Transit Station Plan Debated in Encinitas

Transit officials pitched a revised plan for a combination bus and train station to the Encinitas City Council Tuesday night, saying that building a commuter rail station without a bus terminal is like “building a freeway without the ramps.”

It is the plan for a bus terminal on the 0.8 of an acre site that has outraged many residents, who view it as an unnecessary and potentially damaging addition to the downtown area.

Many opponents gathered at the meeting to again express their objections to the multimodal plan, some carrying signs reading “Please Listen to the People.”

The average person won’t take a bus to take a train,” said Beverly Goodman, a member of a new group called the Transit Reform Coalition.

The council, which was debated the issue late into the night, also heard praise for the plan, which was billed as a “significant compromise.”

“It is better to act than react” to traffic problems, said Baily Noble of the North County Transportation Coalition.

But the majority of the people addressed the council on the issue spoke against the plan. The council had requests from 80 people who wanted to speak on the issue.

For almost two years now, the concept of building a combination bus and train station behind the La Paloma Theater at Vulcan Avenue and D Street, linking the bus system to the planned commuter rail system, has met with fierce opposition in the community.

Residents of the surrounding neighborhood have been the most vocal, charging that the buses will increase pollution and congestion on the narrow roads and create a dangerous situation for children on their way to school.

The transit district’s new proposal sliced the number of bus parking slots from eight to six, including four bays. The new plan also added a trellis to mask the bus bays and called for a security officer to be on the site during operating hours.

In addition, the new proposal cut the number of bus trips in the area from 208 to 151 trips a day.

The 151 trips would be “8% less than currently go within a block of the facility,” said NCTD spokesman Pete Aadland.

The concept of a bus-train transfer station on the site was approved by the City Council two years ago, though it reserved the right to review specific design plans.

The first design offered by the NCTD met with vocal opposition from residents at the Community Advisory Board level and never made it to the council. The NCTD opted to adjust the plan in the face of community concerns rather than face rejection by the council.

The revised plan met only slightly more favorable reaction from the community than the first plan. The plan was passed on to the council after the Planning Commission deadlocked 2-2.

Going into the meeting, Aadland said, “If the process holds true, as we climb the ladder of growing responsibility from neighborhood to city level, we are fairly confident they will find the project has merit for the residents of Encinitas.”

At the meeting, many of those who spoke in favor of the projects referred to critics as NIMBYs crying, “Not in my back yard.”

“I believe it is in the best interests of the community as a whole,” resident Kathleen Cook said.

Many of the residents who spoke in favor of the project were from Cardiff, currently home to the area’s major bus transfer point. Noting that the council discussion comes days before the election, Cardiff activists Bob Bonde called for the council not to allow politics to delay their decision.

“You know action must be taken to reduce traffic on our streets,” Bonde said, urging the council to support the project.

But Michael McDade, an attorney representing residents of a condominium complex across from the site, said traffic studies for the project were inadequate since they failed to take into account traffic in peak summer months and didn’t include the addition of Encinitas City Hall going in across the street.

“What is being created here is an auto magnet,” McDade said. “What we see here tonight is basically the same thing we’ve seen from NCTD from the start.”

McDade said that NCTD has displayed “arrogance” by refusing to listen to public input.

“They need to build this to justify their existence,” he said.

Transit officials hope to have a computer rail system operating from Oceanside to San Diego by the end of 1994.