Solana Beach residents forced to voter initiative

Solana Beach residents are now circulating petitions to place an initiative on the ballot that will allow the voters of Solana Beach to decide if the Fletcher Cove Community Center can be used for private celebrations.

The initiative is necessary because the City Council has been unable to reach a decision regarding the use of the center for private family celebrations and announced that the matter will not be brought back for review. Because they refuse to set up rules for private use of the venue, the recently remodeled center sits almost unused.

Residents of Solana Beach are thoroughly displeased with the gridlock on this issue. For more than 50 years, the community used Fletcher Cove Community Center for special events and family celebrations. Many beautiful memories were created at this site. During the 1990s, the city failed to fund repairs and maintenance, and the facility was allowed to deteriorate until it was undesirable for events.

In 2007, the Council voted to remodel the building, soliciting funding from citizens with the promise that it would be used again for “classes, civic events and celebrations.” The residents donated $225,000 for the redesign and renovation of the facility.

Since the grand opening of the refurbished Community Center in July 2011, the multiple requests for use of the building have been denied by the City because no policy to govern its use exists.

The only opponents to the facility’s use are a few of the center’s immediate neighbors, who would prefer the event venue sit empty. In a series of meetings, advocates for center use made numerous concessions, but the neighbors were unwilling to compromise.

“Residents of the city of Solana Beach are disappointed, discouraged and exasperated,” said Mary Jane Boyd. “We have a Community Center with limited use, but it cannot be used for the purpose for which it was designed and renovated.”

Citizens are circulating petitions to place the initiative on the ballot so that voters of Solana Beach may choose if the center can be used as promised when funds were solicited.