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Seeking
vision plan for city's 'eyesore'
By Lola Sherman
UNION-TRIBUNE
STAFF WRITER
February 23, 2007
OCEANSIDE The City Council is set to appoint a task force to
consider how to spruce up eclectic Oceanside Boulevard and make it
a more scenic gateway into the center of the city.
I know that Oceanside Boulevard is an eyesore,
Councilman Jack Feller said during a council meeting Wednesday
night. Improvements, he said, can't come cheap.
Oceanside Boulevard runs east and west through the
middle of the city. The three miles or
so between Interstate 5 and El Camino Real, the focus of the proposed task force's work, contains a ragged mix of older strip malls, gas stations and
car-repair joints.
A recycling operation and
a concrete plant sit on Industry
Street, which runs parallel to Oceanside Boulevard.
A second concrete batch plant has been proposed,
to the consternation of some residents on a hill overlooking the industrial
area.
The council voted 4-1 Wednesday
to seek some sort of vision plan for the boulevard, which could
one day become the entry to a San Diego Chargers stadium, if talks with the
football team are successful.
Council members said the task force might have to do
its work in only six months. Some of the push for the Oceanside Boulevard
project stems from the Chargers' intention to decide by the end of the year
whether to build a football stadium near the northeast corner of I-5 and Oceanside Boulevard.
Oceanside
Boulevard already is the
approach to the 450-acre El Corazon property, city-owned
land that is planned as a
combination parkland and hotel-retail development.
Still another reason to create
a beautification plan, council member said, is that the North County Transit
District intends to begin operating Sprinter passenger trains between Oceanside and Escondido in late
December. The tracks parallel Oceanside
Boulevard, and council members said they want
some criteria for landscaping and other improvements along the tracks.
City officials also have stepped
up inspections of businesses along Oceanside
Boulevard over concerns that industry in the
area can cause pollution in Loma
Alta Creek,
which parallels the roadway. Pollution from the creek has caused
Buccaneer Beach, where the creek enters into the
ocean, to be closed often.
A committee considering
changes along Oceanside
Boulevard would consider the future of any
new industrial development along the corridor.
Greg Root, president of the Loma Alta Neighborhood Association that represents
the neighborhood near the boulevard, told the council that historical records
show Loma Alta Canyon has been industrial for 50 years, but the city could
try to attract cleaner industry there.
Root also asked
the council to enforce the city's sign ordinances along the boulevard, given the array of ragtag signs there.
No estimates were given
on the cost of preparing a plan for the boulevard.
Councilwoman Esther Sanchez voted against the task force, saying she wanted the study to be combined
with a master-plan study of downtown Oceanside.
The rest of the council
rejected that idea.
 Lola
Sherman: (760) 476-8241; lola.sherman@uniontrib.com
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