Category: Environment

250 Yards of OB Pier Damaged – Will Be Closed Another Week and Half

61st Annual OB Kite Festival – March 6th

OB Planning Board Election March 9th At Rec Center

Number 9 – OB’s missing fire pit has been “found.”

Actually, the City knew all along where it was. It was destroyed when all of OB’s fire pits were moved to safer ground behind the berm late last year. OB had nine fire pits at the end of the summer and now we’re down to only eight.

So, according to Park and Recreation Department Director Stacey LoMedico, OB will not receive another one. We’ve got all we’re gonna get. And we may lose them as well.

Local OB historian Pat James took these shots of the old Plunge or OB’s first salt water pool on February 28th.

Turns out Mother Nature wanted to re-establish the old pool herself. So, here ya go, all you OB history buffs – the salt water pool re-birth.

Local OB Rag staffer Nate Hipple captured these shots this morning…

Ocean Beach, Sunday 8:00 am.

Moments after this photo was taken, this bicyclist was knocked to the pavement by rushing water and dragged several meters along Newport Ave. After the water receded, he brushed himself off and made jokes about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Meandering west along Voltaire Street I begin to notice of how truly “walkable” this area of our community is. The towering trees provide much needed fresh air and shade; the sidewalks clean and lit at night by brightly painted light poles; there are virtually no traces of doggie doo anywhere; many shops have their doors open with business in full swing. From all appearances, Voltaire Street is alive and well in this current economy.

As I approach Mindy Pellissier’s shop, Dog Beach Dog Wash, at 4933 Voltaire, I notice large coolers of fresh water perched atop custom made semi-circular wooden benches out front. They hover directly above clean dog water bowls that rest on green outdoor turf. It’s only a matter of moments before the first of many passing pooches stops for a refreshing drink of cool water.

by Seth Connolly

As someone who serves on the Ocean Beach Planning Board and who may or may not run again, I will answer some common questions about planning as a private citizen right now.

First, a quick clarification about our role in the process. We are not charged with writing code or determining funding and certainly not whether large-scale transportation projects take place.

Our role is to give a voice to the community on land use and development issues and to make recommendations in an advisory capacity to the City on specific projects or land use issues. We operate according to our own Precise Plan, first and foremost, which is in the process of being updated. We are not there to enforce zoning so much as we are another set of eyes on it.

With the upcoming OB Planning Board election on March 9th, and the Town Council’s planning board candidate forum on Feb 24th, we thought it would be swell if we got to know the current Board members and the candidates.

The problem is that there is not a whole lot of information out there (Planning Board website and Google) on some folks – which I indicate below. (As more info on certain individuals becomes known, I’ll add it to this post via the comments. )

The Ocean Beach Planning Board covers, of course, the OB Planning area, which is broken down into 7 districts, and each district has two seats on the Board.

GO INSIDE FOR ALL THE JUICY DETAILS

* Peace Rocker’s Peace Sign Taken Down for High Winds

* Point Loma High’s Baseball Field to Be Named for Pitching Champion and Local David Wells

* Point Loman Walt Bailey Remembered for His Volunteerism

* City to Repair Six Coastal Stairways – Three in Ocean Beach

* Stimulus Money Used to Hire Seattle Company to Dredge Mission Bay

Recently, we asked our readers what they thought about the major construction projects listed by Mayor Jerry Sanders in his State of the City address, and what their priorities would be.

In our poll, we gave respondents choices of “a new central library,” “convention center expansion”, “a new city hall”, “a Chargers football stadium downtown,” plus “none of the above,” and also allowed readers to write in their own ideas.

Someone wrote in that they wanted to see a permenant homeless shelter – and guess what? That won. A third of our respondents went for that. 32%

Editor: This is a response by Seth Connolly to Danny Morales’ “Ragster Rant: the OB Planning Board In Crisis”. Seth currently sits on the Board representing District 4.

by Seth Connolly

Danny Morales, I noticed that you were able to portray the Board as a bunch of 420-unfriendly, anti-environmentalist, corrupt, anti-local business yet somehow still rubber-stamping folks who frequent Starbucks. Well done. Kinda wish I had thought of that first, as it is no doubt a strong platform in OB.

Anyhow, I do in fact serve on the Board as a rep for District 4, and I do not speak on their behalf or in that capacity here.

By Nate Hipple

If some catastrophe suddenly cut-off the entire water supply to San Diego County it wouldn’t affect Cielo Foth. She’d still probably be watering her fruit trees. Cielo’s secret is a home irrigation system that catches the rain falling on her roof and channels it into several 4-1/2 x 7 ft tanks. Currently those tanks are filled to the brim (thanks to our quick rainy season) so Cielo had to buy a few extra barrels to catch the surplus.

“People say it doesn’t rain much in San Diego”, Ceilo said. “But isn’t that a good reason to collect the rain we do get?”

Zing!

Now, here’s a woman who is doing what we all should: taking advantage of an unlimited natural resource in order to promote a more self-sustaining lifestyle.

“I just needed more water for my fruit trees and I didn’t want to burden the city.”

By Chris Roberts / SFWeekly.com / February 01, 2010

Though less famous than its San Diego–area namesake, San Francisco’s Ocean Beach is anything but unknown to surfers: Its three miles of coastline provide “a world-class surf spot,” says surfer Josh Berry. Its rip current and big winter waves mean it’s for experienced riders only, and those riders come from “all over — not just [locally] — to surf here,” Berry adds.

However, the recent spate of storms means surfing at Ocean Beach could soon get shitty — as in, 10 million gallons of raw sewage shitty.