AUGUST 2006
Quiet Railroad Zones coming soon
The North County Transit District's board of directors cities they represent would be protected if they were voted 7-0 in June, with director Hal Martin of San Mar- sued as a result of a railroad accident in a quiet zone. cos abstaining and county supervisor Bill Horn absent, to finalize a policy for cooperating with cities wanting to Michael Cowett, the district's attorney, spent months create quiet railroad zones. The new policy solves the meeting with each city along the rail line and with San issue of legal liability raised last year that has kept cit- Diego's Center City Development Corporation, which ies from establishing quiet zones. has created a quiet zone in the city's downtown core. Cowett said he was able to get the transit district's insurance company to agree to list each city that cre- A quiet zone is a stretch of rail where trains can only ates a quiet zone as an "additional insured" on its ex- sound their warning horns if there is an emergency. Cur- isting policy. In exchange for the additional coverage, rently, trains must blast every time they approach a cities would have to pay an additional $500 to $700 railroad crossing. per crossing per year.
In 2005, the Federal Railroad Admini- "Things like this are never as easy as stration passed new guidelines that they seem to be, but I think it will move allow cities to declare quiet zones forward in pretty short order," said along railroad tracks, provided that Norine Sigafoose, a Carlsbad council crossings within the zones have, at a member and that city's representative minimum, drop-down protective gates, on the nine-member transit district warning signals and a relatively low in- board. cidence of accidents.
Many coastal North County communities from Oceanside Depending on the type of crossing, some cities may south to Del Mar ---- prodded by railroad-area resi- have to install additional security measures, such as dents who have complained of early morning and evening beefy "quad" gates that would make it physically im- train horn blasts ---- have declared they will silence the possible for cars to pass into a railroad crossing if a trains as soon as they are able. Cities have waited for train is coming. Today, most crossings have simple, the district to resolve the sticky issue of legal liability striped, wooden drop-down gates that can be circum- in the event of a train accident. vented by a driver willing to swerve around them.
The transit district board tried unsuccessfully to pass a quiet zone policy on Sept. 15, 2005. At that time, how- ever, the agreement did not resolve the liability issue. Board members said they wanted some assurance that
San Pacifico Community Association Board of Directors Message
By Steve Tapper, President Starting on July 10th, you should begin Due to the Summer Holidays it is neces- seeing the trimming of the various palm sary that the Breeze go to Press early trees in San Pacifico, including the Mexi- this month. There is not much new to can Fan Palms along Windrose Way. report since the last issue. I hope everyone is enjoying a great sum- We are looking forward to many more mer in our community paradise and that people attending the next Board Meeting everyone had a fantastic 4th of July. of the Master Association.
Saturday August 12, 4:30 p.m. San Pacifico Recreation Center
Dinner Live Music Activities
If you would like to help with the San Pacifico Pool Party, please e-mail [email protected]
Page 2 San Pacifico Breeze Vistamar/Oceanwalk Message
By Dale Ordas, President outside the community walls. The Board then began an investigation into the history of Beaches, Trails and Parks - It’s summer, and many of us the access lane, pedestrian access along this road, safety will head for the trails and beaches. The City of Carlsbad issues, and community preferences and opinions on the asks that you remember to: Stay on the designated trails. matter. We learned that the City of Carlsbad has an ac- Be courteous. Respect the rights of adjacent property cess and utility easement across the road, and asked at- owners. Keep the trail clean and safe for all users by put- torneys for the Vistamar HOA to review the results of ting litter in its place. No smoking, fires or firearms. Pick the investigation. They advised us that: up after your pet. Keep your dog on a hand-held leash less (1) The access lane is common area property. It belongs than eight feet long. (From MC 11.32.030 (2), 11.32.030 (4) to Vistamar HOA, which means that all 202 homeowners and SDCC Sec. 62.669.) have an undivided ownership interest in the common area.
Vistamar HOA can make any use of this land so long as Access Lane Update - Following a vote of the Vistamar there is no interference with the City’s putting out a fire Board of Directors to reopen the access lane, protests by or maintaining the utilities. four homeowners have continued. In the (2) The demand that it be closed perma- meantime, Vistamar homeowners who would nently to pedestrian access amounts to a like to use access lane to get to the beach request for exclusive use of common and visit their neighbors continue to press area property. Under the Davis Sterling for its reopening. Act (Civil Code Section 1363.07), grant-
ing the right to exclusive use of common For those who have not followed the con- area property requires a two-thirds ma- troversy, here is a summary. The access jority vote of all 202 Vistamar homeown- lane is about the same width as Windsock ers. Way. When the gate across it was origi- nally installed, there was an opening between the gate post After receiving this information, the Board voted to re- and the fence on the north side. Originally, there was pe- open the road to permit pedestrian access. We engaged a destrian access through the gate, but it was locked at the contractor to develop an inexpensive modification of the request of the Vistamar Board to prevent vehicles from gate across the access lane. It would be completely re- using the road. After that, homeowners used an opening at versible, would have no moving parts and would, there- the north end for beach access. This opening became fore, be noiseless. The Carlsbad Fire Marshall approved known as the “access portal.” the modification. We then authorized the contractor to The Vistamar HOA accepted the gate with its adjacent schedule the gate modification. access portal. Vistamar’s 202 homeowners and their fami- Soon after the Board’s vote to reopen the access lane, lies used the access portal for about four years. Then John we got a letter from a law firm threatening legal action Laing Homes (JLH), without notice to or authorization by on behalf of the same Escallonia Court homeowners if we Vistamar HOA or Walters Management, sent a crew to reopened the access lane. We referred the letter to at- weld the access portal shut. JLH apparently took this ac- torneys for the HOA. Once again, the HOA was given the tion to appease a persistent and vocal opponent of pedes- legal go ahead. trian access. The opponent’s complaints to JLH probably Next, the HOA received a copy of a letter from the op- resulted from the Board’s denial of his demand for closure ponents, addressed to the City of Carlsbad, reiterating of the access portal. their opposition to reopening the access lane. Then we
got a call asking that we hold off on the gate modifica- As a result of the closure: (1) Homeowners on the Escal- tion. The Board asked the City to have their attorneys lonia Court side of the road must go outside the community contact the HOA’s attorneys. walls to get to the master association’s recreation facili- In the meantime, the Board has concluded that the most ties (pool, tennis, volleyball and basketball courts); (2) One effective and least expensive resolution of this continu- Escallonia Court homeowner was attacked on the trail out- ing conflict is to submit the matter to you, the homeown- side the Vistamar HOA wall, where homeowners are forced ers, for a vote. The ballot will be posted on the web site to go by this closure; (3) Escallonia Court and Seafarer and you will receive a ballot by mail. Place homeowners cannot visit back and forth without going
San Pacifico Breeze Page 3
PONTO EIR SCOPING MEETING
By Dale Ordas
There was a disappointingly small turnout at the City of above existing grade provoked an e-mail from the Carlsbad’s June 22, 2006, Ponto EIR Scoping Meeting. Carlsbad Housing and Redevelopment Agency stating It became contentious when attendees learned that RBF that if the mayor said that, it was not a directive to Consulting, the firm that prepared the Ponto Vision Plan, staff. One can infer from the e-mail that the city will had been selected, out of eight applications, to prepare push to have the Ponto Vision Plan constructed as de- the EIR. Those attending denounced the choice of a signed unless members of our community continue to company with an apparent conflict of interest. make their voices heard. There will be more hearings, and the Coastal Commission has yet to consider the A reference to Mayor Bud Lewis’s statement that he matter. would recommend limiting building heights to 30 feet
2006 ACURA CLASSIC AT LA COSTA RESORT
Martina Hingis has entered the 2006 Acura Classic, to two-time Acura Classic doubles champion, in 1998 with be held July 29 - August 6 at the La Costa Resort & Natasha Zvereva, and in 1999 with Corina Morariu. Spa. In her sixth San Diego appearance, she will join a Her San Diego singles record is 24-6. player field that includes many of the top-ranked stars on the Sony Ericsson WTA tour, including Kim Clijsters Venus Williams is the only player in the last 23 years (#2), Nadia Petrova (#3), Elena Dementieva (#8), Patty to have won the Acura Classic three years in a row; Schnyder (#9), Svetlana Kuznetsova (#10), Maria 2000, 2001, 2002. Currently ranked #12 on the Tour, Sharapova (#4), Justine Henin-Hardenne (#5), Mary she will be returning to San Diego after a three-year Pierce (#6), Lindsay Davenport (#7), and Venus Wil- hiatus to make her eighth appearance. Venus is a for- liams (#12). mer world #1, and currently the defending Wimbledon champion. Her San Diego singles record is 28-4. Promotion Sports, Inc. said that after receiving a request from Serena Wil- This year Justine Henin-Hardenne liams it has granted her a wild card en- returns for her second appearance at try into the Main Draw of the tourna- La Costa. A former #1-ranked player ment. Plagued by a knee injury, the for 45 weeks, and the current French seven-time Grand Slam champion has Open defending champion, Justine won played in only one other tournament so the Acura Classic in her 2003 debut, far this year, the Australian Open. Her defeating Kim Clijsters in the tourna- current world ranking is #104. ment’s first-ever all-Belgian final. She remains undefeated in San Diego, 5-0. Mary Pierce will be making her 10th appearance on the courts at La Costa. She was the winner of last year’s Promotion Sports, Inc. will host its fourth annual event. She was the runner-up to Lindsay Davenport in charity event to benefit the Scripps Polster Breast 1998, after defeating Venus Williams, Martina Hingis Care Center on Thursday, August 3 rd at 5:00 PM . and Conchita Martinez on her way to the finals. Mary’s Hosted by tennis legend Pam Shriver, the event will San Diego win-loss record is 20-8. consist of a gala dinner with silent and live auctions to be held at the La Costa Resort & Spa. Last year's A San Diego fan favorite, Lindsay Davenport, who has event raised a record $280,400 and this year the spent 98 weeks as the world’s #1 ranked player, has also tournament has set its goal to break the record and competed at La Costa nine times. She is a two-time raise more than $300,000 in a single night.
champion here, winning in 1998 and 2004. She is also a
Page 4 San Pacifico Breeze
Santander/San Sebastian Message
BY Steve Adler, President Special Assessment As this is written, we don’t have enough votes to pass the special assessment of $270.08 which would have been used to repay funds borrowed from reserves. The Board has extended the time to pass the assessment, but there is some opposition and not much interest.
The Board is required by law to repay money borrowed from reserves, so we will be imposing a monthly fee in- crease we had sought to avoid with the special assess- ment. To all who voted for the assessment, thanks. In my opinion, the assessment is the best way to replenish the reserves. To all who voted for or against, thanks for your participation.
Ponto shenanigans not the primary responsibility of our Association, this I’m sure that Ponto developments will be covered else- issue is very important to each of us. The high density where in this publication and I know that many of our that Carlsbad now plans will have a heavy impact on our neighbors have been attending the meetings called by lifestyles and perhaps on home values. Local infrastruc- the City. Some neighbors have gathered together to ture cannot support present population – tried to park hire an attorney to keep an eye on the Environmental at the Poinsettia Coaster station in the morning lately? Impact Report process. The City seems determined to How many homes are now and served by the fire sta- hire the same consulting firm that tried to skirt the tion/paramedics off Poinsettia? How many will it be if EIR process. That move failed only because so many of Ponto and all planned developments up and down Poinset- us attended the City Council meeting to make our opin- tia are completed? How about traffic and associated ions known. At the close of that meeting, the Council noise and pollution on Avenida Encinas and Poinsettia if decided to order a full EIR. It appears that the city the planned development in Ponto and next to the may be backsliding on that decision. Coaster station is built as planned? And you think I-5 is a mess now….
Although keeping Carlsbad honest during this process is Although it’s hard to grasp the reality of Carlsbad’s plans given how long it’s taken to get this far, I believe that the City is deadly serious about this development. Given what we’ve seen, we should expect the City to opt for the highest density possible because that provides the highest profit and best incentive to the developers.
Carlsbad likes to approve development that contrib- utes to capital infrastructure costs (though not to long- term upkeep.) If density is low, the developers won’t build because they can’t make money and pay for the goodies Carlsbad requires. If you’re concerned about the lifestyle in our neighborhood, get involved and stay involved in this crucial local political issue.
San Pacifico Breeze Page 5
Carlsbad Water Recycling Board Meeting Schedule —Master Board July 27 6:00pm Quality Inn A nearby neighbor to San Pacifico is the Water Recy- —Area “A” Board Aug 15 6:00pm Ramada Inn cling Facility at 6200 Avenida Encinas. It is part of the Encina Basin Water reclamation Program developed by the —Santalina Board July 31 6:00pm Dove Library Carlsbad Municipal Water District. This facility will proc- —Vistamar Board July 25 6:00pm Quality Inn ess 4.0 million gallons per day (mgd) of recycled water, meeting the State health Department’s requirements to make it suitable for body contact. Future phases of the program will increase production to 16.0 mgd. HOMEOWNERS NOTICE For questions/comments related to the Master Association (pool/
recreation area), Oceanwalk, and Vistamar, contact Lee Lieben- To distribute the water for irriga- son, The Walters Management Co., 858-576-5557 lleiben- tion purposes, 24 miles of pipelines [email protected] ranging in size from 4” to 30” di- For questions / comments related to Santander and San Sebas- tian, contact Pamela Walker, N.N Jaeschke, 800-448-7601 pam- ameter, have been installed. Recy- [email protected] cled water is pumped through them powered by four Pump For questions/comments related to Santalina, contact Audrey Stations. One pump is located at the Recycling Facility. Mauzy, Mauzy Management, 888-513-9945; www.mauzymanagement.com The other three are located at Black Rail Road, Bressi development at El Camino Real and Palomar Airport Road, and in the Calavera area at Colloege Boulevard north of Cannon Road. The combined capacity of the four pump sta- tions is 17,000 gallons per minute. WELCOME TO SAN PACIFICO
In addition, improvements have been made to the 54 mil- We extend our warmest welcome to the new San Pacifico lion gallon Mahr Reservoir, near Rancho Santa fe and Mel- homeowners. For privacy rea- rose drive. The reservoir is owned by Vallecitos Water sons, we only include their last District. The improvements will help maintain a high qual- name and the street name. ity of water stored there.
The Carlsbad Municipal Water District continues the ret- Willard / Dew Point rofitting of irrigation systems through out the City, to use recycled water. In San Pacifico, the purple top sprin- kler heads indicate that they are using recycled water.
… and many more … This is the 73rd monthly issue of the San Pacifico Breeze. We celebrate the SIXTH anniversary of the San Pacifico Community Association newsletter,
by thanking all of the individuals that have contributed articles and provided information for us
all. We also thank our advertisers for adding interest to the newsletter.
Keep those articles coming, so that we continue to keep the community informed.
Page 6 San Pacifico Breeze
Farmers.com Auto Home Life Business Variable Annuities & Universal Life* IRAs & 401(k)s* Mutual Funds* 529 College Savings Plans*
Michael A. Erro, District Manager Registered Principal
(760) 436-2414 or [email protected]
*Securities offered through Farmers Financial Solutions, LLC 2423 Galena Ave., Simi Valley, CA 93065 (805) 306-3400
Classified Ads – Short Version of Policy
1. Personal free service, or under 18. Ads are free for 2 issues; must skip issue and then can re-run ad. Must request the Breeze to re-run.
2. Home Business/Service/for Sale Items – $2 for first column-line, $1 ea. additional line, up to 5 lines.
3. Business Cards – $15 per issue.
4. Ads only accepted from San Pacifico residents.
The advertisements contained in the San Pacifico Breeze are not in any way an endorsement of the products or services being offered. The Association has not researched the validity and accuracy of any of the claims being made in these advertisements or investigated the businesses making these advertisements.
All ads must be either emailed or mailed/delivered to San Pacifico Breeze, 7420 Magellan St., Carlsbad, CA 92011. For chargeable ads, include check payable to San Pacifico Community Association.
Thanks for everyone that has sent us newsworthy articles... Keep them coming! Remember, just email us at [email protected]
Your Newsletter Staff for this Issue:
Co-Chair: Ike Berger, Dale E. Ordas
Page 7 San Pacifico Breeze