By Steven Gerken
Mayor Tony Kranz is asking his colleagues to consider a park on city-owned property on Quail Gardens Drive. When the City Council meets at 6 p.m. on Aug. 28, council members and residents should line up behind him to say, “Great idea!”
Kranz recommends that the council direct the Parks & Recreation Commission to evaluate a resident’s $100,000 offer to name a park on the vacant site at 634 Quail Gardens Drive.
In an email to Kranz, longtime Encinitas resident Glen Johnson said his naming rights offer would memorialize his deceased wife, Sally Johnson.
Glen Johnson, who says other donors would also like to contribute, envisions a low-intensity park landscaped with native plants and trees that would “attract birds, butterflies and other wildlife, maybe with a quiet area with a few wooden benches and picnic tables.”
Again, great idea.
This is especially true for Quail Gardens Drive, where more than 1,100 housing units are planned along 1.3 miles of two-lane road in five big projects. Today, two of them are under construction, a third is approved, and two others are proposed.
Traffic planners estimate each unit would generate six daily vehicle trips. That’s 6,600 new trips on a thoroughfare that’s already jam-packed, especially with the two new stop signs that sprung up this month, one at Kristen Court and the other at Via Zamia and Channel Islands Drive.
Get ready for a lot of traffic and new neighbors.
A wooded park with birds, butterflies and benches starts to sound pretty nice. And necessary.
Encinitas bought the property for park purposes in 1998. Shortly thereafter, Quail Gardens Drive was built across a 1.3-acre slice of the property, leaving 2.1 acres to the west and six gently sloping acres to the east.
In 2002, Encinitas voters rejected a ballot initiative to locate a new library at the site, opting instead to keep the library on Cornish Drive.
City officials later considered locating a public works facility on the property before getting a good deal on an old car lot on Calle Magdalena.
As recently as June, officials debated whether the so-called L-7 Site should be developed with affordable housing. Bowing to strong community opposition, the council voted 4-1 to explore other options.
Councilmember Bruce Ehlers, who cast the dissenting vote, said that park funds purchased the property and that a park belongs on the land.
In Encinitas, opinion polls show open space and parks at the top of most respondents’ wish lists. Is political expedience driving Kranz’s park proposal? Yes or no, residents must keep the pressure on Encinitas officials to open the much-needed park on this well-located, publicly-owned property — as promised.
Steven Gerken lives in Encinitas. Contact Encinitas Citizens for Responsible Development at [email protected].Website: www.ecrd.info.
1 comment
Let’s not forget during the 5th housing cycle, this site was being considered for density housing upzoning. Kranz and Mosca made a deal to replace this site with Clark and Piraeus, placating Encinitas Ranch residents.
Kranz doesn’t have a lot of good campaign fodder, so this is very politically expedient for him to champion a park, when this site was purchased for just such a purpose decades ago.
The council can pat itself on the back for granting the residents park space before they approve the additional two density projects along QGD, including the 400 unit plus Baldwin monstrosity.
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