OB Rag

By Geoff Page

Ocean Beach will soon have a big empty eye sore right on Sunset Cliffs Blvd. The Rite Aid store, with an address of 4840 Niagara, will soon be a shuttered shell. A very big shuttered shell. Its closure was confirmed.

Rita Aid has filed for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the first was in 2023. The result this time appears to be liquidation or sale to another company. These proceedings can take a long time so, until it all shakes out, the building will eventually end up closed and empty.

Rite Aid has said it is committed to keeping the stores open during the bankruptcy process. The pharmacies will keep operating in-store and on-line for now. But, the remainder of the available inventory in the store will slowly disappear and not be restocked.

Long time OB residents may remember when the building was a grocery store, the Mayfair Market. It was one of only two large scale grocery stores in OB at that time. The other was the Safeway on Santa Monica and Cable, later the Apple Tree Market, before it became CVS.

By Dr Shirley Weber / Los Angeles Times Op-Ed / May 2, 2025

In my family, voting isn’t just a right — it’s a lifeline.

My parents were sharecroppers in Arkansas until 1951, when my dad dared stand up to his boss for not paying him a fair wage at the agricultural weigh station. Under threat from the KKK, he left town in a wagon, covered in hay so he wouldn’t be discovered. Three months later — after months of threats of violence from the Klan at our home — the rest of our family rode in that same wagon on our way to join him in California.

Only when we settled in Los Angeles were my parents able to register to vote, finally free from fear of the violent and deadly retribution that such a simple act would trigger across the Jim Crow South.

My family’s lived experience facing discrimination and the vigilantes of the South cannot be forgotten, especially now as Congress considers the SAVE Act. The House recently approved the SAVE Act under the guise that it will prevent illegal voting — an issue that is infinitesimally rare but buoyed by baseless narratives.

If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the act’s true effect would be to disenfranchise millions of voters across the country and in California.

For years, construction projects were not conducted in San Diego’s coastal communities from Memorial Day to Labor Day to reduce potential impacts during the busy tourism season.

But now it’s over.

The summer construction moratorium in beach areas was considered an annual reprieve from building-related noise and traffic interruptions.

According to a memo from the city Engineering & Capital Projects Department to the Development Services Department, the summer moratorium will “no longer be enforced by the city for private and public construction,” starting this year.

Now, the construction ban is being discontinued to allow for “timely completion of projects.”

The memo stated:

“The primary objectives of removing this [summer moratorium] policy within the city’s jurisdiction is twofold: to allow for timely completion of projects and to increase efficiency in project completion in these areas. This change is intended to streamline project delivery within city rights of way while minimizing disruptions to the community by avoiding prolonged construction timelines.

Yes, for local lovers of tequila, this is good news. There’s a new brand coming out from Point Loma — the Midway District to be exact. It’s been around for about a year and is a creation of Adam Prange and Michael Brown. Blowfish, a new Blue Agave distillation, distributes to around 200 places so far — liquor stores and bars included.

Headquartered at 3486 Kurtz St., #102, Blowfish pours out of a bottle that is modeled on the blowfish characterizing it as “cute on the outside but dangerous inside.”

Brown told the Peninsula Beacon that they’re “trying to make that connection because it goes so perfectly,” noting and Brown are in Baja a lot where their tequila is made pointing out blowfish “are everywhere there.”

On Saturday, May 3, more than a 1,000 climate action demonstrators gathered outside the County Administration building and then marched to the federal courthouse and then through Little Italy, ending back where they had begun.

Organized by San Diego 350, they demanded bold climate action, accountability from fossil fuel companies, and derided President Trump’s environmental policies, including his recent efforts to prevent California from phasing out gasoline-powered cars by 2035.

The San Diego U-T reported:

The line of protesters stretched more than two city blocks and was flush with people holding signs whose messages extended beyond the environment to cuts in science funding and Elon Musk’s elimination of about 280,000 federal jobs through the Department of Government Efficiency.

Trump says he opposes California’s efforts to get rid of gas-powered cars because he believes it sets caps on carbon use that are impossible to meet and that it impedes domestic production of oil, natural gas and nuclear power. He also has called climate change a “hoax.” The president also defends DOGE, saying that it will save taxpayers billions of dollars and boost the economy.

By Marc Johnson / Times of San Diego Op-Ed / May 3, 2025

For over seven years, the University Heights community has engaged with the San Diego Unified School District on redeveloping the Brucker site along Normal Street.

This included four large community workshops and over nine task-force meetings to envision, debate, and revise multiple plans, resulting in what we call the AVRP/Community Consensus Plan that was publicly presented by district in November 2023, and which has garnered over 77% support from University Heights residents surveyed.

The district spent hundreds of hours and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars working with AVRP Skyport Studios to draft site plans, conduct community workshops, and meet with community leaders and members. After that work concluded, the district then hired LeSar Development Consultants, a highly-regarded and politically well-connected consultant to help guide their next steps.

By Lynne Miller

We are not alone!  We are in fact, quite a herd!  Until the May 1 meeting I felt the local residents were powerless in the face of new ‘solutions’ like Complete Communities, ADUs, and the runaway Bonus ADU program.

I was wrong!

I listened to people speak who represented neighborhoods all over San Diego.  More importantly the Planning Commission (who are all seated/appointed by the Mayor and City Council) listened! Finally, San Diego voices were heard!  A little late?  Sure!  But I was so thankful and impressed with the San Diego voices, which repeated in unique presentations saying: “Stop the Bonus ADU Program, at least change it.   This commission and  the Mayor and city council are ruining neighborhoods all over San Diego.”

I hope you had a chance to attend in person or on Zoom the May 1 Planning Commission Hearing!  No better show is streaming on Netflix! 

Recent Die-Off Very Apparent at Campus of Point Loma Nazarene

By Angelica Moser / The Point / May 4, 2025

The raccoons on Point Loma Nazarene University’s campus have turned into the center of a wildlife conundrum as a recent die-off has led to concerns over illegal poisoning and the spread of disease among the animals.

The poison found is a rodenticide that causes internal bleeding and neurological disorders in animals, and it was banned in California by Governor Gavin Newsom on Jan. 1 due to its serious risks to wildlife. Photo courtesy of Brad Lally.

Brad Lally, resident and volunteer with the San Diego Humane Society, first noticed something was wrong in late January when a neighbor found a suspicious teal blue substance in the brush by the cliffs after a heavy rainstorm.

“It was really fresh looking and still kind of soft,” he said. “We’re sure that lot was spread around Jan. 26 and 27.”

The substance was later identified as a banned rodenticide by the San Diego Humane Society, which became illegal in California on Jan. 1 this year due to its harmful ecological effects.

By Kate Callen

These excerpts from public testimony at the May 1 San Diego Planning Commission meeting convey the human toll on communities where Bonus ADU abuses are rampant. (See Part 1 here)

Eric Becerra, Encanto:

 One developer is making land more expensive. Lots that were $600,000 to $800,000 are now $1.2 million. They don’t care about the house. They want to fit in as many ADUs as they can. And they’re [preying on] the elderly. They see who has been here a long time, and they offer them a million dollars. Then they dwindle it down and give them nothing.

Our elderly neighbor was crying, “What am I gonna do? They still haven’t given me the money, and I’m already moved out. They told me to move out at this date.” Have you guys seen your elderly neighbors crying because they got bamboozled out of their homes?

Sky Feuer, Clairemont:

I contacted Developmental Services about evacuation protocols for a lot with 18 residences at the end of a narrow cul-de-sac. Multiple DSD departments explained why no formal fire review had been triggered but acknowledged that I, quote, “raised some good points.” A formal fire safety analysis was only added to the review process when I personally contacted the Fire Marshal.

Will stand up to Trump’s attacks and push for CA & local climate action

On May 3, 2025, San Diegans will rally and march in downtown San Diego for climate action, for justice, and for a sustainable future.

Marchers will stand up to Trump’s efforts to rollback climate protections, boost fossil fuel extraction, illegally dismiss federal workers, and retract funding for renewable energy and climate projects. The march will offer a vision for a healthy and sustainable future, with clean air and water, and a just economy – with good-paying green jobs and putting people before polluters.

WHAT: demonstrators will rally, march in unity, and enjoy live music, organization info booths, inspiring speakers, face painting and more!

WHEN: Saturday, May 3, 2025. Org tables, kid zone and music begin 10:15. Program, including speakers and live music, 11am-12pm. March 12-1:30pm. Program info

WHERE: Starting on the west side of Waterfront Park, 1600 Pacific Hwy, San Diego, CA, 92101and marching on a <2 mile route in downtown San Diego.

By Kate Callen

In a packed May 1 five-hour meeting, three San Diego Planning Commissioners refused to rubber-stamp Mayor Todd Gloria’s slippery revisions to his Bonus ADU program. Their unexpected show of independence marked a turning point in the 4-year battle to stop predatory developers from unleashing more hell in neighborhoods across San Diego.

The Commission officially voted 5-0 to endorse the Bonus ADU amendments proposed by the Planning Department. Our ever-brazen mayor quickly declared victory in a press release: “Gloria Administration’s ADU Program Reforms Advance to Land Use & Housing Committee.”

Not so fast, Mr. Mayor. Yes, the “reforms” will be on the agenda at the committee’s May 15 meeting. But they will be wrapped in caveats and choices.

The three board mavericks, led by Kenneth Malbrough, would not support a blanket approval motion from Ted Miyahara. At their insistence, the Planning Department must present more options for critical ADU specifics: number of units, height limits, and floor-area ratio density.

The same city planners who concocted Gloria’s “reforms” will reshuffle the package before it goes to the Council. But now they’ll be running into a headwind.

An astonishing community turnout at the hearing, and tough questions from frustrated commissioners, may signal that City Hall’s YIMBY hegemony has crested. Some takeaways:

Community Activists Are Upping Their Game

Our friends at Peninsula News have devoted their entire (just about) May 1 issue to an often humorous and witty look back at the Point Loma Village.