THE OCEANSIDER: Highlights of the Oceanside Neighborhood Association Meeting this Week

Posted on by Editor
Roughly 50 Oceansiders attended the regular meeting of the Oceanside Neighborhood Association (ONA) on Saturday, February 3, in person or remotely. County Commissioner Erin Skaar (who is seeking reelection this year) and county Community Development Director Sarah Absher also appeared, which presented an opportunity for questions and interactions that surfaced a number of newsworthy items. Here is a link to a video recording of the meeting.  The passcode is *.05ZWJ2

Highlights (discussed below) included:

  • new hotels to submit plans despite pledges to consult Oceansiders
  • members selected for new ONA zoning and STR committees
  • ONA President Brown will run for ONA Secretary
  • local coalition seeks grant to restore Short Beach stairs
  • the ONA website has been moved and updated

Here are more details:

First, all ONA Board officers confirmed they will not seek reelection in the June election. President Sharon Brown, however, will run for Secretary to offer continuity and ongoing support to the new officers. Pursuant to the ONA Bylaws, Brown will appoint a Nominating Committee to collect and report nominees, including self-nominations. The Board will also host a workshop this spring for prospective candidates and any other Oceansiders who wish to attend.

Second, Bruce Jaeger of the Oceanside Action Partnership reported that a coalition of agencies and groups has submitted a grant application for county funds to rebuild Short Beach Stairs (which the county owns). The Oceansider has approached Jaeger and the Public Works Department for details.

Third, Brown appointed members to the two committees previously reported in The Oceansider late last year. The special committee for proposing refinements to Oceanside’s STR cap will include:

  • Terri Warren (Chair) and Jerry Keene (members of the county STR committee)
  • Tom Dotson (Oceanside STR manager)
  • Barbara Rice (STR owner)
  • Kris Woolpert, Gill Wiggin and Clark Holloway (Oceanside residents)

Oceanside is currently capped at 139 STRs with one applicant on a waiting list.

The new members of the Zoning and Community Plan Review are:

  • Blake Marvis (Chair) (Oceanside native and attorney)
  • Simeon Dreyfuss (resident and NOSD Board member)
  • Steve Ewoldt (architect and Oceanside property owner)
  • Mandy Mock (Oceanside STR and long-term rental owner)
  • Tom Kemper (part-time resident and retired attorney)
  • Jeff Tathwell (part-time resident and architect)
  • Clark Holloway (full-time resident)
  • all current ONA officers (Brown, Keene, Carol Horton and Mary Flock) (automatic members per ONA Bylaws)

This committee will consider revisions to Oceanside’s residential zoning ordinance in light of a new state law permitting multi-family dwellings in areas currently zoned for single family residences. Director Absher will facilitate meetings for both committees, which will be open to the public in person and remotely.

Fourth, Jerzy Rub (ONA’s volunteer website manager) announced that www.oceansidefriends.org has successfully been “migrated” to a new host to save expenses, update features and increase storage to accommodate larger items, such as video recordings of past ONA meetings. The Oceanside Protection Society community foundation also announced its continuing commitment to fund ONA technology updates from its community donations.

Fifth, Director Absher reported that the developers of two proposed new hotels at the Oceanside Cabins and the former House on the Hill both intend to submit applications for land use permit approvals in the next “four to six weeks.”  Absher indicated the county will hold independent hearings for public input on each hotel. Several Oceansiders at the hearing recalled that these developers had pledged to consult the community and meet with ONA members while formulating their plans – which has not happened to date.

  

                                     Photo credit to Oceansider Matt Bennett

The ONA Board will invite the developers to present their plans to the community at or before the next regular ONA meeting in early April. The Oceanside Protection Society (which has spearheaded previous land use litigation efforts on behalf of the community) indicated it is following these events closely.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR


February 5     Oceanside Community Club Potluck
Oceanside Community Hall – 6 pm
Speaker: Payton Tracy, Pioneer Museum Director

February 14   Valentine’s Day Dance (open to all)
Oceanside Community Club – 5:30 p.m.
Chili & Chowder Available at Current Café

February 22   Conscious Dance session (open to all)
Oceanside Community Hall – 5:30
Info: Carol Kearns  carolkear03@yahoo.com

And that’s the view from Oceanside!

Jerry Keene, Editor
The Oceansider
www.oceansidernews.com
jerrykeene@oceansidernews.com