Month: December 2017

In a nutshell, after about 5 hours of public testimony, Council members turned and tried to fashion a 5-vote majority on one of the two major proposals before them or some kind of compromise. But in the end, in a dramatic turn-about by Councilmember David Alvarez, no majority was found and Council President Myrtle Cole gaveled the hearing to a close without a decision and without a future date to revisit the issue.

Here are observations from OBceans:

The meeting started at 10 a.m. Tuesday inside Golden Hall at the Civic Center and there were quick presentations of two proposed ordinances .

After a long 10 hour day of hearings, the San Diego City Council by Tuesday night could not find the 5 votes needed to set policy on short term vacation rentals.

Finally, after no majority vote on any of the proposed ordinances came to fruitation, council President Myrtle Cole ended the hearing. What comes next is unclear.

At least 5 fires – intentionally set – have plagued Ocean Beach and Point Loma over the last few days. And SDPD arson investigators believe it is one person or group. All the fires were set in alleys and have caused more than $120,000 in damage.

Up to now, police have no descriptions of the arsonist.

All the fires were set at night, the two most recent on early Monday, the 11th, and only about 15 minutes apart. Here’s a breakdown of the fires and their locations:

The San Diego City Council is holding their hearing on short term vacation rentals Tuesday, December 12th at 10:00 am…

Welcome to the future.

That’s the thing I’ve been thinking to myself as the frenetic news cycle over the past year has veered from political chaos to natural disaster and back again in a vertigo-inducing downward spiral. Increasing social division domestically as the rich pillage the rest of us, the intensified threat of international conflict, the brazen plundering of the commons, and utter disdain for the natural world amidst a myriad of sexual harassment scandals and horrifying mass shootings are punctuated by catastrophic natural disasters from the epic fires to supercharged hurricanes and yet more fearsome firestorms.

Reality is exceeding the capacity of our dystopian imaginations.

From San Diego Patch San Diego police shot and killed a break-in suspect in the Sunset Cliffs neighborhood, police said…

City Council Decision on December 12th Will Decide Future of Ocean Beach and Other Coastal Communities

If San Diego City Councilmembers from inland districts get their way and legalize short term vacation rentals with hardly any restrictions, coastal neighborhoods like Ocean Beach will be inundated with a flood of new such rentals. And it could have a devastating impact on OB, uprooting the sparse housing stock and turning entire sections of the community into “Airbnb Beach”.

The City Council meets on Tuesday, December 12th, and come hell or high water, will make policy on vacation rentals that day.

By Cynthia Wootton and Angela Deegan / SanDiego350

A recent presentation by Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan of UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography on climate change held locally (at the San Diego City Council Environment Committee meeting), made us wonder what climate change might look like here in San Diego County.

Typically, weather events will conform to two characteristics of climate change: more extreme and, generally, more frequent weather events.

Heat Spells

With climate change, “heat spells increase in temperature, frequency and duration, while cold spells decrease.”

The numbers of vacation rentals in Ocean Beach don’t look good.

Numbers compiled by the group Save San Diego Neighborhoods were announced at the recent rally against short term vacation rentals in OB – and the crowd was not pleased.

For the month of October, OB had 387 total AirBNB listings (source AirDNA from October) and of these, 325 were listed as whole units.

The same month, VRBO had 212 listings (source VRBO).

A couple of smaller sites, such as Nancy with 6 (source her website) and Jonah Mechanic with 6 add to the total (neither Nancy or Jonah list on AirBNB because they have their own sites).

So we have a total of

Volunteers to pack and deliver boxes and wrap gifts join in the magic of the OB Holidays during the “Season of Love !”

From OBTC:

OB Food & Toy Drive

The OB Food and Toy Drive – coordinated by the Ocean Beach Town Council – provides assistance to over 90 local families and seniors in need during the holidays. The OBTC partners with community groups and volunteers to package a week’s worth of groceries, care packages and new gifts and toys for those in need of help during the holidays.

Park Committee Votes to Advance Draft Plan that Fails to Address Sea Level Rise to EIR Process

Edited from San Diego Audubon Society:

At the Mission Bay Park Committee hearing held on Tuesday, December 5th, a divided Mission Bay Park Committee narrowly approved a plan for the redevelopment of De Anza Cove over objections from hundreds of community members. The Park Committee took action to approve “alternative 2,” which forwards the plans to a formal environmental review process with the City.

Representatives from San Diego Audubon joined Campland on the Bay, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California State Coastal Conservancy in opposing the two proposed alternative plans offered by the City of San Diego.