Del Mar’s Downtown Now in Voters’ Hands

DEL MAR â€”  Voters approved an initiative requiring a citywide vote on all large downtown development, incomplete election returns showed Tuesday night.

Following an avalanche of last-minute campaign charges and counter-charges, Del Mar voters picked newcomers Brooke Eisenberg and John Gillies to fill two City Council seats, incomplete returns showed.

Mayor Arlene Carsten, who was defeated, bucked opinion polls favoring the so-called Downtown Initiative, warning that if the measure passed, the city would be forced into expensive legal defense of the ordinance which requires a citywide vote of approval on major commercial projects.

Carsten was also the brunt of diatribe by columnists and letter writers in local papers who charged she had cut off public comment by maneuvering City Council agenda items so that large groups of residents were forced to wait for hours before testifying and by changing council rules to prevent citizens from testifying on many issues.

Carsten contended in her campaign that passage of Proposition B could bankrupt the city in legal fees and from judgments that could result in seizure of city property to pay court awards to developers.

Eisenberg and Gillies supported Proposition B, arguing that out-sized commercial development was not in the interests of the seaside community of 5,200 residents. They said that commercial development proposed on three corners of the town’s main intersection would draw tourists but would result in traffic congestion that would offset any tax revenue that additional visitors would bring. Eisenberg also claimed victory in discouraging Nissan Motors from sponsoring a proposed Grand Prix auto racing event at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Gillies, an architect, was the victim of a campaign smear in the form of a mimeographed court notice of a damage suit filed against him, claiming that he had attacked a man and beaten him. Gillies fought back in two letters to Del Mar voters explaining that the man he had attacked was a confessed robber he had surprised in the act of burgling his Del Mar office. The robber, despite pleading guilty to the break-in, had filed a $500,000 damage suit against Gillies which was settled out of court by Gillies’ insurance company for $1,500.

Despite an expensive advertising campaign, Del Mar resident James Smith failed to convince voters to grant him a zone change so that he could develop his 20-acre hillside property for a 500-room resort hotel. He had pledged to give every Del Mar voter a membership in the resort which would entitle them to use the facilities at half-price rates if his zoning measure--Proposition C--was approved.

Voters also turned down a $150-a-month salary for Del Mar City Council members and rejected a slight density increase in the town’s residential zones--allowing 400 square feet additional building per residential lot.

Councilman Jim Tetrault, whose four-year council term is ending, decided not to seek a second term because of business reasons. Tetrault said his business will continue to keep him away from Del Mar for extended periods.

Del Mar City Council (2 Elected) 5 of 5 Precincts Reporting

Votes % Gillies 1,404 30.2 Eisenberg 1,277 27.5 Dougherty 1,022 22 Carsten (inc.) 900 19.4 Cannon 36 0.7

Yes No

Proposition A $150 monthly council pay. 1,122 1,211

Proposition B Downtown development limits. 1,445 948

Proposition C 500-room hotel approval. 447 1,876

Proposition D Residential density increase. 988 1,250