Permit change proposal riles environmentalists
By: ADAM KAYE - Staff Writer
Activists oppose relaxed requirements | ∞
Lots in a planned subdivision on Quail Gardens Drive have been carved into symmetrical pads. The Encinitas City Council on Wednesday will consider changes to the city's grading ordinance that smaller projects easier.
ADAM KAYE Staff Photographer
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ENCINITAS -- Proposed changes to the city's grading ordinance would simplify the permitting process for projects that move only a small amount of dirt.
And some activists say that's a big mistake.
Encinitas' grading ordinance sets rules to prevent runoff and encourages builders to preserve the natural contours of the land. Anyone planning to grade property in the city must seek a permit to show they are complying with the ordinance.
Under existing law, those grading permits can be pricey: They include a $900 inspection fee, a charge of $1,400 for each sheet in the grading plan, plus other costs, said city engineer Masih Maher. The permits take up to five months to process.
Under the proposed changes, projects involving less than 50 cubic yards of dirt could apply for a "minor grading permit" that would cost roughly $900, Maher said. Those permits would take six weeks to issue.
"This makes it easier for a smaller project, or one with less soil disturbance, to obtain a permit," Maher said. "It allows for a simple and less costly process."
Bad idea, activist Bob Bonde says.
Bonde warned that relaxing permitting requirements would make it tougher for residents to know how the contours of the land around them might change. He said he worried that a simplified permit process would could result in less public scrutiny of projects.
"We want to know what's going on," Bonde said. "and not have it done in a back room with city staff and a developer coming to an agreement."
First enacted in 1988, the city's grading ordinance broad governance includes the installation of retaining walls and the clearing and leveling of lots to build homes.
It has been revised several times. In response to the latest proposed revisions, Bonde and representatives of five neighborhood groups outlined their objections in a letter to Maher.
The activists -- Bonde, Andrew Audet, Audrey Bromstead, Marie Dardarian, Gina Renteria and Donna Westbrook -- are urging that the Planning Commission review all applications for grading permits.
"We want the public involved and we want the entire procedure as transparent as possible," their letter states.
The ordinance already identifies "approved grade" as the point from which the measurement of a building's height begins. More height can mean better view, which, in the coastal community, translates into more money. "Natural grade" would be defined as the earth surface before it is altered by construction.
Those definitions fueled controversy two years ago on Andrew Avenue, where a developer elevated the levels of home sites with imported soil.
The developer said the extra elevation was necessary for sewer lines to drain; neighbors said raising the lots would give new home buyers ocean views at the expense of their own.
Neighbors sued but lost in Superior Court when a judge ruled the developer had graded the home sites based upon elevations shown on planning maps.
Maher on Monday noted that the Andrew Avenue controversy stemmed from the approval of those maps, which Bonde said is why the public must be engaged throughout the planning process.
The revised grading ordinance head to the City Council for a hearing at 6 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 505 S. Vulcan Ave.
-- Contact staff writer Adam Kaye at (760) 901-4074 or akaye@nctimes.com.
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Daphne wrote on Jan 8, 2008 5:41 AM:Bonde complains about the amount of money spent on staff time out of one side of his mouth and then in the next breath complains when the City of Encinitas tries to cut down on the paperwork and policy. He wants it both ways; and the people listed above are more correctly described as insurrectionists; certainly NOT enviromentalists.
whaa?! wrote on Jan 8, 2008 7:39 AM:What is wrong with these people? Can't you at least fill all the vacant buildings before you bulldoze more land? Sound like the usual construction trade trying to generate $, at the expense of the sleeping public.
John E wrote on Jan 8, 2008 7:45 AM:Bob Bonde gets it; "Daphne" doesn't. At issue is control over grading practices and enforcement of fundamental "good neighbor" policies for the protection of established neighborhoods. Filling and elevating a building pad can have severe draining and viewshed impacts on the neighborhood. Years later, when the pad fails and the house splits and falls, as in Mt. Soledad, some future homeowner is left holding the bag.
Cardiffian wrote on Jan 8, 2008 8:02 AM:Perhaps these people should run for city council. Westbrooke and Bonde think our elected representatives cannot do anything right. They aren't running because they couldn'tget elcted. They just like to complain. ...
Another view wrote on Jan 8, 2008 8:41 AM:I live in an older part of town and see "illegal" grading taking place on weekends and after hours because property owners don't want to go through city hall and pay $$$ and wait ages for the process. When a process is too expensive and onerous for individual homeowners, folks will do anything to avoid it. I think that a simplified and less costly process for small projects would be better than what's in place now.
In reading the article, it would seem that the real problem in the Andrews Ave. case cited was approval of the original elevation map by city staff, without confirmation of the facts. City staff approval of permits without verifcation is a different issue, and is a problem that we've had as well (approval of a neighbor's plan for an illegally high wall). Staff need to be familiar with city code, and do their homework. Additionally, neighbors should be informed prior to approving an exception to code for any project.
Ted wrote on Jan 8, 2008 11:20 AM:I wrote the newly incorporated City of Encinitas' grading ordinance in 1988 when I helped set up the City's engineering department. The City's founding fathers and mothers wanted a grading ordinance that limited changes to existing land contours to the maximum extent possible. This was at a time when other south coast communities were leveling mountains to maximize the number of homes. The City's progressive grading ordinance has helped Encinitas stay one of the nicest beach communities in Southern California. Don't give in to developers (large or small).
To Environ. Activists wrote on Jan 8, 2008 11:58 AM:If you want to control grading etc. buy the land youself and treated it as you want. Until then it is my property paid by my earned money, so shut up already!
seapop wrote on Jan 8, 2008 1:07 PM:Charging $18.00 per cubic yard or more for a permit to move a small amount of dirt is outrageous. That is move then it cost to move and compact the dirt in question . No wonder housing is priced beyond many peoples means.
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