Excerpt from The San Diego Business Journal- Carlsbad Desaliantion Plant Approved and Other Exciting News
August 28th, 2008 categories: Community Happenings, Our Market
Proposed Desalination Plant in Carlsbad Gets Green Light
Business in the North County - Ted Owen
After nearly a decade of blood, sweat and tears, the city of Carlsbad and its partner, Poseidon Resources Corp., could finally raise their water glasses and cheer Aug. 6 when the California Coastal Commission finally approved all of its stipulations to allow the biggest water desalination plant in the nation to begin construction.
With water being a century-old malady in California, the plant, by most expert opinions, should already be up and pumping. How many cities in the country would want a public and private partnership where the private company pays $300 million in construction costs and the city pays nothing? One procedural hurdle remained when this issue went to print Aug. 21. The project was scheduled to go before the California Lands Commission on Aug. 22 for approval of the lease for the project. It appears that the Lands Commission had the same concerns as the Coastal Commission on approving the plant. So with the hurdles approved by one, I’m guessing by the time this publication hits the streets that the other will have followed suit and the final hurdle will have been met. A victory for Poseidon is a positive step for dozens of desalination plants to follow in its footsteps.
Nearly all of the state’s water experts are aligned on desalination being one of the key answers to our state’s water availability; only the Coastal Commission didn’t want a private-sector company to make a profit from the ocean. The commission staff acted as though they’ve never heard of hotels, marinas, boat yards and so on. I think all businesses on the coast make some money.
In other Carlsbad news:
· Carlsbad Paseo, a 7-acre parcel along Interstate 5 that sits across the street from the Carlsbad Premium Outlets between Palomar Airport and Cannon roads, is finally going to be developed. The Carlsbad Planning Commission and the City Council both approved a P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, a pad for a second restaurant and 44,000 square feet of commercial retail space. P.F. Chang’s will be located next to King’s Fish House. The site includes 533 parking spaces. It is the second project proposed by Strategic Property Services Advisors, the company that developed the King’s Fish House project and owns the Holiday Inn and Windmill Banquet complex. If the construction plans go according to schedule, the new complex and its upscale new retail stores and restaurants will be open by late 2009.
· Legoland California opened its first U.S. Sea Life Aquarium on Aug. 11, adjacent to the front entrance to the theme park. The 36,000-square-foot aquarium is part of a $20 million expansion at the park. A 200,000-gallon aquarium tank containing a 10-foot, 1,700-pound statue of sea god Poseidon, a 10-foot submarine constructed from Lego blocks and more than 200 species of marine life are enclosed in the facility. Hundreds of eager guests, celebrities and elected officials lined up 10-deep to be the first to tour the new attraction. More than 72 Lego models made from tens of thousands of Lego bricks fill the underwater exhibits.
Good to hear. At some point, Honolulu will have to go down this road.
Aloha,
Keahi