FEBRUARY 2008

By Ike Berger, Chairperson

After almost seven years of working to retain the Batiquitos Lagoon extension on the bluff top by the Rosalena development, it appears that we are now getting the full backing of the California Coastal Commission (CCC). In 2001 the Rosalena Homeowners Association submitted an application to have the trail moved from the bluff to the Navigator Circle Street. This would avoid the need to remove the improvements that the homeowners by the bluff had constructed on the approved site of the trail. Since then, Rosalena HOA had received some encourage-ment from the City and the Coastal Commission staff for potential relocation of the trail.

About a year ago, the Batiquitos

Trail Extension Committee felt that we needed legal representation to advance our arguments. The Master Board agreed, and since then, our attorney has been conduct-ing low key discussions with both the City and the CCC. The City continued to be sym-pathetic with the relocation of the trail. But the CCC agreed with our request to retain the origi-nally approved location. On December 13, 2007, the CCC staff issued a letter to the City Planner in charge of this project, with copies to the CCC Chief of Enforcement, and the CCC Southern California Enforcement Team leader. The following are excerpts from that letter.

“ … Commission staff does not support moving the

trail from its approved location. Commission staff contin-ues to support the trail in the required blufftop location and would like to ensure that all the private encroachments are removed and the trail built in a timely manner.”

“ … the City needs to move forward with a staff

recommendation or reject the Local Coast Plan amendment

BATIQUITOS TRAIL EXTENSION UPDATE

request by the Rosalena homeowners for the re-alignment of the trail … we are now concerned about the City’s apparent support of the proposed committee to identify alternative locations for the trail. We would like to reiterate this offices’ firm support for the retention and improvement of the originally adopted trail align-ment.”

“The bluff area itself is protected by an open

space easement which prohibits the alteration of land forms, placement or removal of vegetation, or erection of structures of any type unless approved by the Com-mission.”

“We sincerely hope the City will reject these attempts to relocate the trail, any other proposals by the homeowners to modify pre-existing permit conditions and take the necessary actions to address these unresolved issues in the very near future.” “ … The Commission Enforcement staff is

now ready to enforce the terms and conditions of CDP No. 6-85-482 and pursue the existing violations consist-ing of unpermitted private encroachments within the trail alignment. Staff may seek to record Notices of Vio-lation on the individual lots …. The City’s support would be greatly appreciated to finally get the area free and clear so that the trail can be built and the public can begin enjoying the access that they are entitled to.”

We, in San Pacifico, look forward to the City’s

prompt follow up to the CCC staff commitment, so that we can finally see and enjoy the Rosalena bluff top trail. Hopefully, it will not take another seven years. We will keep you apprised of any news.

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Page 2 San Pacifico Breeze Page 2

By Tony Ruffolo I trust all of you have survived the shock of a dues

increase(s) and are ready for a new budget year, that should see an improvement in the amenities that make this commu-nity such a paradise for raising kids, Xers and seniors in a wonderful California life style. The New Year also brings in Walters as the management team not only for the Master Association and Ocean Walk/Vista Mar but also for San Se-batian/Santander (San Pacifico Area A) as noted in last month’s Breeze. In my view having a single management com-pany for the master and the subs leads to economies of ef-fort, cooperation instead of strife, and Board efficiency.

We now have members from each sub-association on

the Master Board. This has led to a better relationship among the associations as well. It was not always this way. We should strive to ensure that representation on the board reflects all of the sub-associations. Its not in the CCRs or By-laws so we have to be vigilant with our ballots next spring.

Beginning January 1, 2008, Board Meeting Agendas

must be distributed along with the notice of the meeting to the membership. More importantly, Boards will not be al-lowed to discuss or take action on any item not on the agenda. (Senate Bill 528) Apparently the legislature and the gover-nor felt there was enough abuse by some associations that there was a need for this governmen-tal intervention. Previously the law only required that the notice of the meeting be distributed to the mem-bership. Now the meeting notice must also contain the agenda items. (Civil Code Section 1365.05(f))

The Board decided at its last

meeting to post the notice and agenda on the bulletin board on the kiosk lo-cated in the pool area. In addition to this official notice Walters will post the agenda on the Association’s web site for the convenience of those who do not desire to visit the pool area.

The Legislature included several exceptions to these

strict limits on discussion and action by the Board. They are: 1. Residents may speak on any issue. (The Board

allows such discussion now in homeowners forum in advance of the formal meeting.)

2. Board members and their agents may briefly respond to resident inquiries.

3. Boards may refer certain informational matters and administrative tasks to its managers, agents, and staff.

4. Any subject can be discussed involving an emer-gency.

As you can see the legislature desires that the mem-

bership be advised of agenda items that may be controversial so that residents may attend the meeting to voice their con-cerns. Perhaps this will encourage more attendance at the meetings and promote vigilance over the Board’s meetings especially on important matters.

Ponto raised its ugly head over the holidays. As you

may know the environmental document proposed costly im-provements to La Costa Avenue as traffic mitigation meas-ures caused by the Carlsbad Ponto development. These measures involved the Vulcan and Coast Highway intersec-tions and the railroad bridge. The intersections are in the City of Encinitas, which is also approving developments af-fecting both intersections. Apparently there is a dispute between the two cities as to who should pay what. The split appears to be approximately 70%/30% with each city asking the other to contribute the larger share. Because of time constraints Encinitas decided to file a lawsuit to protect its interests. Carlsbad insists the matter can be settled and our planners seemed surprised at the action by Encinitas.

We should keep an eye on this situation because

many of us feel that the environmental document has given Avenida Encinas short shrift. It is beyond cavil that this road which cuts through the middle of our community will be severely impacted by the Ponto development. It deserves the same scrutiny that Carlsbad is devoting to La Costa. We all know how dangerous the intersection of Vulcan and La Costa is. So does Encinitas when it placed the attention grabbing, suspen-sion pounding “bots dots” in advance of the intersection -- a pathetic at-tempt at making the intersection less

dangerous. Compare this situation to the proposed Ponto Drive and Avenida Encinas intersection. The sight obstruc-tions and congestion potential are eerily similar over the rail-road bridge and the proximity to Coast Highway. We must find a way to divert the Ponto traffic away from Avenida Encinas east of the railroad bridge, and confine it to Coast Highway and Ponto Drive.

We must be vigilant. Any volunteers?

San Pacifico Community Association President’s Message

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Page 3 San Pacifico Breeze

San Pacifico Area A President’s Message

By Steve Adler

I hope that everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday season. It looked like many had family in town and I enjoyed the holiday decorations many of our neighbors installed. The reality of the New Year is starting to pene-trate and I’ve even been successful in getting the year right when I write the date.

There isn’t too much to report since the Board

has not yet had its first meeting with our new Walters Management team – that will happen later in January. It will be before you read this but too late to include in the Breeze.

At the meeting we’ll be picking

up where we left off and picking up pieces our NN Jaeschke managers dropped. We’ll start thinking about some of the big issues we need to ad-dress – mailbox replacement (bigger ones) and another round of slurry coat-ing our streets.

Smaller ticket items include our ongoing efforts

to increase reserves to prudent levels and continue to stay within our budget, led by the indomitable Mr. Mer-chant. We’ll start doing walkthroughs again – the NNJ managers just didn’t have time. We need to make sure the street sweeper actually sweeps the streets. We’re paying a parking patrol but they have not been much in

evidence and resident cars are creeping back onto the streets. We also haven’t been happy with the company re-pairing our vehicle and pedestrian gates and need to look at re-design options that might make the gates harder to break, lowering your monthly expenses.

Good citizen stuff When we were walking our dog this evening, we went

out on Avenida Encinas and noticed that two of the street lights on the north side of the street west of Meridian were out. We’ll be contacting Walters and the City of Carlsbad to get them fixed. Did you notice those lights were out? Did

you contact anyone? If you see stuff that needs to be fixed, please get in touch with Walters and/or the City and complain. Board members aren’t everywhere and we would be more efficient if everyone par-ticipated. Street lights are a big safety issue and the City should get a chorus of complaints if one is out. The City’s inspec-tion program isn’t any better than ours – they depend on citizen complaints as well.

By the way, if you did complain and nothing happened,

let us know. We’ll add our complaints and start bugging the politicians – it will give them something to do besides dream-ing up new things to build.

And here’s to a happy, healthy and safe 2008 for all!

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92011 ZIP CODE HOLDS ITS VALUE Just as we found San Pacifico a great place to live, others have arrived at the same conclusion, including the adjacent neighborhoods within zip code 92011. Bucking the trend of the declining housing market, DataQuick Information Sys-tems reported that in the September-November period, our zip code held the median home price at $950,000. That is contrary to the other 66 zip codes in the San Diego County, which saw their three-month rolling average home prices drop from their peaks, in the range of 3.7% to 41.0%. Our neighboring zip codes, 92008 only dropped 3.7%, and 92009 dropped 4.1%. These three Carlsbad zip codes are said to be one of the most desirable places to buy due to the proximity to the beach, its top schools, high tech companies with high paying

jobs, and a relatively new housing stock. According to RealtyTrac, in many of the County’s zip codes the forclosed homes, now owned by the banks, run into the hundreds, as compared to only about a dozen homes in 92011.

Lori Staehling, incoming President of the San Diego Association of Realtors, said that there are many buyers sitting on the fence, “everyone wants to buy at the bottom of the market. But you never know what the bottom is until you have gone past it”. The San Diego’s housing mar-

ket values are predicted to remain unstable for the next 12 to 18 months, as buyers seek the lowest possible price and sellers hold on to as much of their shrunken equity as they can.

Vistamar / Oceanwalk President’s Message

By Dale Ordas

Water Conservation

At the beginning of the year, Carlsbad received some much needed rain. However, we continue to suffer from less than normal rainfall. With the world’s largest ocean an easy walk from our homes with a surfboard under your arm plus the wetlands (Buena Vista, Batiquitos and Agua Hedionda), it is hard for our brains to accept that this is semi-desert. Nevertheless, that is the reason that the Carlsbad Munici-pal Water District “… promotes responsible and efficient water use in our arid city.”

On the City of Carlsbad website is a page devoted to water conservation, which opens with “… 2006 was an especially dry year throughout the Southwest United States, the San Diego region only received about 33% of its expected rain-fall, compounding an already historic drought in the Colo-rado River. Each year water agencies rely upon the water generated from the Colorado River and mountainous regions of Northern California. With dry years in source water areas comes limited supply - water that is shared across a growing population in Southern California. CMWD is committed to increased conservation measures in its business practices and providing education and information about water supply to its customers. Residents and business-people are encouraged to stay in-formed of water supply issues and adopt water conservation measures at home and work ...” http://www.carlsbadca.gov/water/wdtips.html

The site also contains links to the Metropolitan Water Dis-trict http://www.bewaterwise.com, which contains tips on saving water and more information on how to save money and obtain rebates. Notable in the plethora of information is the San Diego County Water Authority’s 20 gallon a day challenge, which sets forth in detail how to reduce your water usage by 20 gallons a day.

The New Agenda Requirements After SB 528

The new law not only requires posting or providing an agenda with the meeting notices, it prohibits the Board from taking action on anything that is not on the agenda. It applies to board meetings, not membership meetings. The requirement for distributing the agenda is tacked on to the

meeting notice requirements found in Civil Code Section 1365.05(f).

Following are the exceptions: (1) The law applies to "nonemergency" meetings only; (2) The law does not pre-vent the Board or its staff or agents from talking to the members about something not on the agenda. It is not muzzled by this law; (3) The law allows Boards to commu-nicate instructions to its management and staff; (4) The new law allows for taking action on items that come up before/at the meeting that are not on the agenda if cer-tain findings are made. Any one of the following findings will meet this exception:

(a) majority of the board members present at the meet-ing determine that an emergency situation exists. An emergency situation exists if there are circumstances that could not have been reasonably foreseen by the board, that require immediate attention and possible ac-

tion by the board, and that, of ne-cessity, make it impracticable to provide notice.

(b) two-thirds of the members pre-sent at the meeting, or, if less than two-thirds of the board members are present, by unanimous vote of the members present, determine there is a need to take immediate action. The Board must find that

the "need" arose after the agenda was prepared and posted or distributed, or

(c) the item was on an agenda for a prior board meeting and did not get put on the agenda for the meeting when it comes up again. The statute says on an agenda for a prior meeting that took place "not more than 30 days before", and that the item "was continued to this subsequent meeting."

While not an exception, where the newsletter comes out before the agenda is set, compliance may be achieved by posting the agenda in the common area at least 4 days before the meeting. In our community, it will be posted on the bulletin board in the Recreation Center Pool Area and posted on the web site. In addition, it will be sent as an e-mail to the Vistamar/Oceanwalk E-Group. Therefore, I urge those who are not members of this E-Group to join.

Page 4 San Pacifico Breeze www.sanpacifico.org

San Pacifico Breeze Page 5

Santalina President’s Message

By Gary Powell I would like to take this opportunity to welcome

our newest Board member, Linda Handman, who is taking over the position vacated by the resignation of Milton Pa-gan in November. As most of you know, this is a return to the Santalina Board since Linda served as a former Presi-dent. We feel she will bring a commu-nity focused perspective and great value to her new role due to her famili-arity with Board processes, by laws and rules, as well as her knowledge of the community and its residents.

As you are all aware, due to

the proposed changes to the Rules & Regulations, a petition for recall of the entire Santalina Board has been filed. The petitioners have mailed commu-nications to all homeowners stating their issues and you have also received the Board's detailed response to those issues. The recall meeting and vote will be held at the Dove Library on February 20, 2008. I urge everyone to attend this meeting and cast your vote, or if you are unable to at-tend, to please mail in your ballot using the self-addressed stamped envelope you will be receiving from the attorney’s office. The Board has only the best interests of our com-munity in making the minor revisions to the Rules and Regu-lations, and we encourage you to take this opportunity to

participate in your community and voice your opinions. During our last landscape walk through the Board

members, Management and Artistic found that some of the trees on Mermaid were beginning to out grow the area where they were planted. Some initial damage to the curb

area was noted as was the potential danger to the walls behind these trees. Therefore, the decision was made to remove these three trees and replace them with a less intru-sive variety of tree before any fur-ther damage is incurred. We are also working with Artistic to

create a more uniform look with the plantings along the streets which is intended to provide a feeling of continu-ity in the planted areas. A portion of this will be accom-plished by the replacement of existing plants with the remainder achieved with additional plantings.

Just another reminder, this is the rainy season

so no need to water every day, make sure to adjust those timers.

Carlsbad High School celebrates 50 years of excellence!

Before the Carlsbad High School campus opened to stu-dents on February 17, 1958, a cornerstone was laid during the facility's construction at the beginning of the school year in September 1957. It included a time capsule that contained a copy of a 1957 Carlsbad Journal, the first edition of the Carls-bad High School newspaper, a student handbook, coins minted in 1957 and other historical artifacts. The capsule was unearthed in September 2007, as Carlsbad High kicked off its 50th anni-versary year. During the 50 years, the high school has gained a reputation for high level of academic success and graduation levels. It has been recog-nized as a California Distinguished School; QA New Ameri-can High School; and A Nationally Recognized School of Excellence. It has been highly acclaimed for its award win-

ning TV station, CHSTV; National Champion Lancer Danc-ers; Championship Athletics; and the award winning Carlsbad High School Wind Symphony, who in recent years have performed at Carnegie Hall.

Beginning this year the school is un-dergoing a modernization project to update its facilities and add new ones. The renovation is scheduled to be completed by the 2012-2013 school year. Resulting from the voter approved Proposition P, In September 2007 the school district sold 8,000 bonds,

each valued at $5,000 to underwriting firms. Anyone can purchase them by contacting their broker, specifying “Carlsbad Unified School District General Obligation Bonds 2007; Series A” or later series.

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Page 6 San Pacifico Breeze

lkgros@roadr

unner.com

Classified Ads – Short Version of Policy

1. Personal free service, or under 18. Ads are free for 2 issues; must skip issue and then can re-run ad. Must request the Breeze to re-run.

2. Home Business/Service/for Sale Items – $2 for first column-line, $1 ea. additional line, up to 5 lines.

3. Business Cards – $15 per issue.

4. Ads only accepted from San Pacifico residents.

The advertisements contained in the San Pacifico Breeze are not in any way an endorsement of the products or services being offered. The Association has not researched the validity and accuracy of any of the claims being made in these advertisements or investigated the businesses making these advertisements.

All ads must be either emailed or mailed/delivered to San Pacifico Breeze, 7420 Magellan St., Carlsbad, CA 92011. For chargeable ads, include check payable to San Pacifico Community Association.

Thanks for everyone that has sent us newsworthy articles... Keep them coming! Remember, just email us at breeze@sanpacifico.org

Your Newsletter Staff for this Issue:

Co-Chair: Ike Berger, Dale E. Ordas

HOMEOWNERS NOTICE For questions/comments related to the Master Association (pool/recreation area), Oceanwalk/ Vistamar, or Santander/ San Sebastian, contact Lee Leibenson, The Walters Management Co., 858-576-5557 lleibenson@waltersmanagement.com For questions/comments related to Santalina, contact Debbie Myrick. Bruner & Rosi Management, 760-603-9404

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