ENCINITAS — Encinitas officials will study options and costs to improve the Swami’s Overlook parking area along Cornish Drive on both sides of Santa Fe Drive.
The City Council directed staff to analyze different options and costs to address safety concerns at the popular sunset-viewing spot overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Councilmember Joy Lyndes initiated the discussion, noting that the current conditions are unsafe for both pedestrians and vehicles, as indicated by neighbor feedback.
“They’re worried about people twisting their ankle,” Lyndes said. “It’s been brought to our attention as a city that this is a dangerous kind of ankle-twisting hazard for people getting in and out of cars.”
Lyndes added that the dirt surface creates dust for nearby residents and has caused vehicles to slide down the hill onto private property. Photos of a car and a truck that had slid down the hillside were presented during the May 13 public meeting.
“What happens now is because it’s dirt and there’s ruts, the cars have difficulty getting traction, and when they’re backing out, they spin their wheels and they create dust and in some cases they lose control and they go down over the hill into the Swami’s property,” Lyndes said.
Mike James, the city’s deputy city manager, said a preliminary “very conservative estimate” put the project cost at about $63,000. The largest portion of that estimate — roughly $34,000 — would cover contractor construction, site preparation and vegetation and debris removal. Installing curb stops would cost an additional $12,000, according to the estimate.
City Manager Jennifer Campbell said the area is considered a road shoulder within the city’s right-of-way, not a parking lot, meaning that drainage improvements and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance would not be required.
“This isn’t a big project, it’s really a repair,” Lyndes said. “This is something the city does when we see there’s a situation that might need some fixing.”
The council voted 4-1 to move forward with a more detailed analysis of improvement options for the overlook, including itemized cost estimates for future consideration.
Deputy Mayor Jim O’Hara cast the lone dissenting vote, saying he believed the preliminary estimates were unrealistically low.
He said he was “not opposed to freshening the area up” but questioned the projected costs.
“There’s no way this is a $60,000 project,” O’Hara said, adding that without broader public demand for repairs, “maybe its a down the road project, but I look around the city and I see … a lot of things that we need to do.”
“I did see it was full of cars tonight and not one of them came up here to the meeting to complain about it,” O’Hara said.
During public comment, some residents supported the project, while others raised concerns about costs and potential liability issues.
“I’m concerned about the budget to fund the parking overlook if it is a sanctioned parking lot,” Encinitas resident Molly Hintlian said. “We have some other priority paving projects that need immediate attention.”
Council members Luke Shaffer and Marco San Antonio also questioned the low estimate, with Shaffer saying he would not support the project if costs increased significantly.
“I’m kind of worried that if we do too many improvements,” San Antonio said, “that it triggers it to become a parking lot.”
Mayor Bruce Ehlers compared the proposal to improvements made along South Vulcan Avenue and the resurfacing of the Olivenhain Meeting Hall parking lot from dirt to gravel.
“Oh my goodness, it just reduced the amount of maintenance incredibly,” Ehlers said.
San Antonio said he favored the gravel-rock concept, noting he was familiar with the Olivenhain Meeting Hall improvements because he was married there and regularly walks through the area.
“That parking lot was crazy, those ruts were serious ruts,” he said. “That rock actually did a really good job and I feel like over time, it’s pretty much stayed almost the same — fairly flat.”
Lyndes said she also supported the idea of a gravel-rock surface.
Ehlers said he wanted to ensure that any construction work stayed within the city’s right-of-way and did not impact private property, but he overall supported improving the overlook.
“I believe $65,000 — or even $100,000 — it actually is a good use and it makes the overall area safer, while keeping it relatively natural,” he said.
