January 2022

By Geoff Page

Land use changes that are designed to destroy single family neighborhoods and planning board changes that are designed to destroy planning boards were the two main topics of interest at the Peninsula Community Planning Board’s monthly meeting January 20. Pretty depressing stuff. Accounts of how the PCPB’s last election went did not help.

Accessory Dwelling Units -Proposed Land Development Code Revisions

The PCPB discussed a draft letter it has addressed to the mayor and all nine city councilmembers providing its opinion of the proposed Draft Housing Action Package. The main subject of the letter was accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units and the new state law versus the city’s proposed “enhancements” of the law.

There was an issue raised at the recent Midway planners’ meeting, as reported by Geoff Page, that was buried by the other larger issue of the homeless on Sports Arena Boulevard, that needs more of the light of day.

Two bicycling “experts” presented their views at the meeting, disparaged planning boards, and pushed the solution of the merging of different planning committees.

As Page reported:

During a discussion of the major changes the city wants to make to the planning boards, the Midway group heard from two members of BikeSD’s Board of Directors, Paul Jamason and Nicole Burgess. They did not, however, identify themselves that way.

The OB Town Council Board of Directors begins its annual election tonight, Thursday, Jan. 27. There are seven candidates for the 7 open seats. Voting closes at midnight on Friday, February 4.

In order to vote, one must be a member. There’s several levels of membership, so go here for more info and how to join.

The candidates were presented at last night’s public meeting, zoom online. Here are their names and a very brief thing about them below, presented in the order from last night.

January Public Meeting – January 26, 2022 @ 7pm

Join the Ocean Beach Town Council for their monthly Public Meeting tonight, Wednesday, during which a Candidate Forum will be held. Candidates are running to fill the empty seats on the Board of Directors. Also, there will be updates from elected officials and local organizations.

In light of the current status of the pandemic, the OBTC will be back online for their January meeting.

COME INSIDE FOR LINKS TO ACCESS MEETING, TO REGISTER AND FOR THE AGENDA

by Kathy Blavatt

On a January morning, I happily to awoke to greet the rain that had soaked my thirsty yard. The Twisted Juniper outside my bedroom window literally looked like it was dancing with joy among sparkling jeweled droplets.

2021 was a drought year. Sunset Cliffs Natural Park was primarily full of dried brown plants.

Now as 2022 rolled in so did the storm clouds. The darkened sky dumped several weeks of rain on top of long awaiting seeds. New life pushed up through the rain-drenched soil sprouting green.

By Geoff Page

The regular monthly meeting of the Midway-Pacific Highway Planning Group on Wednesday 19 was dominated by the homeless problem in the Midway area that is badly out of hand. There was also a stealthy visit by a couple of cycling advocates who argued in support of the city’s plans to gut planning groups because they believe the groups stand in the way of their cycling agenda.

Homeless

The mess on Sports Arena Blvd., by the Goodwill facility, kicked off a major discussion about the homeless problem in the Midway area. That large encampment is only the worst face of the problem, the problem with the homeless is everywhere in the Midway area.

This piece of Sports Arena Blvd. may not be familiar to everyone. It is on the south side of Rosecrans at the big Rosecrans-Sports Arena Blvd. intersection.

Check out Charles Landon’s latest OB Rag video: an interview with Andrea Schlageter, Chair of the Ocean Beach Planning Board.

By Thursday, January 20, city contractors had begun to set up scaffolding near the end of the Ocean Beach Pier. The plan is to spend $8.4 million to repair two damaged piles.

A city spokesperson told media that the scaffolding might take upwards of two weeks to construct, and depending on the weather, repairs should take about eight weeks. He added the entire OB Pier should reopen once those repairs are completed. By the beginning of summer.

We’re all hoping that the city spokesguy is right, that this money will result in sufficient repairs that the end section can reopen. Our concerns and fears are

Dear Straight Up with a Twist,

What do you do when you find your partner masturbating? I caught my girl in the act, which wasn’t a big deal except for the fact that she gave me a hard time when she caught me a few weeks earlier. She claimed my masturbating meant that I wasn’t sexually satisfied by her but for some reason she doesn’t think the reverse is true. I said it was hypocritical. Any advice on how to approach this issue?

Sexually Deprived in SD

Dear SDSD, the first part of your query – what to do when you catch your partner fapping – is the easiest question I’ve had to answer since a Jehovah’s Witness knocked o

A man and woman who were walking across a street Wednesday evening near the San Diego Bay between Liberty Station and Point Loma were killed by a speeding driver, police said.

The unidentified couple, described as being between 55 and 65 years old, were trying to cross from north to south around 6:05 p.m. on North Harbor Drive west of Nimitz Boulevard, according to Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department spokesperson Sgt. T.D. De La Peña.