OB Rag

A look at the holiday co-opted from paganism … you know … kinda like Easter. Or Christmas.

By Melissa McEwan / Shakesville

Like most of our holidays, Valentine’s Day has a history that reportedly starts with those horny pagans and another one of their many fertility festivals, makes its way to the Catholic Church, which, in a typical cooption, laid on top its own celebration and gave it a fancy new saint-name, winds its way through the work of a popular British author (no, not that guy for a change, but this guy) who gifted its association with romantic love, and ended up mercilessly corrupted by soulless corporations who want to Sell You Shit Without Which You Can’t Possibly Celebrate This Holiday.

Ya know. Kinda like Easter. Or Christmas.

The city of San Diego has closed the cliff top stairs that lead to the rocks and beaches below at the foot of Ladera Street in Point Loma’s Sunset Cliffs. And the city said the stairs will remain closed while staff studies what has happened and why.

At first a major crack appeared along side of the bluff – and then a portion of the cliff gave way by Tuesday, Feb. 13th. Lifeguards closed the stairs off – and city staff met to discuss and study the situation and figure out what to do.

Seismologist and San Diego State professor Dr. Pat Abbot, Ph.D. told CBS8News:

“This is a life threatening sort of situation.

Could a massive, redevelopment project be coming to the Midway District soon?

The City of San Diego owns almost 100 acres in the district – all of it leased out to various businesses – but many of those businesses have leases with the city that expire in two years – in 2020. The businesses include the Valley View Casino Center, formerly the Sports Arena, and its 43 acres.

And you can believe developers are chomping at the bit for a crack at all that space.

Cybele Thompson, director of city of San Diego Real Estate Assets, was quoted in a recent Voice of San Diego article by Lynn Walsh as stating:

“developers are extremely interested in the sites that end in 2020, which present a very attractive contiguous site.”

There’s a number of factors, of course, that stand in the way of any smooth sailing for developers in this expansive area on the edge of Point Loma and Ocean Beach.

Join the Ocean Beach Historical Society on Thursday, February 15 for a nostalgic trip back in time with a trio of O. B. historians — Kitty McDaniel, Dedi Ridenour, and Jonnie Wilson.

Jonnie and Kitty will regale you with stories of strange things that went on at Wonderland — O.B.’e early amusement park — as well as introduce you to some important Obecans you’ve probably never heard of, and reveal political shenanigans that went on during the early days of our beach town. (News flash: Things weren’t any better back then!)

Dedi, on the other hand, will focus her attention on her favorite topic — Ocean Beach during World War II.

Chair John Ambert to Step Down

When the Ocean Beach Planning Board met last Wednesday, Feb. 7th, they approved 2 projects, one at 4664 Adair Street and the other one a two, 3-story house project on Bermuda (see separate post here), had a presentation by Geoff Page regarding the 30 foot height limit (see separate post here), created a sub-committee on transportation and set the ball rolling for their annual election coming up in March.

The owner gave a brief presentation on his application for a coastal development permit to demolish an existing residence and detached garage at 4664 Adair, and to build in its stead,

In the wake of my last column on the agenda of the billionaire backers of the Janus vs. AFSCME case soon to be heard by the Supreme Court, the Los Angeles Times published a solid piece that outlined the broader context and suspect reasoning guiding this shameless attack on American labor:

This year, the high court is poised to announce its most significant expansion of the 1st Amendment since the Citizens United decision in 2010, which struck down laws that limited campaign spending by corporations, unions and the very wealthy.

Now the “money is speech” doctrine is back and at the heart of a case to be heard this month that threatens the financial foundation of public employee unions in 22 “blue” states.

Geoff Page appeared in front of the Ocean Beach Planning Board last Wednesday night, Feb. 7th, and gave a brief presentation of a crusade that he and a handful of other Peninsula members are waging in efforts to maintain and protect the 30 foot height limit. (“Crusade” is my word, not his.)

Geoff has been a Peninsula activist for years, sat on the Peninsula Community Planning Board, is an environmental-friendly small developer and consultant, plus writes for the OB Rag. And, in particular, Geoff has been a stalwart fighter for the height limit and its empowering citizen-run initiative Prop D back in 1972 which established 30 feet as the limit for all buildings west of I-5.

Page and others believe the City’s Development Services Department current practice allows developers to flout the law and the height limit by illegally raising the grade.

When this reporter texted Steve Yeng – the owner of OB Noodle House and other establishments in Ocean Beach – this morning to get his side of the story of the one we posted yesterday, he gave me quite an earful during his call back.

We had published a post about the fact that some were unhappy with how a pending or possible sale came down involving the purchase of a chunk of property on the 4900 block of Voltaire – a purchase by Steve and a “group of investors.”

Clearly Yeng was upset with the story, “it’s incorrect,” he said, and “everything’s false”, it’s “bullshit.” Yet when I pressed him repeatedly for one thing that was incorrect, false or bullshit – he would not or could not tell me.

Yeng did confirm to me that he – and his brother – had made the purchase of the properties.

by Joaquin Antique

I have seen the ganja future and its name is urbn leaf. Whether it’s a dystopian future or paradise, I’ll let you decide.

You may have seen the bus driving around OB: a newish big black air conditioned rig with a giant marijuana leaf logo and the words “urbn leaf” and “CannaBus” painted on its front and sides.

At first I wasn’t sure exactly what the bus was all about. Was it like a Wine County or Craft Beer tour? An ad for a new band or reggae club? A party bus taking folks to concerts or other events? Turns out urbn leaf is a dispensary and the bus is a service provided for potential customers.

It services Ocean Beach on the hour, from noon until 8 PM daily. The bus picks up patrons at the OB Pier parking lot

In a stunning vote, the Ocean Beach Planning Board voted Wednesday night, Feb. 7th, to approve two 3-story houses for the 4700 block of Bermuda – houses out-of-character with the immediate neighborhood.

By a vote of 7 to 1, the Board voted to recommend the project at 4719 Bermuda move forward, giving its stamp of approval, despite the lack of any landscaping plan and despite many concerns raised about the buildings’ potential for use as short term rentals and how they’ll be the largest structures on the block. Vice-chair Blake Herrschaft was the sole vote against the project.

Before the vote, at least 6 Board members spoke critically of the project,

There’s an unhappiness in Beach Town USA. Or at least our beach town. Especially along Voltaire Street in north Ocean Beach.

Two things. One, apparently there’s a pending sale of a good chunk of properties along the 4900 block of Voltaire – properties that include all the businesses from Hungry Lu’s to Lucy’s Bar, and everything in between.

And the buyers appear to be a group of investors involving Steve Yeng – the owner of the nationally-famous OB Noodle House, the Bar 1502 and the former THC on Newport Avenue. OB Noodle House is right next door to Lucy’s Bar.

Two, there’s a bunch of folks along that section of Voltaire who are not too pleased with the sale. Or at least, how it came down.

By Matthew Wood

Has the OB brewery craze made its way over the hill into Point Loma? If so, Eppig Brewing will be the trendsetter.

The tiny North Park brewery brings its specialty lagers and other selection of suds to a harbor-front location just off Shelter Island, with a soft opening on Friday, Feb. 9th.

“We were really looking to bring the small craft brewery scene to this neighborhood,” says co-owner and namesake Stephanie Eppig. “There’s nothing like it near here.”

Indeed, while it seems that breweries and beer bars are more plentiful than old guy surfers in OB, there’s a dearth of options on the harbor side of the peninsula. You have to weave through the ever-growing crowds at Liberty Station to hit Stone Brewing or make your way through the seedier part of the Midway District to get a pint at the massive warehouse of a brewery at Modern Times.