2002 Year in Review

by Councilman Scott Peters
January 2003

Happy New Year! It is an honor and a privilege to serve the residents of the Carmel Valley area. I have appreciated the opportunity to meet with many of you over the past year to discuss ways to enhance the quality of life in the Carmel Valley, and make it a better place for all our families. For my family the new year is always a time for reflection on the year past and a time to look forward to the opportunities and challenges ahead. 2002 was a great year and by working together we will continue to get things done to support the quality of life of Carmel Valley families.

Nothing is more important to our quality of life than creating parks where we can play with our children and enjoy the beautiful weather here in San Diego. Many people were lured to or stay in San Diego because of our unique ability to enjoy the outdoors year-round. The completion and opening of Carmel Knolls and Ashley Falls Parks this past year added 18 acres of ballfields, tot-lots, picnic areas, and passive park space for the enjoyment of Carmel Valley families.

I was also pleased that we were able to enhance the quality of life for dog owners in Carmel Valley with the opening of the Carmel Valley Dog Park. With a "can-do" attitude and by bringing together representatives from Friends of Carmel Valley Dog, City Staff, the Recreation Council, the Planning Group and area sports teams we were able to resolve old conflicts and find a suitable location for the dog-park in the Southern corner of Torrey Highlands park. I was proud to be able to throw out the first frisbee at the opening of the dog park on July 27th, and having gone by several times, know that it is being well used by Carmel Valley people and pooches.

Carmel Valley's close proximity to San Diego's beautiful beaches is another part of the high quality of life we enjoy in this area. Unfortunately water pollution has sometimes prevented us from being able to surf or swim at our area beaches. Two years ago the Mayor and I made it a priority to clean up our beaches and bays and we have made great progress. Through an aggressive cleaning and replacement program we have reduced sewer spills by 40% in only two years. This coupled with creative strategies to prevent polluted storm water from reaching our beaches has reduced beach closures by 46% in the last two years. This is great progress and by continuing our aggressive program we will continue to improve access to our area beaches which are so central to our quality of life.

We would not have been able to achieve these results without your help. Carmel Valley residents have shown their commitment to the health of our area beaches by scooping the poop, sweeping instead of hosing off sidewalks and participating in two clean-ups of the Los Penasquitos Lagoon and Torrey Pines Beach areas that I sponsored in May and September. In May our clean-up focused on illegal dumping of construction waste on the East side of Penasquitos Lagoon. My staff and I and dozens of volunteers pitched in to remove concrete, garden waste, and garbage dumped at the edge of the lagoon. On September 21st, as part of California Coastal Clean-Up Day, 175 volunteers pitched in to collect over 1,100 pounds of trash from the beach and lagoon. The overwhelming support area residents have given to this cause shows that we can get things done if we role up our sleeves and pitch in to help. I look forward to sponsoring more of these events in 2003.

This year we were able to bring closure on the location of the new police sub-station and community resource center in Carmel Valley. Constructive dialogue between the planning board, City staff and Pardee Construction brought about agreement on the site for the new sub-station. After receiving the consent of the community, the City has purchased the six acre parcel on Del Mar Heights Road and El Camino Real. Once completed the new police station will improve response times and provided added protection for families in Carmel Valley.

This year I was again fortunate to participate in National Walk to School Day at Torrey Hills Elementary. This program reminds us all of the need to protect the time honored tradition of children walking to school. To this end we were able to install traffic lights and stop signs near schools at the intersections of Lozana and Mango Drive, Carmel Country and Derrydown Way, Halfmile Drive and Hartfield Avenue, West Ocean Air and Calle Mar De Mariposa, and West Ocean Air and Ocean Bluff. Parents and residents in these areas had requested these important traffic calming measures and I am pleased that we were able to get them done.

Del Mar Terrace residents came to the end of a long journey this past year with the removal of the first utility pole in their self-formed undergrounding district. I was pleased to be able to bring this project to a conclusion and applaud the community for their initiative and perseverance.

The new year will bring challenges related to problems with the State budget, but we will continue to work hard and find creative solutions to improve and support the quality of life in Carmel Valley. Happy New Year!