Planning for the Future of Encinitas

What does your Encinitas look like? Is it the surf break at Pipes or the rural landscape of Olivenhain? Or is it the schools of new Encinitas, the eternally funky 101 of Leucadia, or the restaurants downtown? Now picture what your Encinitas will look like 10 or 20 years from now. What do you see?

Whether your vision becomes a reality has a lot to do with a huge civic initiative currently under way: the update to the city’s general plan. Since January 2010, there have been workshops, drafts, reports, EIRs, and other wonky governmental activities that tend to bore most of the general populace to tears, if they even have the time to register any of it while dealing with the bustle of life. But hear this one out, because this is about the future of our city. And with an updated plan slated to be finalized near the end of the year, our future is now.

For the nonwonks among us, the general plan update is basically the blueprint for city decisions that will be made for the next 20 or so years. Transportation, housing, commercial development, sustainability, culture—and much more—will be governed by this document and its policies and goals.

And if you’re asking, “What does this have to do with me?” the answer is “a lot.” The city has set up a series of community workshops, neighborhood gatherings, committee meetings, and various other powwows to find out what residents want—and don’t want—in their city.

Comments have been compiled, vision boards have been constructed, and even the general plan’s website (yes it has its own, encinitas2035.info) has comment sections. An overall vision report has been written and it’s a fascinating read, capturing not just the magnitude of the task, but the breadth of ideas locals have in mind for a future Encinitas.

Allow fish migration from San Elijo Lagoon to the beach. Improve freeway onramps. Add safe cycling routes on Santa Fe Drive. Plant new trees on downtown streets. Add a trolley line on the 101. Create a community art center on El Camino Real.  Create a rail trail. Build hotels and dog parks. And then there are the overarching, big-picture concerns about infrastructure, economic and environmental sustainability, beautification and affordable housing.

Of course, there are some opposing ideas—higher-density development is good and bad, buildings should be either short or tall, depending on who you ask—but that’s the great thing about democracy: Everyone gets a chance to have a say. And there’s still time for you to have yours.

There’s a citywide workshop Monday at 6 p.m. at the Community and Senior Center, located at 1140 Oakcrest Park Dr. There’s no guarantee that what you see in Encinitas’ future is what you’ll get, but if you don’t participate, how will you ever know?

Green Thumb Wrestling

Call it a good-natured war of the roses: Local elementary students will compete against Paul Ecke III, CEO of Ecke Ranch, and Laurin Pause, executive director of Community Resource Center, to see who can design the best plant arrangements on March 30. The event launches the center’s 2011 Charity Plant Sale on April 9, when the Ecke Ranch opens to the public to offer bargains for your garden. (The student flower arrangements will also be on sale.)

The sale is part of a garden tour that showcases five North County homes—and all proceeds from ticket sales and plant sales will be given to the center, which provides an array of social services for northern San Diego County. It takes place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Ecke Ranch, located at 800 Ecke Ranch Road. Tickets are $25. For more information, call 760-230-6305 or visit crcncc.org.

Be a Friend to Mother Nature

Friends of Cardiff and Carlsbad State Beaches is looking for a few good volunteers to pitch in on Earth Day projects April 16. The organization needs supervisors who will oversee planting and painting work. For more information, email lohman@parks.ca.gov or visit fccsb.org.