September 2015

News from Ocean Beach, Point Loma, the Midway District and Beyond

September 30, 2015 by Staff

*Hundreds Paddled Around OB Pier for Clean Water
*Nico’s California Burrito Wins 2nd Place
*OB Pizza Port Beer Wins 2 Bronzes
*OB Friends of Library Book Sale Report
*OB Rag Quoted By Former Nemesis on Short Term Vacation Rentals
*Pt Loma Nazarene Institute Study: Military Continues to Dominate San Diego Economy
*Gigantic 660-Plus Pound Marlin Off Point Loma
*Annual Cabrillo Festival Was Different This Year – New Discovery of Cabrillo’s Spanish Heritage
*Kids can fish for prizes in Ocean Beach Fishing Derby Saturday, Oct. 3rd
*Maryland’s Washington College Gives Props to Local Pt Loma Woman Volleyball Player
*Cliff Collapse at Tourmaline Sends Short-Term Renters Packing
*Former Sharp Cabrillo Hospital Property Sold for Language School in the Midway
*Former Midway Post Office Sold to Developer Planning Warehouse and Office Project
*Gulls Coming to the Midway District
Other Midway News
*Oktoberfest in Ocean Beach, Oct. 9-10

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Your Weed Killer Might Kill You

September 30, 2015 by Source

Mike Mozart/Flickr

By Jill Richardson / OtherWords

When I began writing about agriculture nearly a decade ago, I learned quickly that people generally believed that Roundup, the best-selling weed killer made by Monsanto, was relatively harmless.

Roundup breaks down quickly, everyone said — and into non-toxic components, they added. If homeowners can buy it at gardening stores, and cities around the United States use it to kill weeds in parks where children play, it must be benign, right?

Wrong. Within the past year, the story has changed.

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Simulated Airplane Crash Off Ocean Beach – Wed. Morning

September 30, 2015 by Staff

Two Locals Chosen to Be Observers

As of this posting, a simulated airplane crash is going on off the coast of Ocean Beach – Wednesday morning. It’s purpose is to help prepare first-responders for an actual event.

Scheduled to begin somewhere between 9 and 9:30 a.m., it reportedly can be seen from the OB Pier.

More than 300 first-responders – lifeguards, medics, police, and Coast Guard personnel – are expected to take part. They are the ones who would be directly involved in the real thing. Today’s mass-rescue exercise centers around a mock airliner crash-landing in the ocean.

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Sept 30th: Hodad’s Closed All Day for BossMan Day

September 30, 2015 by Source

From Hodad’s facebook website:

Years and years working for Bossman, it’s been an honor!

We discussed all these things we’d love to do for our city, our town, our beach, our community, our schools, our military, our customers and the Hodads employees.

He had this idea, that after every summer we wanted to treat ALL his employees to something to show his appreciation for all their hard work and loyalty. He always said that his biggest asset is his employees.

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Nuclear Shutdown News for September 2015 – the Costs of San Onofre

September 29, 2015 by Michael Steinberg

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry, both in the US and worldwide, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to create a nuclear free future.

By Michael Steinberg /Black Rain Press

Disaster Capitalism and the Shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Plant

This story starts with a clandestine dinner in Warsaw, Poland. Present are Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utility Commission, and Stephen Pickett, a high ranking official with Southern California Edison, a major electrical utility.

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Planned Houses on Brighton Exceed OB’s Floor Area Ratio

September 29, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

5109 – 5111 Brighton: 2 Old Houses to Be Demolished and “Deviation” From OB’s Community Plan Sought

Once again, developers are attempting to push the envelop of OB’s famous FAR – floor area ratio – under the guise of building a “green” project. A proposed project for 5109 and 5111 Brighton calls for the demolition of two old houses and the construction of two single-family residences.

Trouble is, according to our count – the planned residences will total 4,668 square feet on a lot that is only .12 acres – or approximately 5,227 square feet.

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Stand Up for Planned Parenthood on #PinkOutDay in San Diego

September 29, 2015 by Doug Porter

By Doug Porter

Today’s the day. Three months into the latest effort by the self-righteous right to make women’s health into a wedge issue, supporters of Planned Parenthood are standing up for their cause.

There are 4 “Pink Out Day” events in San Diego County and 249 actions around the country planned for September 29th. Coincidentally (okay, maybe not), this is also the same day Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards will face off against the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

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OB Surf Camps Request for Extended Hours Meets Opposition

September 28, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

Report of OBTC Meeting of Sept. 23rd

In an historic first – probably – the Ocean Beach Town Council held their monthly public meeting outside. Due to some kind of alarm problem at their usual venue – the Masonic Center – which made it impossible to meet inside, the Town Council met right outside using the blare of lights to illuminate their goings-on. Sixty audience members joined the ten or so OBTC board members.

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New Park Coming to the Peninsula – a Round-Up of the Parks of the Point

September 28, 2015 by Source

Peninsula Closer to Getting New Park

By Don Sevrens

Ocean Beach and Point Loma, two of our city’s older neighborhoods, grew up haphazardly before the era of modern planning. Today they are 700 acres or more short of meeting park and recreational standards of 20 acres per 1,000 population. They also lack adequate recreation center facilities. Almost completely built out and with growing density, the peninsula communities can’t erase their park deficits.

So, a new park emerging is big – and welcome – news.

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Taking the Leap: Imagine a New World

September 28, 2015 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

Last week the Pope came to America and delivered his groundbreaking message about the interrelated problems of climate change and economic inequality as well as the moral imperative to act to address them.

We heard this message at the same time we learned that we have lost half the world’s marine animals since 1970 and that Exxon’s own research had confirmed the human role in climate change decades ago even as they were heavily funding efforts to block solutions.

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Does the Pope Smoke Dope?

September 25, 2015 by Source

By the Ol’ OB Hippie

Does the Pope smoke dope? Does Pope Francis imbibe in the inhalation of medicinal cannabis?

No, really – I wanted to know if the Pope smoked dope. I have heard rumors to that effect – for years actually. And I wanted to find out.
I knew he was coming to the U.S., so I had to figure out a way to meet up with him.

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Book Sale by Friends of OB Library – Sat., Sept. 26

September 25, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

Friends of the OB Library are holding their next Book Sale this Saturday, September 26, from 9:30 to 12:30 in front of our historic library. The Ocean Beach Branch Library is at 4801 Santa Monica Avenue.

Proceeds from the Book Sale go to fund books, materials, programs, and equipment for our wonderful library.

Last Week of OB Library Fine Discount Month

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Water Show in the Midway District

September 25, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

About 4pm on Thursday, Sept. 24th in the Midway District, reporter / photographer Dave Rice noticed a water show that he wanted to share with us.

The water show – a geyser in the Home Depot parking lot – was flooding the area.

Yet another water main break.

These photos tell the story.

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Orcas Need the Ocean, Not a Bigger Box!

September 25, 2015 by Source

By Susan Millward/ Animal Welfare Institute /September 24, 2015

SeaWorld Entertainment announced the “Blue World” Project last year.

The project proposes to invest $100 million per park (for a total of $300 million) for the construction of a larger tank next to each park’s Shamu Stadium, to display the company’s orcas when they are not performing.

Superficially, this appears to be an effort to improve the welfare of these large ocean predators by giving them more space, …

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OB Rag Poll: Toni Atkins vs Marty Block

September 25, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

There’s been a simmering shift in the calm among San Diego Democrats. Two elected Democrats from our area in the California legislature – with very similar liberal voting records – are going up against each other for the 39th District State Senate seat in Sacramento.

Assemblywoman and Speaker of the Assembly Toni Atkins is challenging State Senator Marty Block for the seat he has held over the last 3 years. The election is in 2016. Ocean Beach and the Peninsula are included in the 39th District.

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OB Planning Board Chair: Summary of Rejection of City Proposal on STVRs by City-Wide Community Planners’

September 25, 2015 by Source

Community Planning Committee Votes Overwhelmingly Against Draft on Short Term Vacation Rentals

By John Ambert

Given our recent discussions on the STVR issue, I wanted to give you a quick summary of the CPC (Community Planning Committee) meeting held Tuesday, Sept. 22mf about Short Term Vacation Rentals. The venue was packed, I’d estimate about 200 people.

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Marti Emerald Asks Peninsula Taxpayers to Support Firehouse Bond

September 24, 2015 by Source

Councilwoman Poses Question at Meeting of Peninsula Planners

By Tony de Garate / Special to the OB Rag

Are Peninsula voters willing to tax themselves to improve fire and rescue services? That’s the question Marti Emerald, who represents District 9 on the San Diego City Council, had September 17 at the monthly meeting of the Peninsula Community Planning Board.

Emerald, who chairs the City Council’s Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee, is in the midst of an information offensive in support of a firehouse bond for the November 2016 ballot that would raise nearly $230 million for 19 new stations — including one in the Peninsula.

The measure, which would require a two-thirds vote for passage, would raise property taxes by $30 per year for 30 years for a $500,000 homeowner.

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After One Year – the Disappearance of 43 Students in Mexico Still on the Minds of Chicano Activists

September 24, 2015 by Source

Ayotzinapa1yearmarch

Protests This Week in San Diego Mourn the Disappearance of 43 Mexican Students

By Elena Marques

Usually writing comes naturally to me, I love sharing the art and culture of our community of Barrio Logan and the words flow easily. However as I sit to write today, there is so much to say that I am at a loss for words.

It’s incredibly difficult to describe the emotions facing the one year anniversary of the mass kidnapping of the 43 students of Ayotzinapa. So much that I found myself putting off writing this because there just doesn’t seem to be sufficient words.

After a year of lucha, marches, protests, art shows, cultural events world wide, a nationwide tour of parents and students from Ayotzinapa creating a solid and intricate network of organizers across the nation, meeting and working with monumental people here in San Diego, across the nation, and across the border, including the spokespeople from the Escuela Normal, it weighs so heavy that we face a year with no answers, no justice.

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Returning From Darkness: National Suicide Prevention Month

September 24, 2015 by Source

By Will Falk / San Diego Free Press

I am an attempted suicide survivor. I tried to kill myself twice – once in April, 2013 and again in August, 2013. It has been over two years and I am still struggling to make sense of what I did. I just learned that September is National Suicide Prevention Month and for the last several days I have lost myself reading heart-breaking story after heart-breaking story of those affected by suicide – both attempted and successful.

The first time I tried to kill myself I was in Milwaukee, WI. I was a public defender in Kenosha, WI and was overcome with anxiety, guilt, and a spiritual kind of exhaustion when I came back to my empty apartment on a snowy,

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Junipero Serra’s Sainthood Dismays Many

September 24, 2015 by Doug Porter

By Doug Porter

Eighteenth century Franciscan missionary Junipero Serra was canonized by Pope Francis this week. Hailed by the church as “the evangelizer of west in the United States” and reviled by descendants of the indigenous people living along the coast, Serra’s ascension to sainthood is a controversial move.

The expulsion of the Jesuit order from the Spanish colonies by King Carlos III brought Serra to Baja California. In 1769, the government, fearful of intrusions by Russian traders to the north, dispatched the Franciscans to what we now call California. Serra founded nine missions, starting with the Mission San Diego de Alcalá and went about the business of ‘civilizing’ the local inhabitants.

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Community Planners Committee Rejects Council’s Proposals on Short Term Rentals

September 23, 2015 by Source

Community Planners Slap Down Zapf and Cate Proposals to Allow STVRs to Operate in San Diego Residential Zones.

On Tuesday, September 22, the Community Planners Committee (CPC) at their monthly meeting rejected City Council-member Lori Zapf’s proposal to allow STVR to operate in San Diego residential zones with restrictions and Council member Chris Cates’ proposal to allow STVR in residential zones outright.

Instead the CPC voted to uphold and enforce the existing San Diego Municipal Code regarding Short Term Vacation Rentals in residential zoned areas. In an almost unanimous vote, (24-3) the CPC agreed that that the Municipal Code already addresses and prohibits such commercial entities in residential zones.

CPC Chair Joe Le Cava and members of the committee reiterated that STVRs are Visitor Accommodations as defined in the San Diego Municipal Code and are commercial businesses that do not belong in neighborhoods zoned for residential use. The committee rejected the proposal that would allow STVRs in residential zones.

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Meeting Split on Issue of Short Term Vacation Rentals – But Most Want Regulation

September 23, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

At the peak of the event, more than 60 people crowded into the OB Woman’s Club on Bacon during a discussion on short term vacation rentals Wednesday night, September 21st.

A joint community forum called by the OB Planning Board and the OB Town Council, it gave community planners an idea of where OBceans were on the issue of STVRs as they were to attend a meeting of reps from all the city’s planning groups on the same issue the following night.

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Gary Gilmore’s Family Jewelry to Move From Ocean Beach

September 23, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

Gary Gilmore is moving his family jewelry business. It is true. Gary confirmed this for me this morning. He and his spouse Beth and their 2 daughters – all who have been running the business for years – will be shutting down the storefront and moving their business to Liberty Station.

Gary said that they will stay on Newport Avenue for the remainder of this year and then move in January. Gary’s jewelry store has been on Newport for 37 years. “We opened on October 18th, 1978,” he said with crystal clarity.

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Warm Water Has Created Banner Season in Fishing Off Point Loma But Also Drastic Changes in Ocean Food Chain

September 23, 2015 by Source

Fisherman are having a great time these days as it’s a banner season with boatloads of bluefin tuna, dorado and yellowtail returning to the docks of Point Loma. Anglers are catching 100- to almost 200-pound bluefin tuna off our coast, further out west and up north, locals say -normally not seen up here.

Usually the tropical fish are reeled in off Mexico and far off-shore, but now they’re being hooked as close as 10-20 miles off of San Diego, where water temperatures are exceptionally warm.

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Weekly News From Ocean Beach and Beyond

September 23, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

Pancake Breakfast Served 850 Mouths – a Great Success

Friends of OB Library Book Sale Sept 26

OB Residents Upset at Stench From Feral Cats in Apartments at Bacon and Santa Cruz

Kevin McKay Passes – Former Peninsula Beacon Editor

Boarded-Up Medical Building in Midway District Sold

Crash at End of I-8 Prompted Sig-Alert – Motorcyclist Loses Foot

Reporter Confronts Man With Stolen Bike from Animal-Rights Activist

Paddle Around OB Pier for Clean Water Expected to Draw Hundreds of Surfers – Sun., Sept. 27th

Fund Raising for Injured San Diego Lifeguard

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Why Are Lifeguards Pushing for Surf Camps to Expand Their Hours at OB? – Issue Discussed at OB Town Council Meeting – Wed., Sept. 23

September 22, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

A proposal to extend the hours of operation for OB’s two surf camps will be made at Wednesday’s OB Town Council meeting.

And for some reason, OB’s lifeguards are making the proposal or request.

Why? Why are our public servants and first responders – our lifeguards whom we support and cherish – why are they pushing for these extensions? We find this very curious … and wholly inappropriate.

Here’s how the OBTC describes the issue in their newsletter and website:

The OB Lifeguards are requesting consideration for a time change to the operational hours for the two surf camps in Ocean Beach. The proposed time change would add one additional hour to the current operational period. …

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The Citizens’ Watch of Mission Valley: “Manchester Project” Approved and Work Begins on Valley’s Largest (and Only) Park

September 22, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

By Frank Gormlie

To outsiders, Mission Valley at times feels like it’s in its own intense universe. Other times, it seems like San Diego’s own “black hole”- once you enter Mission Valley, you immediately get swept into its traffic craziness and gird-lock.

But what happens in Mission Valley deeply affects the rest of San Diego, especially the coastal areas directly to the west – like Ocean Beach, the Peninsula, Mission Beach, PB – but also other nearby communities such as Clairemont and Grantville. Because of this close proximity these other communities are impacted by both the increases in population and density in Mission Valley and – due to the lack of infrastructure in the valley – are also impacted by strains on their infrastructure.

Because of these – let’s call them – interconnections – …

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OB Town Council Elects New Board Members

September 22, 2015 by Staff

Members of the Ocean Beach Town Council just elected four brand new board members and returned another four to the board.

Eight seats were open and there were 11 candidates. Eligible OBTC members voted over a month’s time and for 8 candidates. On September 18th, the results of the election were made public, having been certified by the council’s election committee. It was an unusual situation, the OB Rag was told, as during most of the annual OBTC elections, there is no competition for the seats – as there was this time.

The brand new board members are Kameron Coleman, Keith Fink, Mel Roark, and Mark Winkie. Their first meeting as board members will take place on Tuesday, October 13.

Returned to the board are Jenn Avoledo, Marin Green, Gretchen Newsom, and Rebecca Taylor.

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1968: How Our Stadium Saved Hilton’s Ego … and Other Chuckles To Cry Over

September 22, 2015 by Source

As published by the original San Diego Free Press (circa 1968), we reprint the rundown on the Stadium in Mission Valley. Outside of the names and a few little details, you’ll be surprised how little has changed.

Original byline “By Jim Knastick”

Hi sports fans. Big Jim, again.

Well, fans, last issue – – when we looked into that great muskmelon in Mission Valley – – we found a bill for $52 million addressed for the little taxpayer in San Diego and nothing but profits for local sports czars (your druggist knows them as merchants, financiers and industrialists).

Current vignette, fans: Taking Care of Barron.

The Boys Club

The story of our stadium goes back to late 1959 when Lamar Hunt, son of the right-wing zealot billionaire H.L. Hunt, Bud Adams, Jr., son of the chairman of the Phillips Petroleum company, and Barron Hilton, son of the hotel magnate Conrad, pitched together several million dollars to create the American Football League.

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San Diego’s Police Citizen Review Board Falls Short on Transparency and Accountability

September 22, 2015 by Source

Opportunity to provide citizen input at September 23 meeting

occupy san diego By Jeeni Criscenzo / San Diego Free Press

Four years ago today (September 17, 2011) the Occupy movement began in New York City’s Zuccotti Park in Wall Street. Like wildfire the movement that defined Us (the 99%) vs Them (the 1%) spread from city to city.

Three weeks later a large and exuberant crowd gathered in San Diego’s Children’s Park before marching defiantly to Civic Center Plaza, and Occupy San Diego was born.

And from that emerged a group of mostly “mature” women (of which I was one) who used our experience and energy to advance the movement long after the camps in cities throughout the nation had been aggressively dismantled by an organized police campaign.

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kh April 24, 2024 at 2:22 pm on ‘Hey You! Get Up! We’ve Outlawed Sleeping in Public!’Assessed value can be far from the true value unless you just purchased it. The land value of my property in OB is over 85%...
Dr. Jack Hammer April 24, 2024 at 11:35 am on Students at PLNU Are Angry With Administration For Disrespecting Gay Community and Chilling Free SpeechBut isn't that why the parents pay so much $$$ for this education? So their little darlings can be protected from the 'evils' of the...
Gilbert Field April 24, 2024 at 10:23 am on ‘Hey You! Get Up! We’ve Outlawed Sleeping in Public!’I looked at Zillow for a typical home in Claremont. House is 1200 square feet and the price is $1 million. 1200 time $250 =...
nostalgic April 24, 2024 at 10:09 am on Reader Rant: ‘Why I’m Breaking Up With Cox Communications’For this very important topic, keep us all informed. I would like to send an email. As a complication, there is occasionally an attachment. I...
Gilfield48@gmail.com April 24, 2024 at 9:24 am on ‘Hey You! Get Up! We’ve Outlawed Sleeping in Public!’OK. Not sure where you live, but the $250-300 square feet and value of most homes generates that land is worth more than the home....
Frank Gormlie April 24, 2024 at 6:48 am on Why San Diego Should Not Be Awarded Anything for Its ‘Bonus ADU’ Program — Not One ADU Unit Has Been Built as Low-Income HousingCouldn't agree more. Labor is not just a special interest group -- until they act like one and our local labor council has become just...
chris schultz April 24, 2024 at 6:16 am on Reader Rant on the New Warehouse Plan for San Diego’s Unhoused CitizensAsh St. 2.0 https://voiceofsandiego.org/2024/04/24/what-we-know-about-the-pollution-below-mayor-glorias-mega-shelter-site/#comment-30554
ingrate April 24, 2024 at 1:22 am on Why San Diego Should Not Be Awarded Anything for Its ‘Bonus ADU’ Program — Not One ADU Unit Has Been Built as Low-Income HousingFrank, check the money pouring into the Dems and paying for those flyers. Unions are catching up with developers in funding the candidates and sending...
unwashedwalmartThong April 23, 2024 at 8:03 pm on Reader Rant: ‘Why I’m Breaking Up With Cox Communications’For e-mail I went to Hushmail a decade ago. I've had no problems with the company or my e-mail account. It's about $35/year & based...
Marc Davies April 23, 2024 at 4:28 pm on Adam Avenues Unplugged — Saturday, April 27I miss Isaac Cheong hosting open mics at Lestat’s on Adams Avenue, when Gregory Page and Greg Laswell would perform.
chris schultz April 23, 2024 at 2:52 pm on ‘Hey You! Get Up! We’ve Outlawed Sleeping in Public!’I just said my land was assessed at 38% of value. $300 x my sq footage puts me at appraised value for the entire property,...
Chris April 23, 2024 at 2:11 pm on Adam Avenues Unplugged — Saturday, April 27I miss when it was the Roots Festival.
Gilbert Field April 23, 2024 at 1:27 pm on ‘Hey You! Get Up! We’ve Outlawed Sleeping in Public!’You are very correct that many sections of our city are outliers, like LaJolla and El Cajon. But, if your home is within a typical...
chris schultz April 23, 2024 at 12:57 pm on ‘Hey You! Get Up! We’ve Outlawed Sleeping in Public!’Sounds like way more land then house based on your numbers. My assessor value tells me everything. Maybe the location differs which would explain some...
Gilbert Field April 23, 2024 at 12:42 pm on ‘Hey You! Get Up! We’ve Outlawed Sleeping in Public!’Of course the land value % will vary within the city. I just had my home reassessed after some improvements, and since I know about...