Encinitas

The new City of Encinitas will hold its first council meeting at 7 p.m. Friday at Cardiff Elementary School.

Although the newly formed local government does not become official until it assumes control from the county Oct. 1, the five people elected to the council are eager to begin planning for the transition and exploring important issues.

The council members have yet to be sworn in, so they lack the authority to make any binding decisions affecting the new city, which encompasses Cardiff, Encinitas, Leucadia and Olivenhain and was approved overwhelmingly by voters June 3.

Among topics expected to be discussed is the ongoing fight to stop the proposed relaxation of sewage-treatment standards by Escondido and the county, which together discharge 13 million gallons of waste water daily through an outfall pipe off Cardiff.

Also likely to stir debate is the county’s rezoning of 93 acres in the heart of the new city, a controversial move that vastly increased permissible building densities on the land. During the campaign, council candidates pledged to work to overturn the county’s decision, which was approved by the California Coastal Commission last month.