What Are Biggest Issues As You See Them?

By Paul Frankel

What Are Biggest Issues As You See Them?

- Property Rights: Our resident friendly, simple and efficient "over the counter" planning approval process was eliminated in 2011 when the current Council passed a revision to the permitting process by requiring a mandatory public design review for all new projects in excess of 500 square feet, thereby giving themselves the final say on what nearly every residential and commercial construction project should look like including color, theme, shape, size and design.

- Ignored Constituencies: Our largest constituency (families with school age children) is not a priority in our City budget. Each year, SB Soccer and Little League has been able to count on the generosity of our fiscally challenged school district to be the de-facto "parks and rec department," providing staff support, playgrounds and fields, but they can't count on our City. It's a shame that every city in San Diego County boasts a park and recreational field program that is much larger than ours here in Solana Beach! In addition, despite the fact that most of our City residents own a dog, there is not one place in Solana Beach where dog lovers can legally take their dogs "off leash" to run and play freely.