PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
VOL. 26, NO. 17
MAY 4, 2012
bratin ele
25
City agrees to ban on plastic bags
g
C
.com
t
n
in
he
ity
years
Commu
THISWEEK
By Bianca Kaplanek
SAVE THE QUEEN Former Rancho Santa Fe resident and Torrey Pines High School grad Lance Holmquist restores the historic boat The African Queen in time for its 100th anniversary. B1
INSIDE TWO SECTIONS, 56 PAGES
Arts & Entertainment . . . A10 Baby Boomer Peace . . . . . B12 Camp Pendleton News . . . . B11 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . B18 Comics & Puzzles . . . . . . . B21 Consumer Reports . . . . . . . A7 Eye Spy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A14 Hit the Road . . . . . . . . . . . A9 Legal Notices . . . . . . . . . . A23 Lick the Plate . . . . . . . . . . B14 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . A22 Odd Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B5 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 Pet of the Week . . . . . . . . . A7 A Place to Call Home . . . . . B4 Second Opinion . . . . . . . . A17 Small Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1 Taste of Wine . . . . . . . . . A13 Who’s News? . . . . . . . . . . . B4
HOW TO REACH US (760) 436-9737 CALENDAR SECTION: calendar@coastnewsgroup.com COMMUNITY NEWS: community@coastnewsgroup.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: letters@coastnewsgroup.com
FREE CLASSIFIED ADS Sell your car at any price, or any one item $150 or less for free! Go online to www.coastnewsgroup.com or call our free ad hot line at (760) 436-1070. Deadline is Monday at 4 p.m.
ENCINITAS — Fun, games, music and more spill out onto D Street and J Street along South Coast Highway 101 during the Encinitas Street Fair at the end of April. Some of the free family fun included rides that Carlsbad resident Olivia Catalano, Encinitas residents Amanda Ackerman, Lexi Hogan, and Rachel Ullrich enjoyed during the fair. Photo by Daniel Knighton
Voters to decide on Propositions E and F
SOLANA BEACH — Solana Beach will soon be the first city in San Diego to essentially ban single-use plastic bags. At the April 25 meeting, council members unanimously approved an ordinance that aims to reduce, rather than completely eliminate, carry-out plastic bags. “The community has empowered us — really requested us — to act on this tonight,” Councilman Dave Roberts said. “This is the right thing to do. … I think this is a great step forward.” The new law will be implemented in phases. Grocery stores, food vendors, restaurants,pharmacies and city facilities must be in full compliance
See related open letter to the City of Solana Beach from the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition on page A4.
By Promise Yee
OCEANSIDE — Oceanside voters will decide on Propositions E and F come June 5. Proposition E upholds vacancy decontrol and allows mobile home park owners to increase space rents without limits for mobile home owners. Proposition F amends the city charter and adopts a required majority vote for the election of the mayor and City Council members. This also means the likely costs of second elections to get majority winners. Councilman Jerry Kern shares arguments in favor of the two propositions and Councilwoman Esther Sanchez speaks in opposition to the propositions.
Proposition E Proposition E supports vacancy decontrol and nixes rent control on mobile home lot spaces, which has been in effect for 27 years. “It’s basic fairness,” Kern said. “Rent control transfers property rights from land owners to tenants. Vacancy decontrol restores balance and restores the property rights of land owners.”
CPI, that’s 40 percent of what the market should be,” Kern said. Sanchez said the return for park owners under rent control is fair. “Land owners are guaranteed a fair return on investment,” she said. “Forty percent is a pretty decent profit margin built into the rent control ordinance.” Vacancy decontrol will allow current homeowners to keep rent control provisions as long as they live in their homes. The following owners will not
three months after final adoption of the ordinance. All remaining affected retail establishments, vendors and nonprofit vendors will have six months. The ordinance will likely be adopted during a second reading at a council meeting in May and go into effect 30 days after that, giving businesses until September or December to adjust. All retail establishments, events sponsored or permitted by the city such as Fiesta del Sol and farmers markets, city facilities and city-managed concessions will be prohibited from distributing the plastic bags. Businesses are encouraged to offer incentives such as a 5-cent rebate or credit for customers who shop with reusable bags. Store owners can provide recycled paper bags but they must charge at least 10 cents each. Money will go back to the businesses, not the city. People on welfare programs will be given reusable or recycled paper bags at no cost. Anyone who can demonstrate undue hardship will be
TURN TO PROPOSITIONS ON A22
TURN TO BAGS ON A22
Oceanside voters will be able to decide on Propositions E and F in June. Proposition E supports vacancy decontrol on mobile home lot spaces. Photo by Promise Yee
Sanchez argues just the opposite. She said mobile home owners have more of an investment in their home purchase and upgrades than park owners have in a plot of land. “Vacancy decontrol transfers property rights from homeowners to the land owners,” Sanchez said. Mobile home owners purchase and invest in homes that must be situated in a mobile home park. Kern said the requirement to have their homes in a park does not give homeowners the right to insist on regulated rent increases. “It’s not equity, it’s a com-
modity bestowed on them in a form of government action,” Kern said. “Government gave them that commodity at the expense of land owners. How can you have equity in something you do not own?” The city rent control ordinance that was passed in the late 1980s ensures controlled rent increases for homeowners and an annual return of 75 percent of the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, for park owners. Kern and others argue the return for park owners is not enough. “Owners have only been able to capture 75 percent of