Wednesday night, the Ocean Beach Planning Board meets (via Cisco again due to rising COVID numbers) and there’s three interesting issues on their agenda.
First, the board will discuss and review a letter asking that the $8.4 million received by the city from the state for the OB Pier be budgeted towards rebuilding and included in the 5-year Capital Investment Projects list.
Of more immediate interest is the board’s discussion on time restrictions for overnight closures to beach parking lots. The city has asked the board for its suggestions.
And thirdly, the board will review and make recommendations on the city’s proposed policy of making the temporary outdoor dining spaces permanent. The proposals are in a policy directive called “Spaces for Places” .
The meeting begins at 6 pm and you can register for the meeting here.
Here is the official agenda:
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Can’t see the Letter link.
Interesting because there is a “Community Pier Working Group” and wonder if anything about this Pier item was shared or discussed.
Sorry about that. Actually none of the links worked, except to register for the meeting.
Thank you. Where is this “letter” able to be viewed by the public that is part of a public meeting agenda in less than 24 hours can you share?
First, get those freakin piles of junk extending from bars & restaurants off the streets. They look like the ghost of Tom Joad arrived with the family chicken coop after driving through dust from Oklahoma and set up shop on the street. What third world nation are we trying to emulate here? I’ve seen nicer temporary structures in small towns like Popayan, Colombia. Give the owners of the balsa, spit & bubble gum structures a year, then remove the structures. Settle this issue, then we can continue working on the “feckin ejits” who aren’t vaccinated, then we can prepare ourselves for the next deadly variant, then we can brace ourselves for the next deadly wave of deaths & over crowding at the ICU.
We don’t need daub & wattle extensions into the streets of OB. Just say No to daub & wattle. We might as well commence with a new festival: Welcome to Ocean Beach’s Daub & Wattle Festival. Bring some mud & straw, a few beers, a sandwich, then relax & make your own unattractive structure which will be decimated during the next 1.0 Seismic activity.
Ok, I have to say, Walmart, that by the time I got to ‘daub&wattle’ my smile erupted into an lol! It was prefaced by a wide smile of recognition over “feckin’ ejits”, having spent a huge amount of time in southern Scotland, around Glasgow.
And honestly? I totally concur. C’mon, we all know the space should be returned to the public. Why has this even gotten this far?
What’s wrong with daub & wattle? It has been around for thousands of years.
Sorry, had to look it up: Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw.
Loved wattle, hated daub.
I had to look it up too. I don’t care for animal dung for daub but all other daub is great!
I think we should let the patios on the street stay, close the street to cars and we’ll still have the same amount of public space. We may have more. Get rid of cars on Newport. Parking for cars or places to kick it and chill? I’ve been living in OB since ’88 and would rather stroll the street like parade days! The shops on Newport may even do better.
Eric, as always, you are completely delusional. How, precisely, will eliminating all of the 200 plus parking spaces on Newport contribute to more business for the shops on that street?
So many more people would visit if it was a walkable street. It’s not all about the businesses. Public space is for the public. The majority of us don’t belong to the OB Merchant world.
Perhaps we should shut down all the streets? Utopian ideals are a dead end.
Sounds to me like you don’t stand to feel the effects of closing Newport on your wallet. Why don’t you poll the businesses along Newport and see what people think whose livelihood depends on customers getting easily to their shops?
What if we polled the OB residents and see if they wanted to close Newport? No need to call names Sam. I just disagree with you.
Just as Frank is mad that the businesses are taking over private space, I don’t agree that the OBMA should run our town. As we turn into a mini PB I think the people should decide what’s best for the community, not the businesses.
I, for one, am in favor of closing the parking lots at night and I also think they should become paid parking lots, the proceeds of which, could help fund the maintenance of the pier, assuming it ever gets fixed. Closing the lots at night will surely lead to a decrease in crime.
Sam, while I appreciate your idea of helping the pier, I have to say that I’m completely against paid parking. The beaches are the most egalitarian places in the world. All kinds of people love the beach and come there not only to enjoy it but to get away from places that may not be as enjoyable for a day. And, it’s free and that matters to a lot of people. If we begin charging for parking, the people who perhaps need the ocean escape will be hurt the most.
Agree with Geoff. Paid parking at the beach is the deathnell for a real community.
More so than out of town vagrants overtaking the parking lots so they can have a free place to live while selling drugs all day? Is that the community we want to live in?
An old saying is appropriate: ‘Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.’
Or, “don’t cut off my nose to spite your face.”
Sam, I think the suggestion that might help alleviate that problem would be time limits on parking like three or four hours. That and some efforts by the PD. But, just because we don’t care for that segment of the population, that is no reason to penalize everyone else. And, these people also have a right to be there. Paid parking would not eliminate this.
Combined Geoff/Frank:
I agree that paid parking should not be on the table. And timed parking should be implemented and enforced. Our coastlines are supposed to support public access for everyone, and that is not just written for the disabled, or the local residents. All the public should have access to the shoreline, and coastal communities have the particular responsibility in ensuring that. That just comes with the territory. :-)
Perfectly said, retired. I agree, those of us lucky enough to live here need to help make sure it is open to all.
Ensure you tackle this issue: private encroachment into our common public space: see this https://obrag.org/2021/07/san-diego-is-about-to-sell-off-our-public-spaces-for-outdoor-dining/
You can find all the documents referenced above on the OB Planning Board website. http://oceanbeachplanning.org/meetings/ scroll to the Sept 1 date and the items are in the support documents column.
thanks so much Tracy.
Make all of Newport walkable with extended patios. People will come despite missing parking spaces especially if it’s made a desirable place to walk, eat, drink etc…
Jason, what happens to our public space then?
I think you are misunderstanding. Walkable street create more important public spaces. The street should really be closed off and made a public space for walkability, entertainment, restaurants/etc. can expand their patios out a little or offer more outdoor seating, etc… Similar to what they do in Europe. Jane Jacobs was a pioneer with this. “Jane Jacobs described streets as an important part of our social cohort where she thought it was an intricate ballet or a dance between people on a regular basis. Many cities around the world have adopted to making streets more pedestrian friendly and closing the streets to traffic, so there can be more activities present on the street.” Something OB should think about and maybe become a first in San Diego to do such nonsense. ;) https://medium.com/interviews-and-articles-on-art-public-spaces/pedestrianized-streets-create-important-public-spaces-fdbea73d8268
I agree with Jason completely. Cars should not take priority.
I am all for walkability and better bike infrastructure, but there is no one size fits all for all cities. What works in parts of Europe or even parts of the U.S do not work in all cities. I’ve been enjoying the protected bike lanes now in place along 30th in North Park, but I also know there will be businesses that go under as a result. You can say people over businesses but those businesses are some of the “people’s” livelihoods. You say closing off all of Newport to cars will actually increase business. That might be true for some but it won’t be for all. I’ll bet the “people” who live lets say by Robb Field who are elderly and/or lack the mobility to walk or bike to Newport would agree to close off all car traffic and would strongly disagree with you. How should they be accommodated? If there’s a way I’d love to hear it because as I said I AM for walkability and improved bike infrastructure.
Cars are not the priority, the viability of the businesses on Newport is the priority. I think closing Newport would be nice but that’s just the opinion of a person whose livelihood does not depend on a Newport business.
This is a misunderstood issue. There are plenty of studies on cities that have done it and how businesses thrive more because of it. It’s only one street in the entire town of OB. It should be looked at more in detail. Don’t assume that cars that can’t park their stifle business, this is not the case in every study and every city that is actually doing such things. I thought the same thing as a business owner myself, that won’t work. After studying it more through the years it really is a win win for a place like OB.
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/1/16/why-walkable-streets-are-more-economically-productive
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/10/26/18025000/walkable-city-walk-score-economy
Don’t make the lots paid, but enforce 4 hour limits on the lot by the pier. Van lifers are taking spots from people who just want to go enjoy the beach.
Parking directly next to the beach is a luxury and should come at a premium. There is plenty of free parking around town to accommodate those that don’t want to pay for parking.
Holy shit, are you serious, San, a “luxury?” So then only people with money, who can afford “luxury” should be allowed to use the beach lots? And then your solution is that those who can’t afford can park in the adjoining neighborhoods? You have a very odd world view on this.
Lucky for us the Coastal Commission is very picky about giving those with your mindset free rein to put restrictions on free parking. They generally won’t allow even free parking time limits of less than 4 hours, and require free access for all to our coastal resources. Read the attached report on a request to just modify one little part of Abbot (from 2010) as an example of the hoops that must be jumped through when they are involved.
As an interesting side note, the report also noted that the spaces on the East side of Abbot are limited to 2-hour parking which was not permitted by the Commission and was going to be addressed separately. Apparently they never got around to it.
https://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2010/6/W9a-6-2010.pdf
What about people who cannot walk very far?
Closing Newport to cars?
Making it difficult to park near the beach?
Don’t write about disabled parking. Plenty of people with difficulty getting around cannot get placards.
FYI Looks like parking meters are coming to PB
https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/parking-meters-could-be-coming-to-pacific-beach