Encinitas Flexes Its Municipal Muscle, Enacts Moratorium

ENCINITAS —  After three bitterly contested elections and more than a decade of effort, Encinitas and its three north coastal neighbors officially shook off the shackles of county government Wednesday and began life anew as one city.

The formal birth of the 26-square-mile City of Encinitas was an event many residents had waited years to witness, but City Council members wasted little time savoring the occasion.

Just minutes after taking the oath of office and exchanging congratulatory handshakes, Marjorie Gaines, Gerald Steel, Anne Omsted, Greg Luke and Rick Shea attacked the issue that many have credited with propelling incorporation to victory at the polls in June: Growth.

Declaring that the pace of development in the area is too rapid and has outpaced the ability to provide public services, council members approved a sweeping building moratorium blocking all projects except single-family homes, schools and the remodeling of existing dwellings.

The moratorium, approved on a unanimous vote after a four-hour public hearing, will remain in effect until the city develops a design review system and establishes appropriate fees for parks, traffic and schools. That is expected to take about four months, but additional exemptions from the moratorium may be granted sooner, council members said.

In addition to the moratorium, the council revoked project approvals formerly granted by the county to developers who have not yet obtained building permits. Those developers will be required to resubmit applications for review by the City Council when the moratorium expires.

“It’s a real balancing act,” Councilman Steel said of the decision to impose a moratorium. “We’re dealing with people who sometimes put their entire life savings into a project . . . but also with the rest of the community, which has to live with the consequences of development. I think we’ve got a fair compromise here.”

Many of the scores of residents who addressed the council Wednesday echoed that view, expressing support for the ban and urging officials to take an immediate stand on growth, which most agree is the issue of the day throughout North County.

“You are now empowered to make changes, and a moratorium is the only real way to make those changes,” said Garth Murphy, an Encinitas resident for 26 years. “You’ve got the tiger by the tail. Now twist it.”

But others, most of them developers with projects planned or in the works, criticized the construction ban. One Encinitas resident, an attorney representing a local builder, called the moratorium “punitive” and “overly broad.” He compared the council’s approach to “using a sledgehammer to kill a gnat.”

Still others assured the council that they supported some sort of building slowdown but argued that their particular project deserved an exemption.

“Like everyone, I notice that our streets have more traffic, and I don’t like it,” said Encinitas resident Ron Grimes. “But I’m proposing two homes on 2.1 acres and I’ve had no neighborhood opposition. Why hold me up?”

While the council was sensitive to such concerns--and, indeed, passed a moratorium that allows for some exemptions--there was little question that members would adopt a building ban of some sort. After all, it was growth and its effects--on traffic, schools and the overall character of the San Dieguito area--that fueled the incorporation drive.

Cityhood proponents began tooting the horn for home rule back in the early 1970s, and finally brought a proposal before voters in 1974. It failed, miserably. In 1982, the incorporation bandwagon got rolling again. But again voters, wary of change, rejected the idea.

This time around, however, the cityhood fight was different. The high-density development approved by county supervisors and its consequences had become more visible, and incorporation champions exploited the growth issue effectively during a well-orchestrated campaign.

On June 3, the effort paid off. Voters overwhelmingly declared their support for home rule, and Cardiff, Olivenhain, Encinitas and Leucadia merged as a city of 44,000. The city’s name, Encinitas, was selected by voters from a field of three choices.

(That same day, Solana Beach realized its quest for incorporation as well. The council there has been doing business officially since July 1. It also has adopted a building moratorium.)

Since June, Encinitas officials have been meeting informally, learning the ropes of city government and getting accustomed to their roles as public servants. It has been a frustrating time, council members said, because they have been forced to sit idle and powerless while controversial projects have won county approval.

Indeed, according to the county Planning Department, building permits for 1,394 units within the city limits were issued by the county between Jan. 1 and Sept. 9. In June alone, building permits for 319 dwelling units were issued, according to Bill Weedman, interim planning director in Encinitas.

“It’s been an absolute gold rush,” Mayor Gaines said. “Drive around anywhere and you can see that people have been starting their projects in hopes of getting under the wire before the city takes power. Our hands have been tied.”

But no longer.

“Look out, world,” Councilwoman Omsted said. “This is going to be the most dynamite city you’ve ever seen, because the people are behind us and we’ve all got tremendously high expectations.”

Omsted predicted that within two years, council members will have “stopped all the bad things the county did to us and made a difference here.”

They got off to a running start Wednesday, which began early for the council with a swearing-in at the city’s temporary City Hall--leased space in the dilapidated Mayfair Market shopping center in Encinitas. The oath of office was administered, ironically enough, by Assemblywoman Sunny Mojonnier (R-Encinitas), whose husband, flower grower Erwin Mojonnier, led the fight against incorporation.

As a crowd of about 50 looked on, the assemblywoman solemnly warned council members of the gravity of their impending duty.

“Supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this state sounds easy enough,” Mojonnier said. “It’s not. . . . It’s a privilege that carries with it some very serious responsibilities.”

With that, council members stood and took the oath, while friends and relatives crowded forward to record the historic event with still and video cameras.

Next, Gaines--the top vote-getter in June--was formally appointed mayor and Councilman Rich Shea was named vice mayor. Then the council adopted a series of ordinances enabling Encinitas to begin operating as a city and receive taxes formerly collected by the county.

In the early going, the council displayed its youth; members fumbled over appropriate parliamentary procedures, spoke nervously and blushed a lot. The audience tittered. But by the end of a long, wearisome day, the new city’s leaders looked--and no doubt felt--like grizzled veterans.

Later that evening, another ceremonial swearing-in and celebration were held. This weekend, the festivities will continue with a pancake breakfast, a parade on Old Highway 101, a carnival, and punch and hors d’oeuvres on the beach in what used to be Cardiff.

“It’s all so exciting,” Omsted said. “Sometimes I can’t believe we really made it.”