Politics

Solana Beach Says 'Yes' To Prop B Over Fletcher Cove Community Center

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published February 12, 2014 at 3:00 AM PST

This story was published more than 10 years ago.

Fletcher Cove Community Center in Solana Beach, overlooking the ocean and an ideal spot for public and private events. But it is in a residential neighborhood and has generated heated controversy over how often to allow events where alcohol is served.

With 100 percent of the vote counted, Prop B in Solana Beach has passed with 52 percent of the vote.

The "yes" vote means private parties will be allowed at the oceanfront community center every weekend instead of every second weekend, and there won't be a guest drink-limit.

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Supporters of the initiative argued that since the community had helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to renovate the center, the public should be allowed to use it freely.

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Mary Jane Boyd, who campaigned for the initiative, was delighted.

“I think it sends a clear message to our city council that we need to be heard," she said, "It has restored my faith in the democratic process.”

Boyd said the dispute reflects a division between the priorities of residents who live east and west of Interstate five. The campaign has bitterly divided Solana Beach, a city of just more than 13,000 people.

City council members said their restrictions were designed as a compromise. Deputy Mayor Lesa Heebner said she was disappointed by the vote. She said many voters didn’t understand the significance of the proposition, which could leave the city vulnerable to lawsuits from litigious neighbors.

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Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.