Del Mar City Council Meeting Agenda
Del Mar Town Hall
1050 Camino del Mar, Del Mar, California
March 11, 2026 City Council Meeting
INFORMATION RECEIVED
AFTER THE COUNCIL AGENDA
WAS DISTRIBUTED
(“Red Dots”)
1 Robert Silva
From: Anais Muller-Cohn <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2026 4:00 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Red Dot - Native Plant Ordinance
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
To Whom This May Concern:
Please find my Red Dot written comment below for the upcoming City Council Planning Meeting on March 11. Please let me know if you have any questions! ~Anais
Red Dot Submission:
Scientific consensus warns of a looming extinction crisis that affects not only iconic species but also the insects and pollinators essential to our ecosystem. A proven way to respond is by incorporating native plant species into our gardens, parks, and street landscaping.
For too long, our landscapes have been designed primarily for aesthetics using non-native plants. It is now vital that our developed spaces contribute to preserving biodiversity. In addition to protecting wild areas, we must "rewild" our developed spaces on a scale appropriate for Del Mar. We have an opportunity to achieve this by enacting a native plant ordinance.
The City of Encinitas has already taken a leadership position by proposing an ordinance that mandates 50% native plants for new projects. This is a fair and effective method for supporting pollinators. Like Encinitas, Del Mar has lost much of its wildlife habitat to a century of development, and this ordinance is a necessary step toward mitigating that loss.
I urge you to pass a Native Plant Ordinance in Del Mar.
Best regards,
Anais Muller-Cohn
March 11, 2026 Item 1
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: Ashok Masilamani <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2026 9:08 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Add Creation of Native Plant Ordinance to Work Plan Inbox CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Del Mar City Council,
I strongly recommend incorporating the establishment of a Native Plant Ordinance into the City’s work plan. Native plants require significantly less water compared to traditional landscaping methods and play a crucial role in supporting local pollinators like hummingbirds and butterflies. I believe it’s essential to prioritize planting native plants to strengthen habitat in our urban landscape.
Thank you,
Ashok Masilamani
March 11, 2026 Item 1
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: Paige DeCino <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2026 9:53 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Native plant ordinance
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear city council members and mayor,
Del Mar has a chance to support sustainability and biodiversity by passing a native plant ordinance. By modeling your ordinance after the draft ordinance in Encinitas which uses a CA Native Plant Society list (calscape.org) as a source for acceptable plants, you minimize the need to create and maintain your own plant lists.
Native plants are adapted to our dry Mediterranean climate and create habitat for wildlife and pollinators. Utilizing native plants in landscapes adjacent to natural open spaces is particularly important to lessen the chance of spreading invasive.
Thank you for your consideration of this issue.
Paige DeCino
March 11, 2026 Item 1
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: Mark Jenne <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2026 12:04 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Native Plant Ordinance
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Del Mar should have a native plant ordinance, of course! The city has so much potential; despite being small in size it's situated in such a rare place that has lost so much natural diversity. This is a chance for Del Mar to move toward recovery of our native ecosystem.
Regards, Mark Jenne
Cardiff, CA
March 11, 2026 Item 1
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: Harold <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2026 5:39 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Native Plant Ordinance
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Mayor and City Council Members:
I am writing to ask you to add the development and adoption of a Native Plant Ordinance to Del Mar’s work plan. The reasons to support the use of native plants in landscaping are many. Natives use far less water than typical landscape vegetation and support the proliferation of natural pollinators like butterflies and hummingbirds. Del Mar is flanked by two wonderful wild habitats-the San Dieguito Lagoon and the Torrey Pines Natural Reserve, this ordinance would help to support and connect them. The City is a wonderful oasis on the coast, please help preserve and enhance it through the adoption of the Native Plant Ordinance.
Respectfully,
Harold Standerfer
North County Group/Sierra Club
March 11, 2026 Item 1
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: City Clerk Mail Box
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2026 8:48 AM
To: Leslie Carrillo
Subject: Goals & Priorities Setting Workshop
From: Dolores Davies <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2026 11:01 PM
To: Sarah Krietor <[email protected]>; Tracy Martinez <[email protected]>; John Spelich <[email protected]>; Terry Gaasterland <[email protected]>; Dan Quirk <[email protected]>; Ashley Jones <[email protected]>
Subject: Goals & Priorities Setting Workshop
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
March 10, 2026
To: Del Mar City Council Members & City Manager Ashley Jones Re: Del Mar Goals & Priorities Setting Workshop
Dear Mayor Martinez, Councilmembers & City Manager Jones, Given that the City’s principal planner, Matt Bator, plans to retire later this year, we are very concerned about the status and future of two very important work plan items in the City’s 2026/27 work plan—Tier 2, Item 10:
Comprehensive Tree Policy & Regulatory Standards Update and Tier 3, Item 6: Turn the Design Review Guidelines into Design Review Ordinances.
Regarding Tier 2, Item 10, while we certainly understand the need for Matt Bator to receive feedback from our new Fire Chief on CAL FIRE’S new zone zero when updating some relevant tree regulations, we hope this need does not hinder Matt’s ability to focus on the numerous other recommendations made by our Sustainability Advisory Committee to preserve and expand our urban tree canopy. These recommendations will both help us meet Del Mar’s climate action plan goals, and preserve the distinctive character of our community.
Tier 3, Item 6, a much needed work plan item to turn the Design Review guidelines into Design Review Ordinances, also deserves and requires Matt’s attention. If these work plan items are not completed during his remaining months with the City, it is difficult to imagine anyone stepping in for Matt who even remotely possesses his institutional knowledge and experience regarding these complex subjects.
The City Council has been reminded repeatedly over the past several years that the Municipal Code needs to be updated with greater clarity and objectivity in order to better protect our community character in important areas such as preventing incompatible setbacks, excessive hardscape, invasion of privacy, unreasonable landform modification and replacing trees displaced by new development. As an example, even though the Design Guidelines state that rooftop decks in hillside neighborhoods are to be avoided, they are still regularly proposed by applicants and only if neighbors object, can they be avoided. Good design principles are necessary to protect our property values. They should not be negotiable.
March 11, 2026 Item 1
2 For these reasons, we would urge you to move Tier 3, Item 6 to Tier 2. Also, let’s please move forward with the many elements of Tier 2, Item 10 that don’t intersect with fire policy so we can benefit from Matt’s guidance in completing this important work plan item.
Thank you for listening.
Best,
Dolores Davies Jamison & Richard Jamison
Crest Road
Del Mar
March 11, 2026 Item 1
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: Judy Muller-Cohn <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2026 9:21 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Native plants in DM City Plan
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Del Mar City Council,
As a longtime resident of Del Mar Terrace I urge you to add the creation of a Native Plant Ordinance to the City’s work plan. Native plants use far less water than traditional landscaping while supporting local pollinators such as hummingbirds and butterflies. I’d like to see native plants prioritized in our city’s urban landscape to help connect existing wild habitats, from the dynamic San Dieguito Lagoon to the majestic Torrey Pines Natural Reserve.
Sincerely,
Judy Muller-Cohn, PhD
March 11 , 2026 Item 1
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: Ann Feeney <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2026 9:30 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Red Dot letter for Goals and Priorities workshop Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Mayor Martinez and Councilmembers,
Buildings are the second highest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in California. Reducing our use of fossil fuels to provide water and space heating should therefore be a major goal of our Climate Action Plan to reduce our GHG emissions. Replacing gas water heaters and gas furnaces near their endof-life with highly efficient and all-electric heat pumps therefore is an excellent way to reduce our GHG emissions, and this has been recommended by the Sustainability Advisory Committee for a few years.
I was therefore pleased that this recommendation was positively received at last year’s Goals and Priorities workshop, and that it made it to the City’s 2025-2026 Workplan. “Development of a policy that prioritizes the purchase of electric appliances when possible”. Item 7. “City Facilities Gas Appliances Inventory”. Council proposed the generation of an inventory of the city’s gas appliances with the estimated end of life so that the city could plan in advance for replacement with heat pump alternatives when possible.
As of now, Public Works has not had the capacity to generate an inventory and a timeline for potential replacement of aging gas appliances with heat pumps. I would recommend that this moves up in priority on the workplan such that it will be accomplished this fiscal year.
In the agenda packet, Item 17 of FY 2025-2026 Work plan Items completed, it says that the water heater in the Civic Center was replaced. Was it replaced with a heat pump?
The Sustainability Advisory Committee has also advocated to put solar (with or without battery storage) on municipal buildings when feasible. The Beach Safety Center is a prime candidate since the electricity costs there are so high so that it would be cost-efficient for the City. This also made it onto the City’s 2025-2026 workplan “”evaluate the possibility of increasing the City’s solar capacity on city owned property”. CEA has a program for providing solar and battery storage for municipal buildings with no upfront costs. I would encourage the City to explore this option.
I was also dismayed to see that that item 10, tier 2 in the 2026-2027 workplan, the Comprehensive Tree Policy, is being deferred. The protection of our existing urban forest tree canopy and expansion of it has been a major goal of our Climate Action Plan and of the workplan of the Sustainability Advisory March 11, 2026 Item 1
2 Committee. Please consider beginning the drafting of the Comprehensive Tree Policy in 2025- 2026. Many aspects of it are independent of fire considerations and could be drafted soon, with the zone zero being added when it is ready.
Thank you
Ann Feeney
Rimini Rd
member, Sustainability Advisory Committee
March 11, 2026 Item 1
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2026 9:35 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Cc: Tracy Martinez; John Spelich; Terry TG. Gaasterland; 'Dan Quirk'; Ashley Jones; 'Angelina Neglia'; 'Amy Cheshire'
Subject: Red Dot Item 1, March 11, 2026
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear City Clamyerk:
Kindly submit the following red dot on Item 1 of today’s Goals and Priorities meeting of the City Council into the record:
Dear Mayor Martinez and Distinguished members of the City Council:
I am a long-time resident of Del Mar. I am sorry I cannot attend the Goals and Priorities special meeting of the City Council today.
Kindly consider adding the following to the City’s top tier Goals and Priorities:
Pro-Active Monitoring and Encouraging Timely Implementation of SANDAG’s agreement with the Coastal Commission (adopted for the express benefit of Del Mar’s beaches and coastal waters)to design, by April 2027 and to implement by 2029, the mitigation obligations imposed on SANDAG as conditions to the Coastal Commission’s permitting of the Bluff Stabilization Project.
As mitigation for Phase 5 Bluff Stabilization permit (concurrence that the project met Coastal Act prerequisites), the Coastal Commission imposed 7 conditions on SANDAG. Included was a “Coastal Access and Recreational Improvements” condition whereby, among other mitigation conditions, “SANDAG has committed to develop and implement capital improvement project that would include design, environmental review, permitting and construction of (1) a railroad crossing; (2)at least one beach accessway, at the end of either 7th or 11th Street that would cross down the bluff slope and terminate at the sandy beach; and (3) a blufftop trail along the eastern, inland portion of the railroad ROW from Seagrove Park to 4th Street.” (See p. 54 of Coastal Commission Consistency Certification CC-0005- 21)
I believe it is insufficient to leave it to SANDAG Board or SANDAG management to move this project along on their own without active participation by the City Council. They will delay and delay and complain about the cost although they have spent tens of millions on bluff stabilization, a rail priority. The City must take a firm hand in requiring implementation and involvement in the project and certainly any modification, extension and any ultimate design decision. Please see below for link to the adopted Staff Recommendation. (See e.g. p. 54)
Subject: Coastal Commission Staff Report
https://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2022/6/W7b/W7b-6-2022-report.pdf Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Shirli Weiss
March 11, 2026 Item 1
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: Ann Feeney <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2026 9:44 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: red dot for Goals and Priorities meeting
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Mayor Martinez and Councilmembers,
I am a member of the Del Mar Garden Club and am also a member of the Parks and Rec Committee and a member of the North County Sierra Club. I urge you to adopt a Native Plant Ordinance, modeled on the one that is going to the Encinitas City Council for adoption soon. Native plants require little water once established, are beautiful, and provide habitat for pollinators and a variety of birds. I hope that you will add development of a Native Plant Ordinance to your workplan.
Thank you
Ann Feeney
Rimini Rd.
March 11, 2026 Item 1
March 11, 2026 Item 1
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: Andrew Kessler <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2026 10:40 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Native Plant Ordinance
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear City Council Members,
I moved to San Diego eight months ago to enjoy my retirement after serving as a physician in Madison, Wisconsin, for 35 years. I chose this area specifically for its mild climate, diverse terrain, and extensive hiking trails.
To help preserve San Diego’s unique environment, I am writing to express my strong support for the Native Plant Ordinance. I believe adopting this ordinance is a practical and cost-effective way to protect our local ecosystem.
I hope you will consider adopting this ordinance to ensure the continued health of our natural landscape.
Thank you,
Andrew Kessler
March 11, 2026 Item 1
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: Janet Wilson <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2026 1:38 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Cc: Tracy Martinez; Dan Quirk; Terry Gaasterland; John Spelich; Ashley Jones Subject: 2026 Goals & Priorities Setting Workshop - Tier2 Item 6 - Public Right of Way (ROW) Vegetation Maintenance Regulations RED DOT
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Del Mar City Council,
Regarding Tier 2, Item 6: Public Right of Way Vegetation Maintenance Regulations This item should be treated as a very high priority because Del Mar currently has numerous hazardous conditions created by encroachments into the public right-of-way. These conditions affect visibility for drivers and pedestrians and create avoidable safety risks at driveways, intersections, and along narrow streets without sidewalks.
Encroachments are a serious concern, and the need to standardize review and enforcement should also be included. Over the past several months, the Council has reviewed multiple encroachment permit issues, and another is scheduled for hearing next week.
In fact, during the November meeting, Councilmember Spelich described encroachments as a “widespread problem in town.” He suggested the City should take a “holistic look” at how encroachments are managed because the current approach is ad hoc, wasteful, and produces inconsistent outcomes. He also asked whether the City could establish a policy so that the Council does not repeatedly address individual encroachment disputes.
In 2025, “Administering approximately 130 encroachment permits in public rights-of-way” was identified as a task for the Planning and Community Development Department. It isn't clear if that goal was met, but resolving encroachments that create hazardous conditions in the public right-of-way is very important because when a City is aware of, or reasonably should be aware of, a hazardous condition, it has a duty to take reasonable steps to correct it.
Issuing an encroachment permit does not eliminate that responsibility. Even when vegetation is permitted, the City remains responsible for public safety within the right-of-way and retains an ongoing duty to inspect and enforce permit conditions, including height limits and sight distance requirements. Once the City approves vegetation in the right-of-way, it assumes a nondelegable duty to ensure the condition remains safe. If vegetation grows into a sight line, exceeds approved height limits, or creates a visibility hazard, the City must take corrective action.
If the City fails to enforce permit conditions or allows vegetation to exceed approved limits, it may be found negligent in maintenance, which can defeat immunity. This principle is well established in March 11, 2026 Item 1
2 California law, including Carson v. Facilities Development Co. (1984) 36 Cal.3d 830, as well as Baldwin v. State of California and Cornette v. Department of Transportation.
I respectfully request that the Council elevate public right-of-way vegetation maintenance regulations to a high priority during the Goals Workshop and to also develop a consistent citywide policy and enforcement framework that clearly defines expectations for residents, improves safety in the public right-of-way, and reduces the burden on staff and the Council to repeatedly address individual encroachment disputes.
Thank you, Janet Wilson
Hoska Drive
March 11, 2026 Item 1