Encinitas City Council supports cleanup effort

  • 2016-02-14
The Encinitas Arts, Culture and Ecology Alliance has plans for the site of the Pacific View Elementary School—it wants to turn it into a cultural center.

However, its lease on the property has not yet been finalized, and in the meantime, the building continues to deteriorate. The Encinitas City Council therefore recently voted to allow the group access to the property in order to maintain it, even before the lease is signed.

The lease negotiations have gone on longer than anticipated, and could last another six months. Meanwhile, the school has been shut up since 2003. The Alliance has offered to provide Encinitas with indemnity, and pay for liability insurance as well as maintenance if it is allowed to clean up the property before the takeover.

There was some resistance to the idea from Encinitas's mayor Kristin Gaspar, who was the only “no” vote on the measure. Lisa Shaffer, the deputy mayor, says she cannot see any way the alliance can make the property any worse than it already is, and the “upside is enormous”.

To allay concerns, Glenn Sabine, the city attorney, said the agreement does not violate any laws and, in addition, the alliance will be limited as to what they can do on the property.

The Alliance might consider creating Brochures that illustrate its plans for the property, and Mailing them to residents.
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