway 101 – some in plain sight, and others tucked away like hidden treasures.
SOT 6130 + 10059 (go pro)
Irene Pyun | Encinitas 101 MainStreet Association
23:45:19 - 28:45:27 (:08)
“We really wanted to make an impact by having multiple murals go up at the same time.”
**ambi of walking tour**
Irene Pyun (PEE-YUHN) is executive director of the Encinitas 101 MainStreet Association.
She says some of the murals started as a project to reduce crime in an alley back in 2015. Over time, they helped make Encinitas into a public art hub.
SOT 6131
Irene Pyun | Encinitas 101 MainStreet Association
10:55 - 11:10 (:15)
“Ultimately what it has done without us really knowing is it has really inspired a lot of local artists who can do large murals like this to come down and see downtown Encinitas as a location for art now.”
**ambi of walking tour**
But what spurred the push for more public art in the first place? Encinitas Friends of the Arts President Naimeh Woodward says it was one piece in particular back in 2011 …
SOT 6105
Naimeh Woodward | Encinitas Friends of the Arts
23:31:04 - 23:31:07 (:03)
“And then Surfing Madonna happened.”
**ambi of walking tour**
… the mosaic showing the Virgin of Guadalupe surfing was originally installed under a public bridge on Highway 101.
Woodward says it challenged the very notion of what is art versus graffiti … and it gave a voice to the artists in town.
SOT 6105
Naimeh Woodward | Encinitas Friends of the Arts
23:31:19 - 23:31:35 (:16)
“It brought a lot of conversations in the community from every angle, and that was music to my ears. (It was) very uncomfortable at times, but I think it catapulted the mural programs and it just put Encinitas on the map.”
**ambi of walking tour**
But it also received a lot of pushback.
SOT 6105
Naimeh Woodward | Encinitas Friends of the Arts
23:33:52 - 23:34:12 (:20)
“Some were offended because they couldn't figure out why Mother Mary of Guadalupe would be surfing. But once it was explained ‘save the ocean’ … that surfers are tapping into that divinity to save the ocean, they embraced it.”
**ambi of walking tour**
Since then, Encinitas has grown into a public art haven. And Woodward says that shouldn’t stop at murals.
SOT 6133
Naimeh Woodward | Encinitas Friends of the Arts
30:11 - 30:20 (:09)
“I do encourage people to see some of the sculptures. Hopefully the ones that are going to go up on a temporary basis, there are five sculpture pads, they're coming.”
**ambi of walking tour**
After decades of work, and countless brush strokes, Anderson’s vision for an art-filled city has arrived, weaving a large and tangible tapestry across his hometown. His influence is undeniable.
SOT 2355
Kevin Anderson | Muralist
14:16:33 - 14:16:44 (:11)
“I wanted to live in a world where art is really important and art meant something. And in a world where I could actually show people my art.”
**ambi of walking tour**
Now, his murals are spreading beyond their borders and into other cities across San Diego and California. And with them comes a little bit of the essence of Encinitas. Jacob Aere, KPBS News.
That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Join us again tomorrow for the day’s top local news stories, plus, we look at how a new type of court for those with psychotic disorders could help one San Diegan. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
