‘Visual Blight’ in Solana Beach : 3-Year-Old City Worried About Redevelopment

The city of Solana Beach, concerned that it is not aging gracefully, has committed $60,800 to plan a face lift in the form of downtown redevelopment.

The City Council, acting as the city’s 2-month-old redevelopment agency, approved the expenditure at a Monday meeting. Contracts were awarded Monday to RSG Consulting of San Diego, which will put together a redevelopment plan, and Cotton Beland Associates of Encinitas, which will prepare a state-mandated environmental impact report. The reports are expected to be completed in nine months to a year.

The area pinpointed for the redevelopment study is the corridor along Highway 101--now an eclectic potpourri of structures housing everything from families to law offices, surf shops and health food restaurants. Eden Gardens, a run-down residential area to the south of town between Highway 101 and Interstate 5, is not now under consideration for redevelopment.

The Most Potential

The Highway 101 strip is “not necessarily being singled out because that’s the part that is most exposed to visitors passing through,” said City Manager Michael Huse. “It’s just the area that holds the most potential, and the one that is of the most immediate concern because of development projects that are taking place there now.”

To establish a redevelopment district, the state requires that “blight” exist in the area. Although downtown Solana Beach may not be exactly economically disadvantaged, Huse said there is growing community sentiment that “visual blight” does exist in the nearly 3-year-old city.

An abandoned service station that has been used as both a bicycle repair shop and a produce stand in recent years is one example of a property that might be considered “under-utilized,” Huse said. Other areas that could use some shoring up include an abandoned trailer park and some boarded-up buildings, he said.

“There are other businesses that, more than likely over the course of time, will be recycled to a different use, just because, as the value of the property escalates, those people in there now will not be able to pay their rents,” Huse said.

Public Workshops

The redevelopment effort was helped along by two public workshops in January, which drew considerable feedback from the community. Although no design or theme specifics have been decided upon, most felt it was important to establish some guidelines to preserve the quaint beach-town feel of the area, Huse said.

The redevelopment agency is hoping that private property owners in the redevelopment area will willingly cooperate by “revitalizing” their own properties to suit the design plan, Huse said. Loans or grants may be made available to property owners through the redevelopment plan, to refurbish their buildings or at least add some cosmetic touches, he said.

The city will concentrate on public improvements such as parking lots, parks, landscaping and sewer-line upgradings, Huse said.

At this point, the redevelopment agency would prefer not to use powers of eminent domain to condemn property, he said.