Month: June 2023

By Geoff Page

Considering what has lately appeared to be a total lack of community interest in the Ocean Beach Planning Board, seeing the large crowd in attendance Wednesday, June 7, was heartening. When the community really wants to express itself, the OBPB is still the place to be heard.

The agenda for the board’s regular monthly meeting at the OB Rec Center contained two hot topics that brought out the crowd. But, the bombshell revelation that night did not involve either of the two items.

It is official! The Ocean Beach Pier will reopen in July — this July 2023. Date uncertain. See this video by Charles Landon of a portion of Saturday’s pier workshop at Liberty Station.

By Katie Hyson / KPBS / June 5, 2023

Black people are more than four times as likely as white people to be stopped for biking and walking infractions in San Diego, according to data from the San Diego Police Department. In some neighborhoods such as Pacific Beach and Del Mar Heights, Black residents are 10 times more likely to be stopped.

Yelp has determined that the best rooftop restaurant and bar in the entire state of California is OB’s own The Holding Company. Congrats are due.

As San Diego Mayor Gloria called for the City Council to pass an ordinance on June 13th restricting homeless encampments throughout the city, recent counts of the county and downtown’s unhoused population show record highs.

A count conducted in January found a record high 10,264 homeless people throughout San Diego County, including 5,171 living outdoors or in vehicles. The results of the Jan. 26 count represent a 22 percent increase from last year’s count of 8,427 homeless people.

By Dr. Matthew Price, Chris McCann, Anthony Stiegler / La Jolla Light / May 15, 2023

The FAA recently opened a public comment period on its Noise Policy Review for the San Diego International Airport, and the public comment deadline is July 31st. The review will evaluate: Whether the current use of the “day-night average sound level” (DNL) should be the primary noise metric for assessing cumulative aircraft noise exposure;

Slumlord Michael “Micky” Mills Has Over 100 Short-term Vacation Rental Licenses in Ocean Beach

In a letter fired off to Mayor Gloria and members of the City Council, the Ocean Beach Planning Board is demanding changes to the short-term rental law that has allowed one person to be granted licenses for over one  hundred properties — all in OB. The Board has determined that one owner, Michael “Micky” Mills has obtained 115 short-term vacation rental licenses through a loophole

On May 1, San Diego’s short term rental occupancy ordinance took effect. The goal was to regulate an industry that’s accused of reducing the number of places people can live and decrease quality-of-life issues that can arise between vacationers and locals. But it appears at least one property owner in Ocean Beach has discovered a loophole that bypasses the spirit of the ordinance.

Each short-term rental license requires a “host.” That person must have the legal right to occupy the unit. A host isn’t allowed to hold more than one license at a time. But a host isn’t the same thing as the property owner, and NBC 7 Investigates found a single property owner named Michael Mills is connected to 114 short-term rental licenses in Ocean Beach.

The Ocean Beach Pier Renewal Project Community Workshop  is occurring this Saturday, June 10th, from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. at the Liberty Station Conference Center, 2600 Laning Road. This is the 2nd in-person Community Workshop on the pier held by the city.

San Diego police arrested a motorcycle rider Tuesday night in connection with a large brawl outside a bar in Ocean Beach that ended with one man being stabbed and a second being knocked unconscious.

The incident began when three men — ages 19, 20 and 21 — got in an argument with several bikers outside a bar on Newport Avenue near Bacon Street.

In most major U.S. cities you will find common street names like Broadway, Market, Oak, Elm, First, Second, etc. But in Southern California, one unique street name found in two cities transcends real history and hip-hop history: Rosecrans.

Rosecrans Avenue is a major, 27-mile thoroughfare in Los Angeles and Orange counties. It is also a bustling street in the Point Loma area of San Diego.

So where does the name come from?

The owner of Harry’s Coffee Shop has opened a new outpost of sister concepts Cass Street Bar & Grill and Harry’s Taco Club in Ocean Beach’s former Japanese restaurant, Sopporo at 5049 Newport Avenue. Sopporo was a favorite of locals and was the first Japanese eatery in OB to offer sushi.

Earlier this year, the space was taken over by the local hospitality group operated by John Rudolph, who owns Harry’s Taco Club and Cass Street Bar & Grill in Pacific Beach. The space briefly housed JJ’s Bar & Grill.