OB Rag

Why are San Diego City leaders tempting fate with single-family zoning loopholes in high-risk fire zones?

By Sandra Johnson / Neighbors for a Better San Diego

The first call came in at 11:52 a.m. on Sunday, June 30, 1985, but the fire was already out of control when the first units arrived. By 1:00 p.m. it had gone to four alarms and formal evacuations were in progress. By evening, the Normal Heights fire zone was more than a mile long and a half mile wide.

Everyone thinks it won’t happen to them.

Planners, applicants, and interested members of the public are invited to Wednesday’s meeting of the OB Planning Board Project Review Committee, Aug. 16.  The sub-committee will be meeting at their regular time and location this month, at the OB Rec Center at 6pm.

There is one project on the agenda. St. Peter’s By-the-Sea at 1371 Sunset Cliffs Blvd has submitted an application for a conditional use permit and coastal development permit to install a Dish Wireless with 3 panel antennas and 6 remote radio units and a bunch of ancillary equipment.

Having received proposals from redevelopment teams for the NAVWAR property last week, the Navy is absolutely mum on the number and types of proposals and who are the teams and their financial models and development schedules. It’s the final leg of the eating frenzy to select who will remake this huge prime piece of real estate.

Jennifer van Grove at the U-T reported late last week:

The United States Navy has moved into the final leg of a real estate competition to replace its obsolete NAVWAR facilities and remake the rest of the 70.3-acre military campus that bumps up against Interstate 5 in San Diego’s Midway District.

The County is still issuing a water advisory for Dog Beach in Ocean Beach due to high levels of bacteria and are advising people and pets to avoid water contact.

The advisory for Dog Beach has been in effect since August 3.

Station: San Diego River outlet to 300′ South (FM-010)
Status Since: August 3, 2023
Bacteria levels exceed health standards. Avoid water contact in the advisory area.

Aug. 17th, OBHS presents “NTC CENTENNIAL”

Join the Ocean Beach Historical Society on August 17, 2023, at 7 PM, for the NTC Centennial program.

The presenter is by Eric DuVall, OBHS prez, at Waters Edge Faith Church at 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.

A Point Loma bakery has announced that they are in “lock down until further notice” due to disruptions by unhoused people at their business.

Phatties Bake Shop in the 4100 block of Voltaire Street will still be open during business hours, but customers need to ring a bell for admittance. The bake shop continues to be open to the public daily from 7 p.m. to 2 p.m.

The owners say that they’ve been dealing with unhoused people stealing products, destroying property, coming in and screaming, and even one entering the bakery armed with a crowbar.

The OB Rag fundraising campaign which we began on Friday is over three-quarters to our goal of $1500!

Help us make the rest today.

And help us hold San Diego politicians accountable. Somebody has to keep pushing for transparency in our city government. And county.

By Mat Wahlstrom

As a rule, I rarely endorse anyone for public office — as when they invariably disappoint, as holding office tends to do, the mud may splatter back on one’s petticoat. And while I always assess a field of candidates and express my thoughts if asked, I tend to keep my own counsel.

I have not met any candidate or been contacted by any campaign. But after the barrage of disinformation and dirty tricks I’ve seen being used to rig the outcome of the special election this Tuesday for the District 4 seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, I must speak out.

If you choose to vote, the only person running who deserves it is Monica Montgomery Steppe.

It’s August which means it’s the OB Rag’s annual summer fundraising campaign!

Help us reach this summer’s goal of $1,500. We do have bills — we have a yearly $600 server payment and we pay many of our reporters and writers a small stipend.

And, of course, with the recent sale of the San Diego U-T to a hedge fund, local journalism is all the more important.

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