We were just tooling around the Point in my Nissan Verse, out to Ladera Street to check the stairs, up the road to see what’s happening with the trees and construction of the new park at Point Loma Natural, up Hill Street to inspect the progress of the new Point Loma Fire Station, then north to Voltaire to take in the views of the Upper Voltaire project. And everywhere (not literally) we saw LimeBikes – not in huge groups – but in ones, and twos ….
Surf at Ladera Street stairs. All photos by Frank Gormlie
Ladera Street Stairs Still Accessible Despite Tape
The City of San Diego believes the cliffs around the end of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard at Ladera Street are unsafe. So, to prevent the unwary human from entering the danger zone, the good city has placed tape, signs and a low-slung chain up at the entrance to the stairs that lead down to the rocks, beaches – and most importantly – the surf – below.
Yet this meager display of cautionary enterprise has gone awry as there’s plenty of evidence that shows people are still using those stairs.
Wet foot prints give evidence of stair use.
What’s the liability of the city here? If the warned yet unwary person is injured, is the city off the hook?
Eucalyptus Grove Still There
The old grove of Eucalyptus trees is still there just south of Ladera Street in the Sunset Cliffs Natural Park – they have not been chopped down yet – as is the plan.
The Point Loma Fire station Well on its Way
Tis obvious the new Point Loma fire station is well on its way to completion.
We asked the workers on site when it will be complete, and one answered, “tomorrow.” Clearly he was just joking around. It cost over $5 million.
Major Progress at Upper Voltaire Project
It is quite evident major progress has occurred at the so-called “Upper Voltaire” project, a construction of 28 residences with a small number of retail storefronts.
Here is how we reported on the Upper Voltaire Project in late April 2015 :
Designed to bring in “quality townhome residences”, the units will include 2 or 3 bedrooms with an average of 1,450 square feet. 17 of them will be 3-stories and eleven are 2-stories that will rest over retail storefronts. All the planned units will have a deck, and some will have two, plus garage spaces.
The project will include 6 buildings, with 3 of them having street-level retail spaces along Voltaire Street. Parking for commercial customers is a separate, at-grade parking lot behind the stores. The mixed use project has been delayed for numerous reasons, and was originally scheduled for grading, shoring and off-site improvement work during the summer of 2012.
Ever since this project was designed, local residents have been warning about the negative impact it will have on nearby traffic. Plus the project brings no new infrastructure improvements to the area.
LimeBike, LimeBike, We See You Everywhere
Without commentary, we present these photos taken Wednesday, March 7, 2018.
Newport Veterans’ Green Repair
Orange plastic fencing has been placed around a swath of what used to be a full head of green grass for the Veterans’ Memorial at the foot of Newport.
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What are those jokers doing just standing around? They have work to do if they expect to complete the station by tomorrow!
Upper Voltaire looks pretty nice, good location between Point Loma and Ocean Beach except for traffic on Voltaire (and noise from Nimitz?). I had a question on parking, but, went to your good reporting in 2015 so asked and answered. The “payment of an in-lieu fee” to avoid affordable housing allowance seems like a scam: what does the city do with that money? We need more housing. This should include a reasonable mix of affordable housing; otherwise it could take a long time for an abundance of new housing to adjust the market and push older housing to become more affordable (assuming we can even keep up with demand).