Author: Staff

According to Interim Branch Manager of the OB Library, Kristen Mulvihill, and the monthly newsletter sent out by the Friends of the OB Library, the Ocean Beach branch will not reopen until the New Year — possibly in January 2022.

This frustrating news is buttressed, however, by the announcement that renderings and floorplans for an expanded OB Library will be presented to the community soon. The tentative date is Wednesday, November 3rd

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,

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:

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.

It’s official. The OB Town Council has five new members of the Board of Directors, all elected in the recent Special Election held after the mass resignations of four board members.

Their names and photos are up at the OBTC website.

And here they are (in alphabetical order of first names):

By Geoff Page

The once jubilant mood at the Midway-Pacific Highway Planning Group, resulting from having the 30-foot height limit removed and a chosen developer for the Sports Arena, has evaporated due to recent events. The Sports Arena development went down in flames thanks to the previous administration under Faulconer. The new process will bring affordable housing to the site, a homeless shelter has been sited there with no notice, and a refugee shelter, also with no notice, has opened.

The planning group is angry and it appears they have a right to be.

The Lost City on a Hill

For those unfamiliar with what happened to the redevelopment, state law put an end to the process that had gone so far as to chose a developer.

Data from the San Diego County Registrar of Voters show Newsom was heavily favored in the coastal areas of the county and throughout the city of San Diego.

In contrast, more rural and desert communities in East County voted for the recall, favoring Republicans Larry Elder and former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer as Newsom’s replacement.

Data show precincts south of Interstate 8 in San Diego, such as North and South Park, downtown, City Heights, College Area and Southeastern San Diego overwhelmingly voted to keep Newsom in office. The city’s coastal communities, like OB, PB, Mission Beach, La Jolla all went for Newsom.

California lawmakers have passed a bill to expand and make permanent a program that allows a select group of community colleges to offer baccalaureates in specific programs. The measure now heads to the governor.

Currently, 15 community colleges in the state offer bachelor’s degrees in workforce fields with high demand and unmet needs. However, the pilot program is set to expire in 2026. Assembly Bill 927 would make the program permanent and allow up to 30 community colleges to offer similar bachelor’s degree programs.

By Geoff Page

The OB Pier, parking in OB’s beach lots, and outdoor dining – that resulted from COVID – were the main issues taken up at the OB Planning Board’s monthly meeting, September 7, 2021. All pretty serious matters for OB.

Pier – There was a lengthy discussion of the pier mostly focused on a pot of money amounting to $8.4 million coming from Sacramento.

Over the past week or so, members of the Ocean Beach Town Council elected five new directors to its board. And they are:

• Tracy Dezenzo
• Mara Cunningham
• Deanna Polk
• Anna Firicano
• Gregory Winter

After taking his car on a surfing venture at Dog Beach, a man gave up and abandoned it in the middle of the surf Wednesday morning.

Fox5 reported that the vehicle was out in about 100 feet of ocean around 5:30 am, which was reported to SDPD.

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.