City Council Welcomes First Encinitas Skyscraper
What’s a nice little coastal city without its own skyscraper? Not much, according to the Encinitas City Council.
Mandy Baddaughter proposed a double solution to the affordable housing and unused Pacific View property problems by bringing a skyscraper development proposal before the Planning Commission.
The skyscraper would top out at 75 stories of apartments. The bottom 50 stories would be a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom affordable units. The top 25 stories would be market-rate units, with a luxury penthouse taking up the whole 75th floor. Observation floors, a spire and a rotating beacon would cap the building. Parking would be underground and water-scarce landscaping would surround the tower at ground level.
Residents lined up 126 deep to speak in opposition to the skyscraper at the Planning Commission meeting. They raised many negatives about the project and were met with applause from attendees.
Baddaughter presented her side of the argument in a PowerPoint presentation. She was booed and hissed by the crowd.
A geotechnical engineer, a geologist, an anthropologist, an archaeologist, a hydrologist, a traffic engineer, a zoning consultant, a land-use attorney, an astronomer and the fire chief gave their assessments of the project. Nobody had anything good to say.
After a few minutes’ discussion, the Planning Commission unanimously denied the project.
Two weeks later, the Baddaughter project came before the City Council for consideration. Because there was so much public opposition, each speaker was limited to one minute. Pretty much the same people who had spoken to the Planning Commission said pretty much the same things to the council, only shorter.
Baddaughter did her PowerPoint, the same experts who had presented to the Planning Commission made their arguments, and Mayor Blakespear thanked everyone for their input, noting how valuable it had been.
The council blah-blahed for a few minutes, Councilman Mosca made a motion to approve the project, Councilman Kranz seconded the motion, Mayor Blakespear called the question, no discussion ensued, the clerk polled the members, and the council unanimously approved the skyscraper.
