Extreme makeover needed at new Encinitas public works facility …
Extreme makeover needed at new Encinitas public works facility …
ENCINITAS — The 9.5 million former car dealership Encinitas has purchased for
its public works facility is a fixer-upper that must be remodeled, city officials
said Tuesday.
Extreme makeover needed at new Encinitas public works facility; $500K budgeted to improve former car dealership
ENCINITAS — The $9.5 million former car dealership Encinitas has purchased for its public works facility is a fixer-upper that must be remodeled, city officials said Tuesday.
When the city bought the 4.4-acre property on Calle Magdalena last summer, officials said the facility — with some minor modifications — was ready to operate.
That doesn’t appear to be the case now.
Escrow closed in September, but since then, only 16 of the Public Works Department’s 53 employees have moved onto the site, said Victor Graves, the department’s interim director. Those employees perform most of their tasks in the field.
With the exception of the wastewater division, most of the department’s work force eventually will work from the Calle Magdalena site, he said.
The department has hired an architect and is preparing to apply for permits to remodel the building, Graves said. In September, the City Council approved $500,000 for planning and improvements.
To completely move onto the site will take up to a year, Graves said.
Meanwhile, the architect is studying how the Public Works Department can best use the facility and how to make it comply with accessibility requirements for the disabled.
Beyond that, Graves said, some of the department’s business can’t happen at the new site because it would violate the city’s own zoning laws.
While offices and vehicle parking are permissible, the outdoor storage of materials is not. That’s why planners are processing code revisions to allow the public works facility in commercial zones.
The Public Works Department lost its previous home on D Street in 2004 to make way for a new city library, which is under construction.
Since then, the department has leased space at the old Pacific View Elementary School on Third Street. Recently, the Encinitas Union School District approved a six-month extension of the city’s dollar-a-year lease, which means the department can stay at the school until June, Graves said.
At the new location just east of Interstate 5 and south of Encinitas Boulevard, the public works facility remains in transition for now.
Most of the two-story, block building remains vacant, and a Chevrolet logo remains visible in the former showroom.
Two city supervisors for streets and the water district have set up offices in the building, which remains unconnected to the city’s computer network, Graves said. Also in the building is a makeshift break room.
The city’s occupancy is most evident in the dealership’s former parts warehouse, where the San Dieguito Water District has filled bins and shelves with pipe fittings.
Pieces of heavy equipment are parked on a dirt lot. A number of city vehicles are parked around the block building and detached service bays.
Finding a permanent public works site has been a high priority for city officials, who for many years were unable to agree upon a location.
City officials negotiated the sale last summer with Philip Mossy, who owned the dealership. Mossy continues to own six dealerships elsewhere in the county.
“There’s a lot of positives here,” Graves said. “It’s a good, centralized site.”