Month: September 2021

By Geoff Page

The Peninsula Community Planning Board’s regular monthly meeting September 16 had basically two items of interest to the community as a whole, an eye-opening presentation about new state law concerning accessory dwelling units and a pocket park.

State Law and Accessory Dwelling Units – ADUs

One of several organizations that have formed to protest the new state and city laws about accessory dwelling units is Neighbors for a Better San Diego or NBS. Kathy McClelland, an adjunct instructor at Southwestern College and Bob James, a contractor, provided a presentation. Two California senate bills, SB 9 and SB 10,

Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera of San Diego’s 9th Council District has come up with a series of recommended revisions to the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) or “granny flat” regulations.

In his Memorandum to the City Council, Elo-Rivera outlines his recommendations which he makes after listening “to the feedback of many community members, including ardent supporters and opponents of the current policy, and conducted a thorough analysis of the regulations put into place by the previous administration. Following months of conversations with stakeholders and analysis ….”

We invite anyone to respond to Elo-Rivera’s recommendations, as we note not everyone agrees. But at least he has helped the debate.

March for Reproductive Rights – San Diego
Saturday, October 2, 2021
10:00 AM 12:00 PM
Waterfront Park (map)

San Diego will join marchers across the nation on October 2nd, before the reconvening of the Supreme Court, taking to the streets in every state to demand our right to reproductive healthcare.

By Colleen O’Connor

On Friday, the United Kingdom’s retail industry warned the British government that the country only had “10 days to save Christmas.”

Seriously.

Ten days in which to find nearly 100,000 Lorry drivers to transport the needed pre-ordered holiday goods to market. So desperate is the government to save Christmas that it has fast-tracked emergency authorized visas for lorry drivers. They have even begun hiring women for the task.

Gas stations around London have already run short on fuel and long on lines. Food shortages are another new worry. COVID-19 and Brexit exacerbated an already existing bottleneck.

Cut to the United States where the debate over:

Tracy Dezenzo has some exciting news! The OBcean and member of the OB Planning Board is also a member of San Diego’s Commission for Arts and Culture and has informed the OB Rag that the City Council unanimously passed the Commission’s proposed changes to Transit Occupancy Tax policy 100-03 which dictates how the funding for the Commission is allocated.

Tracy lists some key changes that will be reflected in the FY23 funding application guidelines:

Edited from Surfrider

Surfrider San Diego is celebrating a 29 year tradition to raise awareness about our ongoing battle for clean water and a healthy coastline. This Sunday, October 3, at the OB Pier.

This is their signature awareness event, the Paddle for Clean Water, and is the largest non-competitive surf event in California.

By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / Sept. 26, 2021

Growing outcry over granny flat construction in some San Diego neighborhoods has prompted city officials to propose rolling back some recent policy changes that have made San Diego’s rules among the least restrictive in California. Critics who say the city’s granny flat rules are too lenient are calling the recently proposed rollback from Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera a good start, but they say it won’t prevent some property owners from destroying neighborhood character by building multiple granny flats in one back yard.

Ardent proponents say that granny flats — which city officials call accessory dwelling units or ADUs — are the cheapest and fastest way to solve San Diego’s housing crisis.

In total control of the state, Republicans have a free hand that they’ve used to enforce extremism.

By Jesse Jackson / Chicago Sun-Times

American papers are filled with pundits speculating about the horrors the Taliban may inflict on the people of Afghanistan, particularly its women. Less attention has been paid to the horrors Texas Republicans — the Taliban wing of the Republican Party — are inflicting on the State of Texas. In total control of the state, Republicans have a free hand that they’ve used to enforce extremism.

Dubbing them the Texas Taliban isn’t just name-calling. The parallels are chilling.

By Joseph C. Rocha / Times of San Diego / September 23, 2021

Ten years ago this week, the discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy was repealed, finally lifting the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in our armed forces.

From that morning, I most vividly remember two things. First, all the courageous veterans and servicemembers who had shared their stories. And second, that the sky hadn’t fallen.

By Judi Curry

Ocean Beach is a melting pot of many different types of individuals, from humans, to pet pigs, to birds, to cats, and, in this case, dogs. Seldom does anyone get to meet a dog and his owner like I am going to introduce you to today. And they like to call Ocean Beach their home. Without any further introduction, let me introduce you to Kentucky – the human – and Derby, the surfing dog.

It wouldn’t surprise me if you already know them, or least know about them.

The big news is that despite Gov. Newsom’s appeal for Californians to cut water use, water use in San Diego County actually went up.

According to new data, water use rose 1.3 percent in San Diego. … On average, Californians reduced water use by just 1.8 percent statewide during July as compared to the same month last year.

Yet is it any surprise that San Diegans haven’t adhered to Newsom’s appeal? We were told by our local water authority back in June ‘Not to worry, we have enough water through 2045.’

By Geoff Page

On Thursday, September 16, Macy’s, Inc. generously donated lots of plants and volunteers to plant them at one of the hidden jewels of the Peninsula: the Point Loma Native Plant Garden. This significant effort by Macy’s deserves kudos from the community.

For those unfamiliar with the Native Plant Garden, it has a gate at Mendocino Blvd. and Greene Street. There is another gate behind the apartment building on the west side of the property. It is just east of the eucalyptus grove on the north side of the apartment building. The Reserve is bordered on the east by Nimitz Blvd.