Coronado Currents | The Official eNewsletter of the City of Coronado

Consider for a moment the City's storm water diversion project, which captures inadvertent spills and water runoff that flows from curbs and gutters into Coronado's storm drains. With a $1 million grant from the State Water Resources Control Board, the City is installing a series of 12 diversion structures along the ocean and bay to pump untreated water — which can contain pollutants — to the sewer. Examples of potential pollutants include roadway oils and chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides from lawns, animal waste, household cleaners and chemicals, and excessive irrigation water. The result is cleaner beaches.

Another of Coronado's recent infrastructure accomplishments is the Glorietta Bay Pump Station, a $3 million sewer project built almost entirely underground. The station has a massive 300,000-gallon storage capacity that provides the City with added flexibility during emergencies, reducing the potential for sewage spills into the bay. The pump station collects sewage from all sources south of Pomona Avenue and moves 200,000 gallons a day to the City's primary pump station at First Street and B Avenue.

Keeping local roadways safe is also a top priority for City officials. Using a federal grant to pay for 90 percent of the $160,000 project, the City Council recently approved installation of an Opticom System at every signalized intersection in the community. The system, designed to automatically change lights as emergency vehicles approach intersections, uses infrared beams from transmitters in emergency vehicles directed at receivers mounted on traffic signals. The system will improve roadway safety and response times during emergencies.

If you would like more information on the Opticom System, contact Ed Walton at 619.522.7385. For more information about the City's storm water program, call the Clean Coastlines Hotline at 619.522.7380.

The volunteers who make up Coronado's Boards, Commissions and Committees are in many ways the heart and soul of the city. They represent the spirit of the community, and work hard to maintain Coronado's small-town character and quality of life enjoyed by all residents.

More than 100 Coronado residents currently donate their time to serve on one of these groups, which were established to give local residents a voice on important issues that impact the community. Today, the volunteers who are members of these groups play an integral role in making recommendations to the City Council that affect life in Coronado. Residents who would like to volunteer can apply by filling out a short application. Qualified applicants are appointed by the City Council.

The following stories provide some background information on a few of the volunteer groups that are actively engaged in the community. Also listed below on the left are the City's standing boards, commissions, committees and advisory groups. For more information, or if you are interested in serving as a community volunteer, please contact City Clerk Diane Shea at 619.522.7320.�

Seniors Help Keep City Safe
The Police Senior Volunteer Patrol is the largest volunteer organization in the City. Over 40 active seniors currently serve as the "eyes and ears" of the Police Department. The program, currently in its eighth year, has served as a model for many small police departments throughout the country.

Paul Grubb (L) and Ken Wiley (R) are members of the Police Senior Volunteer Patrol.�
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Volunteering between four and twenty hours a week, participants assist the Police Department in a variety of activities. Out in the field, they provide traffic control, give warnings of violations and conduct home security checks for residents who are on vacation. These volunteers also assist at special events, such as the Fourth of July parade or safety and crime prevention fairs. At the station, they give tours, take fingerprints, log personal property, file reports, enter data and answer phones.

Senior volunteers may come from different backgrounds, but they share two common traits - a desire to help others and be involved in their community. The Patrol is made up of seniors age 55 and older, with an average age of 75. Volunteers have professional backgrounds that include military officers and pilots, FBI agents, physicians, attorneys, homemakers and bankers. Some even maintain full-time jobs while serving in the program. No law enforcement experience is required, but volunteers are carefully screened and attend an 80-hour training academy with additional monthly training.

"The volunteer program provides extra protection to the community and its residents and business owners, and it's good for our seniors," said Police Department Community Relations Coordinator Lea Corbin. "It offers them a support system, new friendships and keeps them active. We are very fortunate to have them."

Citizens Task Force to Review Development Standards�
The Coronado City Council has approved a new effort to review and improve single-family development standards in the Village. Called the Residential Standards Improvement Project (RSIP), the review process will be led by a task force of 11 Coronado residents.

Task Force Focus
The following guiding principles will be used by the RSIP task force when making recommendations to the City Council.

Improve single-family development standards to be consistent with the desires of the broader community.

Preserve the village atmosphere within the community through the promotion of visually attractive architecture that is compatible with Coronado's small-town feel.

Enhance the quality of life for Coronado residents by striving to achieve a lively, friendly and inviting community that is bonded together by a sense of civility, stewardship and consideration of neighbors.

Coronado Planning Commissioners Jim Strickland and Leslie Reynolds will act as chair and vice-chair and Councilmember Patty Schmidt will serve as the Council's representative.

The remaining eight positions will be filled with volunteers. The City hopes to include an architect, developer, and land-use attorney who own single-family zoned property in the Village, to serve on the task force and provide expertise in related fields.

Once formed, the task force will meet to establish broad guidelines, milestones and objectives. Regular task force meetings and a series of public hearings to gather and consider community input will follow. The task force is charged with providing the City Council with a report of its findings next spring.

According to Reynolds, the planning effort is in response to residential feedback that development standards should be updated to reflect the broader desires of the community. "The City Council has received several requests from the community to evaluate the existing standards that regulate development in Coronado. The objective of RSIP is to preserve the quality of life and village atmosphere in our community."

For more information on RSIP, please contact Associate Planner Peter Fait at 619.522.7326 in the City's Community Development Department.

Volunteer Profile: Jim Strickland
The word "experience" comes to mind when describing Jim Strickland. A retired Colonel, Strickland spent 30 years in the Air Force, serving his country in a variety of positions. Strickland now spends his time as a volunteer for the City, using his experience to tackle some of Coronado's biggest issues.

Strickland was selected by the City Council to serve on the Planning Commission more than five years ago. Now in the last year of his second and final term, Chairman Strickland has worked on the City's fast food ordinance, the original Tunnel Committee and the Bayfront Committee.

As chairman of the Bayfront Committee, Strickland successfully led a group of Coronado residents and technical experts through a process to evaluate and recommend zoning changes to this unique part of town. The process included substantial public input, and the final result was adopted by the City Council.

Strickland's next major effort will be to serve as the Chairman of the Residential Standards Improvement Project task force. Strickland was tapped for this position because of his experience leading citizen task forces and his success with the Bayfront Committee.

Tunnel Commission Seeks Long-Term Traffic Improvement�
Established in 1999, the Coronado Tunnel Commission is an eight-member group that oversees progress of the State Route 75 Tunnel Project. The Commission works closely with the City's staff, consultants and Council to ensure tunnel plans include valuable input from the community.

Recently, the Commission recommended the adoption of a final report showing that twin bored tunnels underneath existing streets from the bridge to Naval Air Station North Island are the best long-term traffic solution for Coronado. The recommendation will be presented to the City Council on September 16. The next step in the process is the preparation of a Project Report and Environmental Documents.

The Tunnel Commission meets on the first Thursday of every month at 4 p.m. Until the new City Hall is constructed, meetings will take place at 700 Orange Ave. in the Coronado Police Department's Emergency Operations Center. The public is welcome to attend.

Public Art Enhances Quality of Life�
Some of the town's most cherished pieces of public art, such as "Old Guns" in Star Park Circle, the gazebo in Spreckels Park, and "Sheltering Wings" in Coronado Cays, are well-known and recognizable. Other public art in the City, however, is less visible, designed to blend into the natural environment in a variety of settings.

An observation deck along the Silver Strand has been cleverly designed to resemble the wing of a bird (California Least Tern) that is indigenous to Coronado.�
Click here to view enlarged image.

Take for example, three innovative bus shelters located along the Silver Strand. The back panels are translucent, discreetly featuring artistic representations of nature. Appropriately named "Fish Food", "The Chase", and "The Flash", the bus shelters display scenes of life in the ocean, as experienced by fish, birds and sailors. The art is carefully integrated into the shelters, enhancing a functional City structure that is typically used as a commercial advertising opportunity in other communities.

With some imagination, an ordinary retaining wall in the Cay's Tennis Center has also become a beautiful seating area lined with colorful mosaic tiles. Called "Sunset", the project is the result of the City's Public Art Subcommittee, which is a part of the City's Environmental Design Review Commission.

Just down the Strand is another of the City's treasures - Nature's Bridge to Discovery. This 1.4-mile interactive path includes a comprehensive collection of public art. Viewers can experience a stone clock that captures the winter and summer solstice with robust rays of sunshine, a series of monuments and stepping stones dedicated to local creatures, and an observation deck shaped like the wing of an indigenous bird.