OCEANSIDE - Faced with residents angry over the clogged state of the San Luis Rey riverbed, the Oceanside City Council promised to keep the pressure on, but stopped short of ordering a clearing operation without first getting one final permit from the California Department of Fish and Game.

"The bottom line is, our citizens are at risk, we need to keep the pressure on," said Councilman Rocky Chavez. "The citizens of Oceanside are being held hostage by these bureaucrats."

"We will take whatever action is necessary under emergency circumstances," added Mayor Jim Wood.

Trees and brush carpet the river bottom throughout the city's seven-mile flood channel. The Army Corps of Engineers, which finished building the channel in 2000, still has not been able to clear it because the various environmental agencies are concerned that doing so could harm sensitive species that live in the channel.

The seven-year logjam has left the city with a flood channel that is now a flood danger if a large storm washes a mass of brush downstream all at once, forming an impromptu dam on bridge pilings in the riverbed.

John Rice, who lives in a flood zone near Douglas Drive, said he gets more frustrated every day he sees the problem continue.

"We've got to do something, it's taking too long," Rice said.

"I don't understand why it has to be so hard," added Dawn Wood, Rice's neighbor.

City Manager Peter Weiss said he has no confidence that a long-promised clearing operation by the Army Corps of Engineers would begin in the channel before fall.

The council also addressed a basic issue of property rights Wednesday night.

By a 3-2 vote, with Councilmen Jerry Kern and Chavez in opposition, the council denied a request from Oceanside resident Milan Miljkovic to split his 25,347-square-foot lot at 3079 Skyline Drive. Various members of the Miljkovic family told the council that they need the split to build a second home on the property that would provide enough room to take care of their parents.

"All we want to do is live together so we can take care of our parents," said Nada Miljkovic "There are seven of us, and we can not all live in that little house."

The property is in Oceanside's Henie Hills neighborhood, which features large lots. Dozens of Henie Hills residents turned out at the council meeting to oppose the split on grounds that chopping a spacious lot into two smaller chunks would lead to many more divisions and would eventually create a crowded neighborhood with less privacy.

Franciscus Welman, who lives in the neighborhood, said he was not comfortable with neighbors telling each other what they can do with their property.

"Next thing you know, they're telling you you can not plant that tree," he said.

But others noted that splitting lots requires a conditional-use permit from the city. The council, they argued, has every right to consider quality-of-life questions when deciding whether to issue a discretionary permit.

Esther Sanchez, one of the three council members who voted against the lot split, said she believes local government should consider the effect of a decision on the surrounding neighborhood.

"I think we have to consider the collective property rights," Sanchez said. "This would change the character of the neighborhood."

Kern, on the other hand, noted that the community's homeowners association had many years to amend its bylaws to forbid lot splits if the neighborhood does not want them.

"If it doesn't specifically say you can't do it, that means you can do it," Kern said.

Councilman Jack Feller, who also voted against the lot split, said he found both arguments persuasive.

"It's killing me. I know people on both sides," Feller said.

- Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com.