For months, some Point Loma residents have rallied to squash a proposed plan to turn a lot adjacent to the airport into a campus of homeless shelters and services. They held meetings, created a nonprofit aimed at combating the effort and enlisted former Mayor Kevin Faulconer to their cause.
Mayor Todd Gloria dialed back the plan (later insisting it was not because of the pressure) and focused instead on just putting a parking center for homeless residents there.
The neighborhood nonprofit, Point Loma CARES, however, raised concerns about airport noise levels and potential pollutants and asked the California Coastal Commission to consider blocking it.
This week, staff at the Commission gave the project a go-ahead in a recent report, the Union-Tribune reports.
“There is a critical need for shelter options for unhoused individuals in the community; this project, in both phases, not only addresses immediate housing needs but also ensures the fair treatment of vulnerable populations by providing safe shelter,” staff wrote in the report.
What’s approved: The first phase would be the establishment of a 190-space safe parking lot. The city also got permission to erect two large tents to create a 600-bed temporary shelter. It’s not clear if city staff will pursue that option.
If the staff’s report is implemented, it would require the city to mitigate any impact on water quality caused by additional cars at the site. Staff asked the city to submit a revised final plan that includes a stormwater filtration divide to ensure pollutants from cars do not wash into the ocean.
But however things shake out for H Barracks, the services would be temporary. The land is slated to become part of the city’s Pure Water project in five years.
Electrical Towers in Anza Borrego? Nope.
California desperately needs to transition to cleaner energy, which will require expanding the state’s power grid to handle more solar and wind power. But the thought of massive electrical towers in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, at least partially, helped kill a measure designed to help expand the grid quicker, as CalMatters reported.
Power companies wanted to be able to fast track environmental reviews on state-owned parks and wildlife areas under California’s somewhat notorious California Environmental Quality Act. Some lawmakers were open to the idea but last week it died in committee.
An Assemblymember who proposed the legislation said the committee was “shooting itself in the foot” by not adopting the legislation. CEQA reviews can sometimes take years.
The Senate Environmental Committee’s chair, however, said he couldn’t live with the thought of massive electrical towers running through Anza-Borrego.
“I’m personally not going to put my stamp on anything if it’s going to make it easier for folks to run big transmission lines in the middle of the state park,” he said.
Song of the Week
Dark wave has come back in a big way in recent years. From the TikTok-ification of a once obscure Belarusian band to the launching of yet another Southern Californian music festival devoted to synth-powered vibes to the resurgence of the goth aesthetic, black seems like it is indeed back.
It’s not entirely surprising. These are strange, dark times we’re living in. Plus, the goth aesthetic and the music that inspired it are incredibly alluring. I’m also not complaining. Though the gaudy fashion trends can be a bit grating – especially given how completely divorced they now are from their inspiration – I’ll take an extra serving if it means I get just a little more dark, synthy, sunglasses-clad clove cigarette-smoking music.
That’s where local duo Twin Ion Engine comes in. They make exactly the kind of catchy dark wave that drives the kids wild. And in this instance, I count myself as one of the kids.
Twin Ion Engine, “Dead Lights”: A propulsive bassline and a glimmering guitar drive Twin Ion Engine’s “Dead Lights.” The song is at once a messily recorded DIY affair and a calculated dark wave bop. Like in much goth-adjacent music, vocals play something of a backing role. Frontman Eddie Lopez’s booming Interpol-esque vocals flit about the edges like wisps of smoke.
Like what you hear? Check out Twin Ion Engine at Soda Bar on Wednesday, July 10.
Do you have a “Song of the Week” suggestion? Shoot us an email and a sentence or two about why you’ve been bumping this song lately. Friendly reminder: all songs should be by local artists!
In Other News
- The majority of elected leaders in Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties have received threats while in office, according to a University of San Diego study. But the real eye-popping statistic is the disparity between gender: Among men, 38 percent said they experienced hostility monthly. Among women, that figure shot up to 69 percent. (KPBS)
- San Diego has contracted with an engineering firm to figure out how best to repair its aging dams. The city will pay the firm $100 million over the next decade. (Union-Tribune)
- Side Hustle Opportunity: A Paul Thomas Anderson movie featuring Leonardo Dicaprio, Sean Penn and benicio Del Toro will be filming in San Diego later this month. The film’s casting directors are looking for Latinx men, women and children for paid background roles. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Jakob McWhinney and Will Huntsberry. It was edited by Scott Lewis.
if you’re homeless for more than 30 days you should be deported