Draft South Centre City Area Plan out for Southern Escondido - Comment period open

Escondido is seeking input on a new draft South Centre City Area Plan .
Please take a look at this and provide your input.

Per the city website, the South Centre City planning area is located in an area that is described by the General Plan as a future growth area (also called Target Area).  The South Quince Street Target Area, South Escondido Boulevard Target Areas, and the Centre City Parkway Target Area are identified in the City's General Plan (Target Areas C, D, E, and F).  These interconnected Target Areas comprise approximately 420 acres of Escondido’s more established and older sectors of the city and extends 2.25 miles along Centre City Parkway and Escondido Boulevard. 

The overall effort to create a South Centre Center Area Plan, called Envision South Centre City, will culminate into something that is called a "specific plan."  A specific plan is a planning document that consists of new zoning standards and design guidelines for a specific area of the city.  Zoning standards define the allowable uses and bulk or scale of development, while design guidelines address the appearance and quality of development. 

City staff has been working with various residents, businesses, and community members over the past two (2) years to develop a draft specific plan to facilitate the development of residential, commercial, and industrial properties in response to the needs and wants of the community.  If approved, the new specific plan would effectively establish a link between implementing policies of the General Plan and the future, individual development proposals within the South Centre City planning area.  With a focus on the neighborhoods surrounding Quince Street, South Escondido Boulevard, and Centre City Parkway in southwest Escondido, the South Centre City Specific Plan would bring together detailed regulations into a focused development scheme to improve community health, safety, sustainability, and economic prosperity, while respecting the unique character of South Centre City and preserving the community values of southern gateway character. 

Help Save our LIbrary: Rally to Roll out the UnWelcome Matt for LS&S Saturday, Sept 16 at 10 am

LS&S corporation and equity owners to be focus of UN-welcoming activities

Library supporters will converge in front of the Escondido Public Library on Saturday, September 16 at 10-11am in a rally to oppose outsourcing our library to Library Systems and Services (LS&S), a Maryland-based corporation owned by an equity firm.

After reading how LS&S mis-managed operations and staff at an Oregon library (which they have operated for over 10 years) and with the looming vote on the part of the Escondido City Council to hand over our library to the same corporation, we knew we had to get our message out even more strongly.  Here is information that just surfaced about LS&S's record in Oregon.  The full report is here.

Members of the Save Our Escondido Library Coalition will ceremoniously remove the "existing" Welcome Mat in front of the library and replace it with Escondido's "One-and-Only Unwelcome Mat" specifically for the City Council's proposed library outsourcing company, LS&S.

Coalition members plan to show LS&S in no uncertain terms that we don't need them and don't want them here!   

Members will be on hand to distribute flyers and collect petition signatures during the rally.  There will also be the opportunity to make a small iPhone video and send to LS&S investors and management.

The library is located at 239 S. Kalmia Street, Escondido.   Bring your signs, neighbors, friends, family, and cellphones if you have one.

Over 3,000 people have signed a petition against the outsourcing.  They have been joined in opposition by the Board of Library Trustees, the Library Foundation, and the American Library Association. 

The rally is the next step in resistance to outsourcing our library! 

Please email SaveEscondidoLibrary@gmail.com  to be added to the Save the Escondido Library Coalition information list.  You can also visit On the Issue Escondido Indivisible

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About Save Our Escondido Library Coalition: The coalition was formed by local Escondido community groups and residents in response to the City of Escondido’s move to outsource the Escondido Public Library. The coalition seeks to educate themselves and the public and to provide a conduit for Escondido residents to voice their concerns.