All Oceanside would benefit from quiet zones
By: BRETT ANDERSON - Commentary: | ∞
The hypocrisy of the Oceanside City Council in regard to railroad quiet zones became evident for all to see last week.
Over the last three years the council has dragged its feet on moving ahead with creating these areas free of the noise from more than 100 trains daily. During this time, at each hearing each member said how much they were in favor of this -- that they realize the train noise is intolerable and not like the good old days, when there were just a few trains a day and few people lived beside them.
Two years ago, when the Sprinter was going to require a new crossing to the entrance of the Cavalier Mobile Park at a cost of $450,000, which was going to have to be paid by the park's 384-space residents, the council quickly acted by voting 4 to 1 to have the Sprinter pay for this, and later settled on paying $200,000 of the cost.
Now the council thinks coastal residents should pay up to $725 per house each year to have the "quiet enjoyment" other Oceanside residents enjoy and are entitled to for free by local ordinance.
The quiet zone corridors will affect thousands of people, including the new time share to open this summer and the new resort set to break ground soon. I predict both will be financial flops when visitors are awakened starting at 4:45 a.m. from the incessant train horns that run every 15 minutes for the next few hours. And all through the night, too. The builder of the new hotel submitted a letter to the council through me saying the quiet zone was imperative for the success of the hotel, but I guess that has fallen on deaf ears despite the council members stating they realize this is so.
The city should have required those two enterprises to pay for the upgrades required, but did not. Council member Esther Sanchez went from being for it at each hearing to now saying, "If residents want to pay for it, so be it, I don't want to spend a single dime for it. The sound (of train horns) is part of living in the downtown area." Wake up and smell the coffee. Even Mayor Jim Wood has stated that he and his wife moved out of the area because of the intolerable train horns.
The crossings at Surfrider Way and Mission Avenue (i.e., new hotels) are the only two in San Diego County that are subject to the horns from freights, the Coaster, Amtrak, and the Metroliner that runs to Los Angeles. The success of the new beach hotels and quality of life along the tracks, as well as the resulting safety upgrades, affect all the residents of the city and should not be sloughed off on just those who live beside the tracks. This is a city issue, and the cost of the economic and safety benefits needs to be borne by all. And state and federal grants need to be found, the same as other cities have done.
-- Brett Anderson is president of the homeowners association at Sea Breeze Cottages, a 41-unit residential subdivision built on a 2.18-acre site on the west side of Cleveland Street between Neptune Way and Surfrider Way in 2002.
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G wrote on May 8, 2007 3:54 AM:Train horns are proven life-savers. Should anyone die simply because horns are irritating? Perhaps we should have "quiet zones" for automobiles. After all, car horns can also be irritating!
Why Buy? wrote on May 8, 2007 7:03 AM:What in the world did you think was going to happen when you bought your place? Move further inland like the Mayor did. You made a choice even if it was a bad one. The entire City did not make bad choices. We do not want to pay for yours!Every Coastal community near the Beach has the same trade-off, Train for Beach and big ticket property tax bills! Hooray for us smart ones and we don't have the maintenance issues either.
Oceansider wrote on May 8, 2007 7:19 AM:Mr. Anderson, you are just plain wrong. The city was WRONG to pick up the cost of the Cavalier mobile home park crossing, and it would be wrong again to pay for these "quiet zones." Your homes were built long after the train tracks. Just as I would not buy a home under an airport then complain about the plains, you accepted the train noise when you laid your money down on your home. If you want special treatment, pay for it.
Ain't buying it Brett wrote on May 8, 2007 7:48 AM:You pay for your pet projects, I'll pay for mine.
To City Council wrote on May 8, 2007 10:47 AM:If you guys back down on this plan, and spread the cost to the entire city, we will know why. There is money on the coast, pure and simple, and money talks. However, the rest of us, collectively, represent more votes than all votes these NIMBYs can buy. With that being said, I will make it my full-time job to ensure every and any member of council who decides we all should be taxed to appease a few are swiftly and soundly defeated in any future elections!
Oh brother! wrote on May 8, 2007 11:25 AM:Is this guy nuts? The people at Cavalier were fighting for safe access, not the selfish idea this guy is putting forth regarding a train horn. Not the same thing at all.
Legal Lab Nerd wrote on May 8, 2007 11:28 AM:This self-centered column shows what's wrong in this town. The rich think they can get whatever they want while the rest of us pay for it. This project could cost the city upwards of $9Million. Why should the taxpayer pay for this at all? Didn't Mr. Anderson ever learn the golden rules: Stop, look and listen before crossing the tracks AND Don't move next to an airport or train tracks if you don't like noise!
Hurray! wrote on May 8, 2007 11:30 AM:Another writer "to City Council" who finally sees what's going on downtown! Finally you can see that the vast majority of funds and staff time are going to a small geographic area called 'downtown' while the rest of the neighborhoods suffer from lack of services and good roads to name a few. Did you know they proposed taking our road repair money from our neighborhoods so they can have their quiet zones by their homes? What baloney!
Duh! wrote on May 8, 2007 11:31 AM:Quiet zones do not ensure that the engineers will no longer sound their horns. If you didn't like the sound of them why did you move right next to the tracks?
No to Gift of Public Funds wrote on May 8, 2007 11:34 AM:Mr. Anderson, the only homes truly affected by the sound of the horns are within your association. Forty-one homes divided by $7 to $9 million dollars, plus approx. $250,000 a year for management should NOT be borne by anyone else, including city hall. We appreciate you and your neighbors "buying" Oceanside, but perhaps you should have stayed a couple of nights downtown before buying there and not somewhere nearby. Plus, not everyone in your association is against the trains. Urban living is urban living, and people living along the tracks have lived with the sound since around 1888. The city (and city residents) have other budget priorities. If we had the extra $7-9 million, maybe you'd make the list. But, for now, we need 2 firestations, public safety center, firing range, museum of art, surf museum, parking, economic development projects, El Corazon Park, El Corazon Senior Center, Mance Buchanon Park, beach improvements (bandshell, etc. also about $7 million), harbor improvements, youth development programs, swimming pool improvements, airport improvements, etc., not to mention the $27 million beach resort. If I were a betting man, I'd bet quiet zones would be near the end of that list.
G wrote on May 8, 2007 12:41 PM:If the 41 homes ante up $2,000 each in campaign contributions to Kern, Feller and Chavez, I guarantee that you will get your quiet zone entirely paid for by the City of Oceanside at no additional cost to you!
Hence wrote on May 8, 2007 1:16 PM:The above comments prove why Oceanside is Oceanslime!....How did the above bloggers afford to get internet access? What . ..stay in oceanside, you can not survive anywhere else
G is right! wrote on May 8, 2007 4:20 PM:Our town is bought and paid for by the pave-over-everything, never-saw-a-developer I didn't like or take money from. Wonder how much Mr. Anderson and his ilk are willing to pony up for the KFC (Kern,Feller,Chavez) vote? Anything less than $9M plus costs isn't enough!!!! At $221K per household, Mr. Anderson, isn't it worth telling yourself and your buddies to buy ear plugs? Or move?
Let's See-- wrote on May 8, 2007 4:22 PM:Quiet zones - are those the ones that lawyers drool over? EQUATION- QUIET ZONES = INJURIES = LAWSUITS = $$$$ in the pockets of lawyers. Get it, got it , GOOD! FORGET QUIET ZONES.
Resident wrote on May 8, 2007 5:44 PM:If the downtown residents have to pay for the quiet zone does that mean only residents with kids should pay for the schools and only residents who drive should pay for the roads? Maybe the revenue raised in each area should stay in that area. That way the downtown will get the quiet zones and lots of other nice things and the rest of you .. well you will get whatever you can afford .. maybe some new library books or something ..
Oside 2 wrote on May 8, 2007 5:48 PM:Maybe everyone who wants to enjoy a quiet day at the beach should pay for it. We could put up a toll plaza off the 101 and charge $10 per car. There you go problem solved. You use it you pay for it.
Why not wrote on May 9, 2007 6:38 AM:Oceanside is one of the few places with free parking lots. If we need improvements or maintenance in the downtown why don't we raise the money through parking fees? People who use the beach should pay to maintain it. It will cost you $15 to park and enjoy Huntington Beach. Why not Oceanside?
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