Sewage spill closes beach in Point Loma
Sewage from Naval Base Point Loma found its way into San Diego Bay on Monday, Aug. 27, as an estimated 600 gallons of sewage spilled into the bay from Catalina Boulevard on Navy property.
Caused by the loose fittings on a sewer line, the sewage flow continued from 7:30 p.m. until 8:45 p.m., said Mark McPherson, chief of Land/Water Quality Division of the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health.
The sewage flowed into a storm drain that leads to the bay, according to health officials.
“It went directly into the bay. There is nothing you can do,” McPherson said.
He added that cleaning up a relatively small sewage spill like this would be difficult because sewage doesn’t float on the water’s surface as oil does. It does, however, dissipate in the water, he said.
To warn the public, McPherson said the county has posted signs along the beach and at beach entrances between Kellogg and Lawrence streets.
He said the signs will remain posted until bacterial samples from the area test safe by state standards.
Point Loma convenience store robbed at gunpoint
A man walked into the 7-Eleven convenience store at 4101 West Point Loma, pointed a semiautomatic handgun at the clerk and demanded cash on Tuesday, Aug. 28, at 1:48 a.m., according to police.
The victim complied with the suspect and opened the register. The suspect removed the register tray, took the cash and fled on foot, said Lt. Vince Villalvazo with the San Diego Police Department.
The suspect is described as a black male about 30 to 35 years old, 180 pounds, with a thin to normal build. He was wearing a black jacket with horizontal red stripes and a blue bandana across his face, Villalvazo said.
“At this point we haven’t made any other links to any other robberies,” Villalvazo said. “Right now nobody is in custody.”
There were no reports of vehicles being seen or heard in the vicinity. However, there were two witnesses present during the robbery.
Anyone with information is urged to call San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-TIPS.
PCPB sets meeting to
finish revamping bylaws
The Peninsula Community Planning Board will hold a special public meeting on Thursday, Sept. 6, to potentially finalize a draft of the board’s overhauled bylaws.
The meeting will be held at the Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church, 2128 Chatsworth Blvd, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The planners will review, discuss and vote on the work of the Bylaws Committee, which has been working to update the guiding document, said Dee Wylie, planning board chair.
Wylie said it’s important the board approve updated bylaws before October to avoid starting the next election cycle with the old bylaws that created candidacy problems in the recent round of voting this year.
“We’re taking a big risk if we don’t get the bylaws in, resulting in a delay going into 2008,” She said.
The new election cycle begins Jan. 1, with the elections scheduled for March, she said. Interpretation of the old bylaws caused controversy during the 2007 Peninsula Community Planning Board election, resulting in a drawn-out election process that lasted several months.
After approval by the planning board, the bylaws will be sent to the city’s Planning Department for review and revisions.
Should the Planning Department reject the bylaws, the issue may come before the City Council, Wylie said.
However, that could take up to 60 days to get on the council agenda, resulting in the delay, she said.
The recently updated City Council Policy 600-24 sets guidelines for planning boards to follow in order to comply with California’s open-meeting law ” the Brown Act.
As part of the planning board guidelines update, the city also requested that all community planning boards update their bylaws, Wylie said.
The Brown Act is the legislation government agencies, including community planning boards, must follow to keep the public informed of their actions.
The Peninsulsa Community Planning Board will also hold a regular meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 12, at the Loma Riviera Club House, 3115 Loma Riviera Drive, for the purpose of reviewing projects submitted by applicants.
For more information, call (619) 523-9180, or visit www.pcpb.net.