Town Hall Meeting

CAFÉ Town Hall Meeting

Citizens Against Freeway Expansion (CAFÉ) in conjunction with P.L.A.G.U.E. has been sponsoring a series of town hall meetings to provide information beyond what CalTrans has been offering regarding the I-5 expansion project. Each meeting has been moderated by a representative from SANDAG. To date, they have held these meetings in Solana Beach, Encinitas and Oceanside. Each meeting held to date has had the support of their respective city councils with city council members attending. At each of these meetings there were anywhere from 300-400 attendees seeking information and answers to their questions. On Wednesday 10/20, it was Carlsbad’s turn.

Let’s first start with the differences between Carlsbad’s town hall meeting and the others.

1. First, Carlsbad is the ONLY coastal city not to sponsor one of these meetings. The City Council did not get out the message and as such, Carlsbad had a whopping 50-60 attendees. Impressive isn’t it? Carlsbad could lose a total of 114 properties and we only had the interest of 50-60 people. HP stands to lose property including common area and only a total of 4 people cared enough to attend. Definitely not impressive. By the way, those who did attend our community meeting at the pool were all notified of this meeting…more than once.
2. Councilman Kevin Blackburn arranged to have the meeting held at a community church in downtown Carlsbad. To his credit, at least he did attempt to do something.
3. City Council representation: The only two attendees were Kevin Blackburn and Matt Hall -each a candidate running for mayor.
4. When asked their position on the I-5 project by attendees, the response from each candidate was curious. Kevin Blackburn stated he did not have an opinion yet and would have to attend more meetings and get more information. Matt Hall hedged his answer initially referring to the lengthy EIR. The most he would commit to was there must be something done even on a smaller scale. Since Matt Hall has been Carlsbad’s representative on SANDAG’s transportation committee for about 10 years, and this project was initiated about 10 years ago, how much more time does he need to study the issue? Mr. Hall also accused the representatives from CAFÉ of lying about their information. Nice. As for Keith Blackburn, why he needs more time is not clear. The council representatives from Solana Beach, Encinitas and Oceanside have had the same information for the same amount of time. Do they have some ‘magical’ thinking powers that our Council members do not have?

Now a summary review of what was presented at the town hall meeting:

1. The I-5 expansion project began in 2000 as a $600 million project to run about 20 miles. The current project 10 years later: $3.4-$4.5 billion to run about 27 miles.
2. In 2000, the project proposal stated there would be NO taking of any private property. My how things have changed. Depending on the final scope of the project, there could be a total of 400 properties taken or impacted one way or another. Does eminent domain ring a bell?
3. Scope of the project: The presenters had some terrific visuals of how this project will look. If you have driven I-15 as well as the I-5/405 connection in Orange County, you will have a sense of what will happen. Do view the videos posted on this blog to get a sense of the concrete tunnel our beautiful coastal freeway will become. The options on this project run from doing nothing, just adding HOV lanes or expanding upwards to 14 lanes. Bridges over freeways and lagoons will be built/re-built with our lagoons having wide expanses of concrete over them to accommodate 14 lanes and feeder ramps.
4. I-5 Coastal Views: They will be GONE. Our stretch of I-5 is the only portion of the freeway system from Washington State all the way south that has a coastal view. If you enjoy the pleasure of seeing our beautiful Pacific Ocean as you drive along the freeway, think of what it will be like to see walls of concrete as you sit in traffic. Besides sound walls, there will be portions of the freeway with retaining walls upwards to 20’.
5. EIR Report: This is an enormous document that most people will never read or understand. However, some experts outside of CALTRANS have read it and have noted some serious flaws in this document. Contrary to what CALTRANS states, emissions DO NOT improve with speed. Federal studies have documented that by adding more lanes, ergo more vehicular traffic, only adds MORE emissions. Speed of traffic is not the issue.
6. No other options considered: It was brought to everyone’s attention that CALTRANS has only studied the option of building more lanes and bridges. Seeing that this is their sole function, this information is not surprising. No studies have been initiated re traffic management for trucks, cargo on trains, etc. Keep in mind the effect of NAFTA and the push to allow more trucks cross the border. With more traffic lanes, there will be more trucks, buses and cars.
7. Pollution: The immense scale of this project will result in increased air & noise pollution as well as particulate emissions. See related articles on this blog as how this will affect our quality of life in HP. This project will affect our health & well being. It will also affect our property values.
8. Sound Walls: If you think sound walls are the answer, consider a few important facts.

• Sound walls will mitigate some sound for those homes that will abut right up to the wall. Yes…several HP homes could have a sound wall immediately against their homes. However, CALTRANS has stated, and their documents confirm, that while La Jolla, Del Mar, Solana Beach will get sound walls, by the time they get to our portion of the freeway….there is no guaranty we will have a sound wall because they do NOT have the funds to build them. Think what life will be like with 14 lanes of traffic and no sound walls.
• Sound walls will increase the freeway noise level for those homes further away from the freeway. As explained by an engineer, the effect is similar to the function of a megaphone. The sound walls will project the sound up and away. So people in the Terrace, your noise level will increase along with other adjacent communities. It is not just a Village problem…it is a HP problem.
• Property tax/HOA increase? It was presented that recent information has come to light that if we do get a sound wall, it could be considered a property improvement and therefore subject to a property tax increase. So that could affect HP common area. If HP property taxes increase, so do our dues. By the way…if we lose homes…our dues will have to increase to make up for the loss of income from those homes that CALTRANS takes.

9. Legal: Pamela Epstein is an attorney with the Sierra Club who has presented the various legal hurdles to be faced through the EIR process. Fortunately there are a lot of agencies that need to sign off on the proposed project. Once this process is complete, depending on the outcome, P.L.A.G.U.E. has hired a legal firm in the Bay Area to file suit. Ms. Epstein reminded everyone that November 22nd is the deadline to submit your EIR questions emphasizing that it must be in question format in order to get a response.

So stay informed and get involved. There is a lot of information posted on this blog. Email Carlsbad City Council and keep the pressure on them to be proactive & represent Carlsbad residents. All other coastal cities have allocated funds for an independent study of the EIR. Carlsbad to date is doing it with ‘staff’. Go to City Council meetings. Like our monthly HOA meetings, they allow an initial window for resident questions. You need to submit your question in writing to the Council and you have 3 minutes to state your opinion and/or ask your question. Council meeting dates are posted on this blog and there is also a link to the City’s website. We all are busy. But there is a lot at stake here. If you think this will magically go away or someone else will take care of it….you are wrong. Everyone needs to do something!