Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Close to Home — What it’s like on the street where you live
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Is El Camino Real so dangerous?
Encinitas sticking developer for more sidewalk and bike buffer
El Camino Real is a direct route from Olivenhain, and can be used as an alternate route if I-5 is clogged.
It’s been delay after delay for the proposed Sage Canyon apartments in New Encinitas. Now, the 102-unit project located at the southeast corner of El Camino Real and Sage Canyon Drive is stalled again, this time over road safety improvements, responsibility for which is being tossed like a hot potato between the city and the developer.
Projects are allowed two concessions and an unlimited number of waivers, or modifications of local development standards — such as height limits — that can otherwise block a housing project. According to officials, the holdup here is due to a number of waivers, and also one new concession that applicant Austin Wermers requested for by-right housing, which includes 24 very low-income units.
The applicant, Austin Wermers, requested by-right housing, which includes 24 very low-income units.
Wermers says they could build 314 units, if they chose – and further, that they’ve also chosen to exceed certain minimum standards; for example, building 170 parking spaces rather than the required 126. Nevertheless, the apartments have faced the usual wave of opposition from neighbors over things like height (75 feet on the west side), density, and traffic.
Last week, the planning commission voted to approve the latest delay to a “date uncertain.” This was to give the developer time to revise the concession in such a way that would free them from the costs of making road and bike lane improvements along El Camino Real.
Officials said the lack of uniformity in the roadway across the section increases the risk of collisions.
A memo from the interim city engineer concluded that omitting frontage improvements would result in “significant, adverse public health and safety impacts” that cannot be mitigated. For example, the city claimed that a gap in sidewalk frontage creates a walking hazard between the apartments and any off-site location. Further, the lack of a full-length buffered bike lane increases the risk of collisions. Further still, failure to install a third travel lane endangers drivers on the El Camino Real corridor. El Camino real is the highest-speed road in the city, with typical speeds of 56 mph. Officials said the lack of uniformity in the roadway across the section increases the risk of collisions because a sudden change in alignment can disrupt visual cues for drivers.
They also pointed to evacuation times in emergencies, since El Camino Real provides a direct route from Olivenhain, and can be used as an alternate route if I-5 is clogged. “Typically, new development requires right-of-way improvements,” said Christina Bustamante, senior planner.
Wermers replied that the city has failed to provide any local evidence of pedestrian or bike crashes to support their safety claims about this segment of the road, and that without substantial proof, “concessions must be granted.”
In an earlier version of the project, approved in 2023, Wermers was going to make the improvements. However, it turned out that including them would have expanded the project and put it within the 100-foot coastal commission buffer zone where it could be appealed. The developer then withdrew the project and returned with the current version.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Is El Camino Real so dangerous?
Encinitas sticking developer for more sidewalk and bike buffer
Is El Camino Real so dangerous?
Encinitas sticking developer for more sidewalk and bike buffer
El Camino Real is a direct route from Olivenhain, and can be used as an alternate route if I-5 is clogged.
It’s been delay after delay for the proposed Sage Canyon apartments in New Encinitas. Now, the 102-unit project located at the southeast corner of El Camino Real and Sage Canyon Drive is stalled again, this time over road safety improvements, responsibility for which is being tossed like a hot potato between the city and the developer.
Projects are allowed two concessions and an unlimited number of waivers, or modifications of local development standards — such as height limits — that can otherwise block a housing project. According to officials, the holdup here is due to a number of waivers, and also one new concession that applicant Austin Wermers requested for by-right housing, which includes 24 very low-income units.
The applicant, Austin Wermers, requested by-right housing, which includes 24 very low-income units.
Wermers says they could build 314 units, if they chose – and further, that they’ve also chosen to exceed certain minimum standards; for example, building 170 parking spaces rather than the required 126. Nevertheless, the apartments have faced the usual wave of opposition from neighbors over things like height (75 feet on the west side), density, and traffic.
Last week, the planning commission voted to approve the latest delay to a “date uncertain.” This was to give the developer time to revise the concession in such a way that would free them from the costs of making road and bike lane improvements along El Camino Real.
Officials said the lack of uniformity in the roadway across the section increases the risk of collisions.
A memo from the interim city engineer concluded that omitting frontage improvements would result in “significant, adverse public health and safety impacts” that cannot be mitigated. For example, the city claimed that a gap in sidewalk frontage creates a walking hazard between the apartments and any off-site location. Further, the lack of a full-length buffered bike lane increases the risk of collisions. Further still, failure to install a third travel lane endangers drivers on the El Camino Real corridor. El Camino real is the highest-speed road in the city, with typical speeds of 56 mph. Officials said the lack of uniformity in the roadway across the section increases the risk of collisions because a sudden change in alignment can disrupt visual cues for drivers.
They also pointed to evacuation times in emergencies, since El Camino Real provides a direct route from Olivenhain, and can be used as an alternate route if I-5 is clogged. “Typically, new development requires right-of-way improvements,” said Christina Bustamante, senior planner.
Wermers replied that the city has failed to provide any local evidence of pedestrian or bike crashes to support their safety claims about this segment of the road, and that without substantial proof, “concessions must be granted.”
In an earlier version of the project, approved in 2023, Wermers was going to make the improvements. However, it turned out that including them would have expanded the project and put it within the 100-foot coastal commission buffer zone where it could be appealed. The developer then withdrew the project and returned with the current version.
Comments