Some call for moratorium as city works on new General Plan

Should the city of Oceanside call a moratorium on development projects along Coast Highway until it has a new General Plan?

Former City Councilwoman Shari Mackin thinks so.

Carolyn Krammer, her longtime friend — the two fought a long but ultimately successful battle to keep the proposed Manchester hotel project from the beachside — agrees.

Mackin and Krammer, citing new property purchases, said they feared development will rush in before the city has a chance to approve a new General Plan, expected to take a year and a half.

Already, they said, property is being bought up in anticipation of development.

“Everything is coming so fast,” Mackin said. “What good is it to us to implement it in a year and a half, maybe later” if development is completed?

Krammer said she recently discovered that one firm has purchased the entire east side of Coast Highway between West and Stanley streets. And Mackin said she thinks there soon will be proposals for the site of the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) thrift store, once a Safeway supermarket. at 1624 S.coast Highway.

And South Oceanside residents have been complaining lately about a proposed four-story residential structure, with some retail, at Coast and Morse Street.

Richard Fox, leader of the South Oceanside Community and Merchants Association, said later that “rumor has it” that there’s also been a purchase for development in the 1900 block of Coast Highway. Fox said he’s not corroborated such a sale, however.

Both women said, instead of helping to fulfill Oceanside’s requirement for permanent housing, the new units being proposed close to the beach surely will end up as short-term vacation rentals, adding traffic and parking woes to the area.

Mackin said she intends to start campaigning right away, first on social media, for the moratorium.

She first mentioned it at a special virtual meeting set by the South Oceanside association with the city’s principal planner, Russ Cunningham, Tuesday night.

About 18 people attended, less than two dozenplus at a regular association meeting.

The group presented a four-page document outlining its expectations for the South Oceanside area in the proposed citywide General Plan, its land-use portion not comprehensively updated since 1986.

A fifth page, contained a “Beginning list of unique and historic buildings we wish to ensure are maintained with appropriate designations and zoning.”

Included in that list of 13 locations are the Surf Bowl bowling alley, old Blade (North County Times) newspaper building, Moose Lodge and Rancho Villaseñor.

Cunningham told the group the document was too long and needed to be condensed into declarative sentences (such as “South Oceanside will remain a family-oriented community”) with stated goals, policies and action plans.

In a later interview, he suggested a one-page document for each of the city’s 17 identified neighborhoods.

He said not all neighborhoods are as organized as South Oceanside.

It runs from Oceanside Boulevard to the south city limits west of Interstate 5. The Townsite neighborhood runs to the north to the city limits.

Cunningham said some of South Oceanside’s document reflected Townsite’s.

It should be specific to South Oceanside, he said, and doesn’t need to cover items, such as beach access, that are important citywide.

“Where does this corner of Oceanside want to be in 15-20 years (the period to be covered by the proposed plan)?” Cunningham asked. He reminded, however, that there are state and regional mandates, such as to provide housing, that must be considered.

“To stabilize our commercial sector, we need more rooftops,” Cunningham said.

He said the neighborhood programs need to be something the staff can recommend and the decision makers (City Council and state Coastal Commission) can support. “We want to have goals and policies that can be embraced broadly,” he said.

“I am in no position to opine on a moratorium on development,” Cunningham said.

The councilman for the South Oceanside district, Ryan Keim, attended the meeting but did not offer an opinion on a moratorium, either.