LA MESA – The City Council voted unanimously this week to make more changes to its blasting rules, which govern how explosives are used in construction.
The changes come four months after the La Mesa council voted to make major revisions to the law, requiring more planning, security, oversight and reporting. The latest amendment includes additional oversight for rock breaking and requires that the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration be notified if rock escapes from a construction site where explosives are being used.
Blasting is a touchy subject in some La Mesa neighborhoods where homeowners are frustrated with the explosions and drilling at construction sites. Tempers flared when rock unexpectedly flew from the 36-home Hilltop development on Orien Avenue in November, the second such incident in nearly three years. The rock punctured the roof of a home on Yale Avenue but caused no injuries.
Blasting was halted at the Hilltop site until the first test blast under the new rules earlier this month. The city requires that properties within 500 feet be notified when blasting occurs, and that they be inspected for damages before and after the blasting is completed. Some homeowners outside the notification area say they have noticed damage to their homes, and have asked that the notification area be expanded.
The test blast this month involved placing eight seismometers at 500 feet, 1,200 feet and 1,500 feet from the construction site. None of the city's rules were broken so city officials decided the 500-foot notification distance was appropriate.
– Liz Neely
One person hurt in
crash on Route 52
A three-vehicle crash caused a minor injury and a traffic jam on eastbound state Route 52 during the evening commute yesterday.
Motorists reported three vehicles on the right shoulder and in the center divider of eastbound highway lanes east of Santo Road about 3:40 p.m.
Two of the vehicles had to be towed, the California Highway Patrol said. No information was available about the injured person. The wrecks were cleared away by 5 p.m.
– Pauline Repard
Tailgate Park
lease approved
The Centre City Development Corp. approved yesterday a long-term lease with the San Diego Padres for Tailgate Park.
The vote was 3-1, though some board members who supported it said they weren't entirely happy with the deal. They said it was the best they could do given the constraints of a transaction that started with the San Diego Unified Port District in 1998.
The port had planned to buy the Tailgate Park land from the city and lease it to the Padres as part of the overall financing package for the downtown ballpark.
The port backed out, and the city took over the deal, agreeing to accept the port's lease terms with the Padres.
Those terms allow the Padres to pay low rent on the land. The revenue from parking proceeds was designed to help the team's owners finance their share of the ballpark.
While the Padres have 28 years left on the lease, the city has the option starting in 2010 to redevelop the property. If so, the city would have to provide replacement parking for the team.
Tailgate Park is a four-block parking lot near Petco Park where fans are allowed to grill burgers and hot dogs before the first pitch. Parking is $20.
– Jeanette Steele
Theater professor
now UCSD provost
A UC San Diego theater professor has been named the provost of one of the university's six undergraduate colleges.
Allan Havis, 54, said he hopes to build a stronger sense of community for the 3,800 students of Thurgood Marshall College by inviting more guest speakers and establishing programs to help the homeless in San Diego.
UCSD is divided into six undergraduate colleges, each following different themes and designed to make the 29,000-student university feel more more manageable for students.
– Eleanor Yang
