On Aug. 15, the Encinitas City Council will hear arguments against City Engineering Department mandates for curb, gutter and pedestrian walkway on Crest Drive, a rural residential subdivision of one-acre lots within old Encinitas.In the proposed single family home, the city originally asked for 8 feet of concrete pavers with curbs 450 feet long and a 5 foot walkway, eliminating 13 feet of natural landscaping and threatening old growth trees and vegetation along Crest Drive.
All the land adjacent to the pavement would also need to be removed and graded down to the level of the street, thereby widening the street by over 26 feet when both sides are complete.
The City Engineering Department stated, “ Our goal is to have curb, gutter and sidewalk on every home in Encinitas.”Excerpt from Coast News article by Kevin Farrell, we recommend reading the whole piece. It ends with this call to action.
"We don’t understand the benefit the city would get from this. With so many people opposed throughout Encinitas, it would be a win, win, for the City to re-evaluate and leave our neighborhoods the way we want, not some Engineers personal preference. We have appealed the engineers finding to our City Council members for a final determination. We are optimistic the Council will assist in helping preserve our trees and vegetation thus maintaining the Community Character we love.
Please join me at the City Council meeting next Wednesday at 6 p.m. and help support this worthy cause in keeping Encinitas, the way it was. A presence in numbers will help to get our point across."This council agenda item triggered the memory of Joni Mitchell's song we posted on Thursday, singing "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." The lyrics are perfectly apt for Mayor Stocks bragging at his state of the city address last April 18th. The following clip was first posted after the last council meeting before this break with this introduction.
"Jerome Stocks' perspective on parking lots, traffic, commerce, pot holes, walkable streets, safe routes, etc. at last April's state of the city speech. This speech was directed at a car-centric approach to city planning. Wrong decade, false assumptions and giant omissions."
It's probably no coincidence that Stocks is called out for including tree-lined Crest Drive in his bragging, while city engineers are ginning up rationale to fell these same trees. The man either has no ethics or no clue what the words coming from his mouth mean.
Photo at Opening from April 21, 2012 article, North County Times, about Crest Drive Petition.
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