PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
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MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
VOL. 26, NO. 47
DEC. 7, 2012
An environmental document outlining a private use policy for the recently renovated Fletcher Cove Community Center is available for a 90-day public review and comment period. Photo by Bianca Kaplanek
CHRISTMAS SPIRIT The Bethlehem Children’s Choir performs their annual Christmas Concert, “A Communion of Carols,” Dec. 2 at the Bethlehm Lutheran Church in Encinitas. The concert also featured the Bethlehem Handbell Choir. Photo by Daniel Knighton
Pearl Harbor survivor recollects that day By Lillian Cox
OCEANSIDE — Adolph Kuhn, 91, belongs to an elite fraternity of P earl Harbor survivors. There are so fe w today that the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, once boasting 58,000 member s, disbanded a year ago. Speaking invitations from schools have dwindled, too. After all, why should kids these days be interested in Pearl Harbor? Biographer Jim Hoffmann has some str ong opinions. In 1999, he was a young American history teacher when he befriended Kuhn after r eading an article about him. To Hoffmann, World War II v eterans are patriots he compar es to America’s founders. “The American Revolution gave us life,” he said. “People died kno wing what our country was going
RISING RATES With the OK given for a new desal plant, what is yet to be settled is how much the plant will add to various districts’ water bills B1 in the near future.
In the morning we woke up as bullets came through the roof.” Adolph Kuhn Pearl Harbor Survivor
to become. The Civil War kept us alive. “World War II is right up there with the American Revolution and the Ci vil War. If Hitler had w on, we would have been destr oyed. It had to be f ought. TURN TO KUHNON A19
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Pearl Harbor veteran Adolph Kuhn, 91, kept detailed journals with stories he says, “Even Walter Cronkite hasn’t heard.” Photo by Lillian Cox
Fletcher Cove use policy available for comments By Bianca Kaplanek
SOLANA BEA CH — The draft environmental document outlining a use policy for Fletcher Cove Community Center is no w available for a 90-day public review and comment period. Even before renovation of the f ormer Army barracks was complete in 2011, many residents, including those who contributed financially to the project, asked about using the bluff-top f acility for private events such as birthday parties and receptions. Citing traffic, noise and parking issues, those who live in the adjacent neighborhoods oppose any events beyond those that already take place at the facility, such as summer camps, the Civic and Historical Society’s annual fundraising bazaar, a few community classes and Thursday night singalongs. They also do not support alcohol consumption on the property. The groups and city staff held meetings to tr y to reach a compr omise. In September, City Council members, with Mike Nichols dissenting, authorized $25,000 f or a California Environmental
Quality Act study to analyze potential impacts of the added uses. The results of that study were posted on the city website Nov. 29. The report is also available at City Hall. CEQA requires a minimum 30-day review period. Staff recommended 60 days but with the upcoming holidays, Nichols suggested extending the deadline, and his colleagues agreed to an ad ditional 30 days. The analysis used conditions presented to Council during an April meeting. Based on community and Council input from several meetings and written correspondence, staff developed regulations for a one-y ear trial period that limits events to a maximum of 100 people. The center could onl y be used for private gatherings until 10 p .m. on Fridays and Satur days, with all cleaning complete by 10:30 p .m., and until 8 p.m. on Sundays including cleanup. Live music would be allowed but with a limited number of band member s and instruments. Alcohol, limited to beer and wine TURN TO FLETCHER COVE ON A19