OB Rag

Incentives that allow more units based on location would shift the required proximity to transit from half a mile to within 1 mile

By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / Jan. 2, 2023

A new San Diego proposal aims to jump-start production of high-rise housing and backyard apartments by loosening rules that govern where such homes can be built.

Rules that allow taller apartment buildings and more backyard units when a property is near mass transit would be softened to require the transit line be within 1 mile — rather than the current standard of half a mile.

By Terrie Best / Exclusive to OB Rag / Jan. 3, 2023

When the city of San Diego first began permitting cannabis consumer outlets under the conditional use permit process or CUP, a lot of the conversation began at the community level within the Community Planning Groups. There are roughly 42 CPGs recognized by the city and very few ever embraced cannabis outlets.

Until recently only one, the Barrio Logan group, which voted to recommend approval for Harbor Collective, had acted favorably. Conversely, the San Ysidro group was so mad they coordinated an effort to bring kids in matching t-shirts to an appeal against a cannabis outlet in their region. That appeal was lost and Pacific Southwest patient, now Urbn Leaf, opened.

All events are online and free unless stated otherwise.

Every Saturday 10:30 am. Climate Mobilization Coalition Meetings  January 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th. 

January 6th Friday 11 am – 12 pm Greenpeace Fire Drill Fridays with Jane Fonda  

January 12th Thursday 5:30 pm  Climate Justice: How Can We Promote and Protect Fundamental Human Rights? 

January 15th Sunday 2 pm – 5 pm  41st Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Parade! “Keeping the Dream Alive. We’re Better Together!”

January 16th Monday 9 am  The 35th Annual All Peoples Celebration

General Rain Advisory in Effect

The Department of Environmental Health and Quality has issued a GENERAL RAIN ADVISORY for the coastal waters of San Diego County due to contamination by urban runoff following rain.

Swimmers, surfers, and other ocean users are warned that levels of bacteria can rise significantly in ocean waters, especially near storm drains, creeks, rivers, and lagoon outlets that discharge urban runoff. Activities such as swimming, surfing and diving should be avoided for 72 hours following rain.

Here’s the live cam atop the Mt. Laguna Lodge, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023 at 9:30 a.m.

This is a screen grab from the live cam in Julian this morning.

Here are the winning photos in the OB Rag King Tide Photo Contest of December 2022:

First Place: Pescadero Stairs by Sally Brown

By Ann Menasche, Coleen Cusack, and Matha Sullivan / OpEd San Diego Union-Tribune / Dec. 29, 2022

The human-made catastrophe of mass homelessness can be deadly. There have been at least 1,425 preventable deaths in San Diego County since 2020. Elected officials and their appointees in San Diego County have failed homeless people since at least 1996, when the city of San Diego reported to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that “inability to pay high rents” was among the most common reasons for homelessness.

This is a policy failure of epic proportions —

By Colleen O’Connor

Forget all the negative political news, the wars, and the ugly financial and criminal headlines. Stop reading and just look at a photo. Take a gander at these truly “awesome” photographs and/or discoveries from 2022.

All true.  All gorgeous.  And all reasons to wish everyone a Happy New Year, if 2023 it accomplishes anything like the previous one.

Take a long look at these charts inside. This was San Diego County exactly one year ago, Dec. 28, 2021.

Here are new laws that will take effect in California on January 1, 2023.

Abortion (AB-2223) —  It protects a woman or pregnant person who chooses to end a pregnancy from prosecution, even if the abortion is self-induced or happens outside the medical system. It also abolishes the requirement that coroners investigate stillbirths and protects someone who helps a pregnant person end their pregnancy voluntarily from criminal or civil liability.

Minimum wage (SB-3) — The statewide California minimum wage will rise to $15.50 per hour for all employer sizes.

Public Service Announcement

With the new year just a few days away, here are new traffic safety-related laws that will take effect Jan. 1, 2023.

The laws include:

— SB 1472 expands the criteria for “gross negligence” to include drivers involved in sideshow activity, exhibition of speed or speeding over 100 mph resulting in a fatality.

— AB 2147 prohibits police officers from stopping pedestrians for certain pedestrian-specific violations such as crossing the road outside of a crosswalk, unless there is an immediate danger of a crash.

A water advisory issued by San Diego County health officials on Wednesday to avoid contact with ocean water due to recent rain that could have carried bacteria into the ocean and bays is still in effect.

The San Diego County Department of Environmental Health and Quality issued an advisory that warns surfers, swimmers and other water users that “rain brings urban runoff which can cause bacteria levels to rise significantly in ocean and bay waters, especially near storm drains, creeks, rivers and lagoon outlets. Swimming, surfing and diving should be avoided during rain and for 72 hours following the rain event.”