Banning single-use, carry-out plastic bags is a goal that has eluded environmentalists for years. But advocates of the ban may finally have the upper hand in San Diego, according to a leader in the effort who addressed the Ocean Beach Town Council at its regular monthly meeting April 22 – a date that also happened to be Earth Day.
\nA statewide ban signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last September is threatened by a repeal referendum that will be decided by voters in November of 2016. Meanwhile, a citywide plastic-reduction ordinance has never been more possible, said Roger Kube, executive committee chair of the Surfrider Foundation\u2019s San Diego Chapter.
\nCalifornia was to be the first state in the country to ban the use of plastic bags at supermarkets and retail stores. Were it not for the repeal referendum, the law would have been phased in beginning this July.
\nWith the statewide ban in doubt, the San Diego City Council has renewed development of a local ordinance, which should be ready for consideration in August. Five of the nine city councilmembers are on record in support of the ban, Kube said.
\nMeetings with Mayor Kevin Faulconer have further fueled Kube\u2019s optimism. The city was developing a plastic bag ordinance in 2013, when Faulconer was still the District 2 city councilmember. Following a pitch from Kube, the OBTC endorsed the ban in November of 2013.
\nBut after becoming mayor in February of 2014, Faulconer halted progress on the ordinance, saying the city should defer to the parallel state effort and save taxpayer money.
\nFaulconer has assured supporters of the ban he doesn\u2019t favor waiting to find out whether voters will overturn the statewide ban, Kube said.
\n“He has pledged to support the process. We don\u2019t have any concerns about it stalling,” Kube said, adding he doesn\u2019t believe Faulconer would veto the ban if it passes.
\nAs for District 2 City Councilmember Lorie Zapf, she is one of the four members who has not committed to supporting the ban, Kube said. It\u2019s important to gain Zapf\u2019s support because her district includes so much coastline, he said.
\n“Councilmember Zapf\u2019s district is coastal. This is where we see the problem,” Kube said.
\nSurfrider participates in 45 county beach clean-ups per year, and more than 50 percent of the trash collected is plastic, he said. People\u2019s Co-op expansion
\nThe vacant building at 4745 Voltaire St. that until recently was the home of Tiny\u2019s Tavern will be guarded by a watchman while the Ocean Beach People\u2019s Food Co-op decide what to do with the property, said Nancy Casady, the co-op\u2019s general manager.
\nPeople\u2019s Co-op, 4765 Voltaire St., bought the tavern and an adjacent residential duplex several months ago. The plan currently under consideration calls for Tiny\u2019s and the duplex to be demolished and replaced with parking and a mixed-use structure that has four residential units atop a restaurant-juice bar, Casady said. But she welcomes public input on the design, she said.
\nOriginally, a plan was considered to convert the duplex to a restaurant and put parking to the east at the Tiny\u2019s location. But architect Hanna Gabriel Wells, which also designed People\u2019s existing market, rejected the idea because noncontiguous parking would create inefficient traffic flows, Casady said.
\nTiny\u2019s unexpectedly closed earlier this month. The tavern\u2019s founder, Alan “Tiny” Kajiwara, died in January, shortly after People\u2019s bought the property. After Kajiwara\u2019s death, People\u2019s gave the minority owner three month\u2019s free rent but a further agreement could not be reached, Casady said. No library, lifeguard tower in proposed budget
\nDespite the backing of Zapf, no funds are available in the next budget for two long-sought capital improvement projects in Ocean Beach: an expanded library and new lifeguard tower, Zapf aide Conrad Wear said.
\nZapf had listed the projects in her January budget priority memo, but the expenditures were not included in the $3.2 billion draft budget for fiscal 2016 released by Mayor Kevin Faulconer earlier this month. “That is unfortunate,” Wear said, “(but) it\u2019s something we\u2019ll continue to advocate for.”
\nHowever, the draft budget does contain items of note for the community, Wear said, including: $100,000 to improve living quarters at Fire Station 15; 15 more hours per week for Ocean Beach recreation center staffing; money for Ocean Beach playground equipment; and $1 million for drainage and vegetation improvements at Sunset Cliffs Natural Park. Winemaker comes to Newport Avenue
\nOut with the antiques, in with the wine. That\u2019s the idea from Keith Rawley, who plans to take possession of Newport Avenue Antiques, 4836 Newport Ave., in July. Rawley said he has lived in Ocean Beach since 1998, save for four years in Washington state to study oenology. The entire winemaking process will take place on site, from “grape to glass,” as Rawley put it. “It\u2019s not a wine bar,” but tastings will be available, he said. The first batch of grapes will arrive from Washington and the California counties of Amador and El Dorodo in the Sierra foothills in the fall, and Rawley hopes the business, to be known as “Gianni Buon Uomo,” to open in November. Candidate for state assembly makes pitch to town council
\nKevin Melton, Republican candidate for the California Assembly 78th District in 2016, introduced himself. Melton described himself as a former OBcean and retired publisher who used to be part owner of Senior Life magazine (now called Life After 50). Melton placed third in the 2014 primary with 11.6 percent of the vote. More information is available at kevinmelton.net.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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