Consejo Municipal — Ciudad de Del Mar

As a candidate for Del Mar City Council, I feel compelled to express my concern.

Today is one step in a process important to Del Mar. I look forward to new plans that respond to today’s input.

That said, even so:

o   This project is unprecedented in Del Mar in its size and location. 

o   It requires a major zoning change. 

o   It involves a property with a deed restriction to maintain open space adjacent to the Bluff Preserve.

o   Del Mar’s Community Plan calls for preservation of open space along the north bluffs.

Because this project would require a major zoning change from low density residential to very high density commercial, and a change that runs counter to the Community Plan, I believe it should go to a vote of the people of Del Mar.

                                                                                                            Terry Gaasterland

«Strengthen our downtown–Completion of Streetscape is vital. We need a realistic parking plan that promotes our businesses.                      I want to listen to your ideas

«Begin transition to a new City Manager–The current contract is up in 2020. City Manager is an important position. In our small city, the City Manager interacts directly with many residents on a regular basis and sets tone and pace for the City staff.  I Council oversees the manager - this will be a high priority in the coming year. 

Within these 10+1 priorities, three tasks need immediate attention:

Immediate priorities:

1.    Begin a transition to a new City Manager.  The current contract is up in 2020.  City Manager is an important position.  In our small city, the City Manager interacts directly with many residents on a regular basis and sets tone and pace for the City staff.  The Council oversees the manager, so this will be a high priority in the coming year.

2.    Oppose fencing along the railroad tracks and work with NCTD on a plan for bluff stabilization and beach access that preserves Del Mar’s rights and neighborhood character.

3.    Get undergrounding of poles and wires under-way in neighborhoods at high risk for wildfires.  This includes properties along Crest, San Dieguito and Oribia. Crest Canyon is bone dry.  We need to work with San Diego County and City and the State Parks to clear dead brush. 

So many have worked so hard to craft Del Mar’s Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan – newly accepted by Council on May 21, 2018. The plan identifies five highest prioritiesto protect Del Mar from flooding:  

·       Replenish the sand on all beaches as needed on a regular basis.

·       Protect beach access points against flooding and storm surge.

·       Raise the sewer lift station above flood levels or waterproof the pump.

·       Relocate or flood-proof the public works offices, garage and work areas.

·       Relocate or flood-proof the fire station.

For the beach neighborhoods, the plan notes that as river sediment accumulates or as rainstorms drop larger amounts of water or as windstorms surge more forcefully from the sea, roads and bridges, the tennis and basketball courts, parking lots, and low lying beach neighborhoods will experience new or increased flooding. To address these beach-level vulnerabilities, the plan lays out tools:

·       Replenish sand on the beaches.

·       Dredge the river channel.

·       Improve upstream reservoirs for more flood protection.

·       Build levees.

·       Elevate structures.

·       Relocate public infrastructure.

·       Raise and improve sea walls and revetments.

For the bluff neighborhoods, the plan notes that bluff erosion from rising seas may expand the number and size of local collapses and put the railroad at risk.  Reinforcing the railroad will lead to narrower beach below the southern bluffs. Removing the railroad and allowing bluff erosion will imperil other infrastructure along the bluff top and possibly some bluff top homes. The plan provides tools:

·       Replenish sand on the beaches below the bluffs.

·       Improve surface water drainage east and uphill of all bluffs.

·       Improve groundwater drainage along bluff edges and faces.

·       Reduce landscape irrigation east and uphill of all bluffs.

·       Relocate sewer lines and wires or fiberoptics away from the top of the bluff.

·       Add railroad crossings and pathways down the bluffs to reduce foot traffic.

·       Re-vegetate worn-down footpaths.

·       Relocate the railroad off the bluff.

For Powerhouse Park, the plan waivers and points out a trade-off: Armor the bluffs along the powerhouse and lose some adjacent beach; or let the bluffs erode and lose some grassy areas.  With enough sea level rise with erosion, Del Mar may one day face this choice. In the short run, Del Mar can continue to build sand berms each winter to protect the low bluffs, and start planning now to ensure replenished sand each year.

The San Dieguito wetlandswill experience “habitat creep” with new flooding due to sea level rise. The marshes will drown if they cannot migrate upstream or expand. The plan lists tools. Some may be feasible in Del Mar; some may not:

·       Place sediment to preserve wetland elevations relative to tide levels. 

·       Place wetland vegetation seeds at higher elevations as tide levels rise.

·       Create protected spaces for wetlands to transgress, upland and upstream. 

·       Create spaces for the wetlands to expand.

·       Create new wetlands through “restoration”.

Keeping sand on the beaches is the first protection for beach and bluff neighborhoods. That is why Del Mar’s Sea Level Rise Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) gave highest priority to sand management.  Sand retention tools to start thinking about include groins, breakwaters, artificial reefs, “living levees” and future technologies. STAC noted, Del Mar needs a Beach Retention Advisory Committee (BRAC?).

What’s next?  What started all this planning? California’s Senate Bill (SB) 379 requires every city to update its “safety element” to plan for new fire and flood vulnerabilities due to climate change. To satisfy SB379, Del Mar must add the Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan in some form to our “Complete Community Plan”, which currently includes the Community Plan itself, the Housing Element, the Recreation Element, and our certified Local Coastal Program (see http://www.delmar.ca.us/164/City-Development-Documents).  

It is time for Del Mar’s council and citizens to think hard about the following:  How to add the Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan to our “Complete Community Plan”?

Would it be sufficient to add it to Del Mar’s “Community Plan” document as one more Appendix?Seven appendices have already been added over the years, including an older “Oceanographic Problems, Shoreline Erosion, Geology, and Geologic Hazards Report”.  Could this Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan update or replace that older report?

Or, should the Adaptation Plan, which is policy not implementation, become an Appendix to either part of our certified LCP?  – i.e., Del Mar’s “Land Use Plan”  or “Implementing Ordinances” – or a third document?

Does Del Mar’s certified LCP lack anything that would allow the actions listed in the Adaptation Plan?  Or are all the actions Del Mar needs to take now or anticipates taking in the near future covered in our certified LCP?  Would any actions that are not currently covered require new CCC permits no matter what is in the LCP?

Dwight's Key Priorities and Issues

Short Term Rentals

Dwight has championed the protection of Del Mar neighborhoods from intensive STR uses that commercialize residential neighborhoods. He supports the “7-28” program that allows unlimited STRs in visitor and commercial zones that are intended for commercial use, and restricts STRs in residential zones, allowing them for up to 28 days per year in minimum 7-day increments. This program ensures that Del Mar residents do not have intensive-use “mini-hotel” STRs in their neighborhoods, in keeping with the Community Plan’s overall goal to “preserve and enhance the special character of Del Mar, the elements of which are a village like community of substantially single family residential character…” The 7-28 program allows residents to rent their homes while on vacation, etc., but does not allow conversion of residences to commercial use. It protects our housing stock, including rental housing that many full-time residents rely on, and it protects neighbors from the intensive uses that STRs bring, including a constant turnover of visitors in “vacation” mode. Dwight supports the legal action recently filed by the City seeking a ruling that the City, and not the Coastal Commission, has authority to regulate STRs by our local zoning power.

Protecting Neighborhoods with updated DRB Guidelines and Process

Dwight supports a strong Design Review Board process as a key way to fulfill the Community Plan’s goals of maintaining our special neighborhood character. As council liaison to the Ad Hoc DRB committee, he assisted with all aspects of the committee’s work, and was a leading supporter at council for the resulting new guidelines, neighbor manuals, and CPP revisions. The new DRB Guidelines provide clearer guidance on design issues and should help reduce subjectivity in the design review process. The revised Citizens’ Participation Program (CPP) provides opportunities for applicants to understand and respond to neighbor concerns about a project’s design early in the process.

Protecting Open Space and the Environment 

Dwight has spent his entire career advocating for open space and environmental protection, and these are high priorities for his work on Council. He played a leading role in securing restoration of the San Dieguito Lagoon as legal counsel for the River Park JPA and as a volunteer, and he remains a strong advocate for protection of the lagoon as a River Park JPA Board member and volunteer. He has worked to preserve key open space, including successfully handling Del Mar litigation to preserve Crest Canyon. He is the author of the Beach Preservation Initiative (BPI), which removed private encroachments from the public beach, and secured the right for private owners to protect their property, including with appropriately designed seawalls.

Protecting Local Control as the Best Means to Protect Del Mar Values

Dwight has a documented history of advancing local control over a wide range of issues that are key to protecting Del Mar values, and a deep commitment to protecting local control as we confront new challenges. 

Dwight drafted the Downtown Initiative (Measure B), adopted by Del Mar voters in 1986, which secured the right of a public vote on four major downtown projects: the Del Mar Plaza, approved by the voters in 1987; the Del Mar Hotel (now l’Auberge), approved by the voters in 1987, the Garden Del Mar project, approved by voters in 2008 (now replaced by the 941 Specific Plan, which will be on the November ballot), and Prop. J (downtown revitalization), rejected by voters in 2012.Though Measure B has been deemed no longer enforceable, for 20+ years, it gave Del Mar residents a strong voice that helped shape each of these projects for the better. Dwight will continue to support maximum public participation in the review of major development projects.

Dwight drafted the Beach Preservation Initiative (BPI) that holds the Coastal Commission to Del Mar’s standards for seawalls as set out in the BPI and our Local Coastal Program, rather than relying on its own assessment of the appropriate standard under the Coastal Act. This seawall authority is vital to the protection of both public and private property in Del Mar and has served Del Mar well for 30 years.

Dwight supports our recently-adopted Adaption Plan, and its inclusion in our Local Coastal Program (LCP), to give Del Mar maximum control over how we respond to sea level rise. The Council recently adopted a strong Adaptation Plan that sets forth measures tailored for and appropriate to Del Mar for adapting to sea level rise. Together with the BPI, the Adaptation Plan, if included in our LCP, will give Del Mar a strong basis for controlling how Del Mar responds to sea level rise. This includes the Adaptation Plan’s conclusion that managed retreat is not a feasible strategy to protect Del Mar’s public beach and private property, and setting forth other strategies, including sand management, retention, and replenishment, and sea walls in conformance with the BPI, that are better strategies for Del Mar.

Dwight drafted the Charter Amendment on the ballot this November to enhance local control by providing that all land use and zoning matters not pre-empted by federal or state law are governed by Del Mar as a charter city, rather than under general state law provisions imposed in Sacramento.

Dwight supports local control of STRs rather than Coastal Commission-imposed rules. (See above). 

Dwight supports more local control over fairgrounds activities, including the Fair, races, Kaaboo, proposed Race Place concert venue, etc., to mitigate noise, traffic, and other impacts to Del Mar. Dwight also supports ending the gun shows at the Fairgrounds. In particular, Dwight champions an LCP Amendment so Del Mar can gainpermit authority over certain fairgrounds activities. He is also actively working with Solana Beach and the Fair to implement traffic improvements for the 2019 Fair.

A Safe, Legal, Rail Crossing and Removal of the Rails from the Bluff

Dwight supports securing a safe, legal, rail crossing in the near term, to allow residents and visitors to safely reach the beach; and removal of the rails from the bluffs in the longer term. Dwight helped secure SANDAG funding for a feasibility update with respect to removing the rails from the bluff into a tunnel (that update is currently in process). He also initiated a program to work with north coast cities and NCTD to secure a safe, legal rail crossing in the near term, with that work also in process.

Removal of Hazardous Radioactive Waste from San Onofre
Dwight supports the removal of the highly hazardous radioactive waste, including spent fuel rods, from the closed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), to safe interim storage off-site, pending availability of a safe long-term storage solution for nuclear waste. Currently, 3.6 million pounds of highly radioactive waste are stored at San Onofre, and is being moved into concrete-encased storage canisters near the beach, placing everything within a 50-mile radius (including Del Mar) at risk. Dwight co-authored the 2017 Del Mar Resolution calling for removal of this waste to a safe off-site location, and will work with authorities, from federal to local, to achieve this goal.

And more:  Measure Q Funds, a Vibrant Downtown, Affordable Housing, Prudent Financial Planning and Oversight, and our Grassroots-Up System of Governance

Dwight supports:

• Implementation of undergrounding, Shores Park master planning and development, and Streetscape as promised by Measure Q.
• Promoting a vibrant downtown that will serve the community. This includes implementing our full streetscape plan, and supporting a 941 Camino Del Mar project that will improve the southern portion of our downtown. Dwight worked with the entire Council to bring to fruition the new Civic Center on schedule and on budget, with strong sustainability features, and a Town Hall and outdoor plazas that have already demonstrated that they will serve the community for both informal gatherings and community nonprofit events.
• Implementation of the Council’s “22 in 5” plan to meet Del Mar’s state-mandated affordable housing obligations. Our first two affordable housing units will be attained with the 941 Camino Del Mar project, assuming voter approval in Del Mar this November, and Dwight is working on a wide range of other affordable housing options, as outlined in the 22 in 5 report. His commitment is to meet our affordable housing obligations in ways that are consistent with our Community Plan and our special neighborhood character.
• A balanced budget and strong financial oversight of city finances. Dwight will continue to support a strong Finance Committee oversight role in making sure that our finances are managed in a smart and prudent fashion.
• Our system of volunteer advisory committees, which have long ensured that Del Mar governance is firmly rooted in a grassroots-up process.

Above all, Dwight’s goal is to protect this very special place we have chosen to call home, guided by the Community Plan and informed by the active community-driven decision-making process we know as the Del Mar way.

Why Dwight is running:

My roots in Del Mar are deep, reflecting decades of work protecting Del Mar as a special place to live.

As a Del Mar resident since 1981, former City Attorney, city committee and nonprofit volunteer, lawyer, and most recently as your councilmember and Mayor, I have championed resident priorities: honoring our Community Plan; lagoon restoration; a public vote on major downtown developments; downtown vibrancy; protecting our environment and open space; and removal of stored nuclear waste from San Onofre. I authored the Beach Preservation Initiative (BPI) which has protected our most valuable environmental asset for three decades. I support and am committed to our Climate Action Plan.

I have a proven track record finding practical solutions while respecting divergent viewpoints. I championed short term rental regulations that allow unlimited STRs in visitor zones and limited STR uses in residential zones to protect residential neighborhoods; improving our DRB process; completing our Civic Center on time and on budget; implementing streetscape; a balanced budget and strong financial condition; and fostering civility and respect in our decision-making.

My priorities include: Shores Park; safe, legal beach access across the tracks and ultimate removal of the tracks from the bluff; responsibly addressing sea level rise; fostering sustainability; mitigating fairgrounds impacts including traffic; meeting affordable housing mandates consistent with community goals; maintaining infrastructure through street paving and the like; and strong public participation in review of major development projects. I bring a “deep dive” approach to complex issues, will listen to all viewpoints, and remain committed to preserving the special residential character of our neighborhoods in everything we do.

I ask for your vote. In turn, I pledge to listen, to be civil to all, and to work hard for Del Mar every day of the four year term you entrust to me.

Experience & Qualifications:

Current mayor; Councilmember since 2014

Del Mar City Attorney, 1977-83; special counsel through the 1990s

General Counsel, North County Transit District (NCTD), 1983-2001

General Counsel, San Dieguito River Park JPA from its inception until Dwight’s retirement in 2001

25+ years’ experience as a land use, environmental, and local government attorney, representing citizen groups, environmental groups, cities, special districts, regional governments, and individuals

Appointed to Coastal Commission by Gov. Brown (1977) and Senate President Mills (approx. 1980)

In Del Mar, Dwight has long been a volunteer for local nonprofits and City advisory committees, including serving on the City’s Form Based Code Committee, Fairgrounds Master Plan Committee, and Garden Del Mar Committee; volunteering for Del Mar Community Connections to explore a low-interest loan program for seniors for undergrounding costs; former Board member and summer concerts chair for the Del Mar Foundation; and Friends of the San Dieguito Lagoon volunteer.