The San Diego County grand jury today urged the Encinitas City Council to do something about the flooding in Leucadia caused by a storm drain system unable to handle the runoff.
The worst problem, according to the watchdog panel, is around Leucadia
Roadside Park at Coast Highway and Vulcan Avenue, where firefighters use
In a severe downpour, as many as 152 properties could be flooded,
according to the grand jury report, which suggests running a drain through a
bluff at Leucadia Roadside Park and considering the creation of a special tax
district to raise money to pay for the job.
The Encinitas City Council has until Aug. 23 to respond to the grand jury.
Mayor Jerome Stocks said the city would respond in "an appropriate and
timely manner." He did not address the condition of the storm drains.
The city last upgraded the storm drain system about eight years ago.
The state Coastal Commission limits drain pipes that discharge into the ocean to a diameter of 2 feet, and a roughly 9-foot conduit would be needed in Leucadia to handle the runoff in a worst-case scenario.
The grand jury cited an engineering report that overhauling the drain system could cost as much as $42 million. The city's annual is of less than $60 million. Individual projects would range from $1 million to about $4.5 million, according to the report.
—City News Service
I would ask the City to make this repair its top priority before funding any other projects (like roundabouts) or entering into new agreements with other consultants. I want to see those needs and obligations of current residents met before starting anything new.
Locals and commuters do NOT favor roundabouts, which would encourage unchecked development. “Mitigation" tools for high-density developers, roundabouts have no formal traffic standards. Stocks and cohorts should've been more concerned about chronic flooding, made worse by City practices, than paying roundabout consultant/lobbyists to hold numerous workshops, then massage the data, to comply with pre-determined conclusions desired primarily by developers, through a game of smoke and mirrors: “beautification," designed to deceive and to win at any cost to citizens and Leucadia’s “funky” community character! Stocks was quick to disagree with the U-T Watchdog's liquid reserves report, both on the U-T Blog and through a recent article published in the Coast News. Yet Encinitas officials now neglect to respond to media requests for comments on the Grand Jury report re the city's failure to follow through on any plans detailed nearly eight years ago to ease flooding in Leucadia,