It’s two months down and 20 months to go for one of downtown Oceanside’s largest construction projects – a seven-story apartment complex, plus some retail, on the southwest corner of Mission Avenue and Cleveland Street.
Tim Davies, Project Manager for the Ryan Companies, reported on the building’s progress at Tuesday’s monthly morning meeting of MainStreet Oceanside.
Davies said it should be completed by Oct. 6, 2018.
The project is the second being built at that intersection by Ryan Companies for the land owner, GF Properties , a development arm of the Southern Ute Indian tribe. The other is a recently completed apartment-plus-retail building on the northwest corner.
“Excavation is complete,” as well as all prelimintary shoring, Davies said, and workers started pouring the foundation last Thursday.
Davies said a crane will be on site from mid-April for the following six months.
A portion of Seagaze Drive will be reduced to one lane, Davies said, and traffic on Cleveland also will be affected.
He also presented a website that will document the project’s progress. Users should use the passphrase block19 to access the website:
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Another project is under way just up the street, and Lou Ochoa, representing that developer of a parking structure, plus apartment building, said the basement flooring and walls have been poured (concrete). The schedule calls for dirt to be imported at the end of the month, Ochoa said.
Lot 23 Parking Structure
Jodi Diamond, Executive Director of the Oceanside Boys & Girls Clubs, reported on another kind of new building: a 2,000-square-foot expansion to the clubhouse on Country Club Drive “just a stone’s throw away” east of the Interstate 5 freeway and downtown.
The addition is called the Center for Innovation and it will house a kitchen so young people can learn culinary arts skills to prepare them for employment; a stage so youth are ready for the new Performing Arts Center at Oceanside High School; and a lab for STREAM (Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) programs.
Diamond recounted some of the history of the 65-year-old club, originally for boys only but now serving roughly 51 percent boys and 49 percent girls. The number of youngsters served has grown, Diamond said, from 232 to 1,300 daily.
It also provides a program, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays – when children are in school – for disabled adults.
Diamond said $170,000 of the necessary $550,000 already has been raised. A Mother’s Day pancake-breakfast fundraiser is planned for 8:30-11:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 13 – $7 for adults and $5 for youth..
Rick Wright, MainStreet Executive Director, said he and Gumaro Escarcega, Programs Director, can speak to the need for trained workers in the local hospitality business.
Earlier in the meeting, Kiel Koger, City of Oceanside Public Works Director, reported on city parking lots, all shown on a map, running from the north end of downtown to the south, and he told of proposed increases in fees for parking.
The fee increases, which were to be discussed by the City Council Wednesday night, included a hike from $1 to $1.50 an hour for meters and a new rate of $5 an hour to $15 per day in parking lots during the summer.
Koger said fees had not been increased since 2010 for meters or since 2011 in lots.
In addition, he said, overnight parking for oversized vehicles and unattached trailers would be prohibited in the harbor area. A permit for overnight camping three nights a month still will be available.
To comments from MainStreet ambassadors that many visitors say they have trouble finding change for the meters, Koger said 50 of the 500 parking meters now accept credit cards and others that do so are being purchased.
Also, he said, motorists can be told they will find free parking only a couple of blocks inland.
He reminded that yearly parking passes are available for $100 for residents and $200 for non-residents. And he also promised to look into the change problem further.
Wright said the MainStreet Board had voted unanimously the previous Tuesday to support the parking rate increase and to earmark some of the revenue for an updated parking study. And, he said, in answer to a question from Jane Mitchell, a recent $140,000 shuttle feasibility study in the neighboring city of Carlsbad will be reviewed when complete.
MainStreet’s new video on parking in the downtown was shown to the group.
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In other business:
–Wright announced that MainStreet had been able to mail the quarterly newsletter to an additional 10,000 addresses – for a total of 19,000 – thanks to a sponsorship from Tri-City Medical Center. Anyone interested in advertising in the newsletter, Wright said, should contact Escarcega.
—City Councilman Jerry Kern announced that the fences around the Civic Center fountain were coming down.
–Escarcega said there would be a meeting next Tuesday to chose the mural to be placed on the Star Theatre. It is the first in MainStreet’s Mural Initiative program. Escarcega said $4,000 has been raised, and $6,000 more is needed for the murals.
–Escarcega also presented the yearly economic-impact report required by the state. He said it shows that downtown Oceanside “is doing quite well.” The net gain has been 20 new businesses and 147 new jobs. “It’s really good news,” Escarcega said that the total investment has been $26 million. Also, he said, 1,792 hours were volunteered, compared to 1,600 the previous year. “Of 23 California MainStreets,” Escarcega said, “we were second. I think we will be first this year.”
—Cathy Nykiel of the MainStreet staff promoted the Public Safety Fair, including K-9 competition, planned by the Oceanside Police Department April 22 at El Camino High.
–Nykiel also reminded that registration is being accepted online at oceansideparade.com for the annual Independence Parade July 1.
—Jenna Roripaugh from the city’s Green Oceanside campaign said the Ninth Annual Earth Festival is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 22 in the “footprint” of MainStreet’s Sunset Market along Pier View Way and Tremont Street.
–Roribaugh also told of the public workshop on food waste scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 6, at the San Luis Rey Wastewater Treatment Plant.
—City Planner Jeff Hunt reported that the council last week directed the staff to continue work on proposed plans for the Highway 101 (Coast Highway) corridor. And he said a meeting to discuss regulating “accessory dwellings,” sometimes called “granny flats,” is scheduled April 12 in the Civic Center Library Community Rooms.
—Cerina De Souza from Visit Oceanside said the annual tourism summit will be held at 8:30 a.m. April 18 at the Star Theatre.
–De Souza also thanked everyone who supported the previous weekend’s Ironman event, and she said 3,000 to 5,000 people are expected at the Easter Sunrise Services at the Junior Seau Pier Amphitheatre April 16.
—Eileen Turk, Parks and Recreation Division Manager, said the annual Easter Egg Hunt for youngsters will be held at 10 a.m. April 15 in Mance Buchanon Park.
-Wright said that Jeremy Cohen, developer of the long-proposed resort hotel complex on Pacific Street, is scheduled to talk about his plans at the next Monthly Meeting at 8:30 a.m. May 2 at MainStreet offices, 701 Mission Ave.
We welcome all parties interested in the progress of Downtown Oceanside, including businesspeople, residents, and City staff. This informative one hour meeting is held in an informal discussion format. The general public is always welcome! Meet your City officials, MainStreet Oceanside staff and members and find out about upcoming events and changes to YOUR downtown and city.
