IMAGE BY PAUL LACITINOLA


6 San Diego Reader April 20, 2017


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NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS By Reader stringers


SOLANA BEACH Antique Warehouse out, West Elm in Until 1977 it was Tri-City Roller Rink The recent closure of Solana Beach’s Antique Warehouse in the Cedros Design District makes one look back at the 35-year old business.


Antique Warehouse in Solana Beach. “To antique malls, public enemy number one is eBay.”


“To antique malls, public enemy number one is eBay,” said David Teten. Teten was a dealer and later became assistant manager of the warehouse in the early 1990s. He got out of the industry when “a $10 item could be found online for 50 cents.” Teten was among the thousands of kids


in the 1960s who used the building prior to the 1982 opening of Antique Warehouse. Located at 212 South Cedros Avenue,


the Tri-City Roller Rink was the hot spot for north coastal pre-teens throughout the 1960s (closed in 1977). While the old, polished concrete floor is


still widely visible in the building, it will soon be turned into the upscale home furnishings and design retailer West Elm, a 92-store chain owned by Williams-Sonoma.


KEN HARRISON


NORMAL HEIGHTS Sidewalk danger all over town New metal base for signs part of the problem “I’ve tripped over that metal piece so many times [that] I stopped counting,” said Sharon as she walked back to her car that was parked on C Street under the Interstate 5 overpass. “I’ve only hurt my toe, nothing big.” Sharon, 18, a City College student, was


referring to a remnant of what appeared to be the base of an old street sign on the side- walk of C Street (by the freeway entrance). On April 11, after she left cosmetology class, she pointed at the metal three-inch shrouds protruding from a bigger chunk of metal.


The protrusion was fastened to the cement and the paint that surrounded it had faded. “I’m not going to touch it to find out how


sharp it is,” said Amanda Penny. “It could potentially cause a hazard if a person wasn’t looking at the right place at the right time.” In the past couple of weeks, the buzz on


some of the San Diego street-threads is on the subject of sidewalks. Some residents say that they have to split


the repair expense with the city. Council- member David Alvarez wants the City of San Diego to foot the bill 100%. “All this talk about the sidewalks — [the


City of San Diego] should be taking respon- sibility for them,” John said. “That’s why the city got sued.” He was referring to a recent city-council-approved settlement costing almost $5 million to a cyclist who was injured as a result of a tree-damaged sidewalk. John is a hardcore cyclist who is able


to get from his home south of Chula Vista (on the San Diego side) all the way to his friends’ house in Normal Heights “in about three hours.” John said that he’s noticed the new style of signage where signs are slid and secured into a metal base, rather than cemented in the pavement “like the old ones.” When the new style signs are removed (on purpose or by accident), the approximate 2˝ x 2˝ base remains, and sometimes the metal is sharp. By John’s buddies’ pad on Adams Avenue,


there is an exposed sign base on the opposite side of the post office. Two exits south (off of the I-15) in Cherokee Point there are two more on University Avenue — one by the Family Dollar store where John replenishes his electrolytes and another one a block to the west. “That’s bad; it’s sharp,” said Fernando


Lopez, the owner of Sabores Colombia- nos. He was referring to a broken 30-minute parking sign that’s been sitting on the side- walk by his restaurant for two or so weeks. Up where Cherokee Point turns into


North Park, on the Landis Street overpass (over the 805 freeway), there was a notori- ously sharp-edged sign base that was exposed for a year or so. “Our baby stroller would hit that all of the time,” said a resident who lived in the apartments around the bend.


MIKE MADRIAGA


MISSION BAY Geezer RVs rally at Campland Where’s Pinkman’s Ride? On April 1, approximately 120 vintage camper trailers and recreational vehicles parked inside Campland on the Bay. This was the fourth annual Pismo South, a camper trailer rally that originated up in the cen- tral coast. Cathy Geary, the cofounder of the Pismo


rallies, had the idea over five years ago; she was saddened when she heard that Camp- land would be closing its doors. She’s been


coming here since the 1980s, during “the Streak,” an antique car rally held by the Over the Hill Gang. Paul Lacitinola, from Vintage Camper


Trailers magazine, flew in from Sacramento to cover the event. He usually rolls to about 12 rallies a year in California, Utah, Arizona, and Texas with his wife, Caroline, in one of their vintage campers. He took photos and video of the gathering and posted some on his social media.


the initial cost of a permit will now be $10 a year versus the current $100.25 for residential alarms and $173.25 for business customers (for two years). The biggest change will be in the penalties for false alarms. As it is now, every permit holder gets five false alarms annually without any penalty included in their permit cost. Starting July 1, this changes to $100 for the first false alarm and incre- mentally increases to $500 for five to seven false alarms. The ordinance also mandates that alarm companies call the end-user twice before dispatching the police. Mayer said this alone is estimated to reduce law enforce- ment responding to false alarms by at least 70 percent. Jon Sargent with the Security Industry


“Where’s Pinkman’s ride at?” This was the RV that much of the TV series, Breaking Bad, was filmed in.


“But where’s Pinkman’s ride at?” asked


one of the visitors. He was looking for a 1986 Fleetwood Bounder RV but had no luck. This was the make and model RV that much of the TV series Breaking Bad was filmed in. MIKE MADRIAGA


HILLCREST


Special assessment to take care of homeless? Little Italy envy The Hillcrest Business Association is urging east Hillcrest to look at setting up a business maintenance district to provide businesses and residents with services that west Hillcrest already enjoys — private security patrols to deal with homeless people, sidewalk cleaning, and landscape maintenance. “I hear people say, ‘Why can’t we be like


Little Italy?’ We can be like Little Italy with a maintenance assessment district,” said Ben Nicholls, executive director of the business association. Nicholls calculated that it would cost $298,000 a year — money that would come from property owners and business owners in the area. Many of the 50 or so people who attended an April 11 presenta- tion seemed to support the idea, which has to be approved in a vote of the residents. “Our biggest problem is the homeless


people and the mess — including human waste — they leave behind,” said an east Hillcrest business owner.


MARTY GRAHAM


SAN DIEGO Less for alarm permits, more for false alarms Council passes new rules 6-3 On April 10, the city council voted to change an ordinance regarding alarm-system fees and penalties. The biggest changes alarm users may


notice will be that new permits will expire annually instead of every other year. Also,


DEL MAR Goodguys omits L-word at car show Rods, customs, classics, muscle cars and trucks — but not lowriders “Man, I think that lowriders should have their own category here,” said Steve Polen, “they got restomod, 100% original, and others — but not lowrider.” On the first weekend of the month, the continued on page 8


Alarm Coalition said that when changes like what are proposed have been instituted in other cities, false alarms dropped dramati- cally. He also speculated that with a popula- tion of about 1.3 million, the estimated 40,000 local alarm permits will probably double once everybody gets onboard.


Kyle Meaux: the police department spends approximately 20,000 hours a year responding to false alarms.


Ronald Walters with the Security Industry


Alarm Coalition said that roughly 77 percent of all residential alarms are caused by user error.


Councilmember Chris Ward said he was


concerned about a constituent getting a call away from home and having to decide if they were risking a $100 fine by sending the police to their home. While Cate supported the motion, coun- cilmembers Ward, Lorie Zapf, and David Alvarez did not. They all wanted to see an ordinance that had one non-penalty false alarm per year. The vote for the new ordinance passed


6-3 with the minority being Ward, Zapf, and Alvarez.


JULIE STALMER


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