Residents warn council the Santa Fe Drive streetscape and regional wildfire risk threaten safety

Dozens of residents during the Jan. 15 public-comment period pressed the Encinitas City Council on public‑safety concerns tied to the recently reconfigured Santa Fe Drive corridor and broader wildfire and drought risks across the city.

Residents described lane widths they measured as below the required 10 feet in multiple locations and said new striping and deep planter boxes leave drivers with little margin for error. “Some [lanes are] as much as a foot less than the required 10 feet,” said Natalie Satoun Cardiff, who said she and city staff measured more than a dozen locations and found only one compliant reading. Scott Campbell told the council that narrow lanes forced cars into gutters and “this is not lane diet, this is anorexic lanes.”

Several speakers said the new design impedes emergency access to the hospital and increases vehicle conflict and near‑miss incidents. “There’s no room for emergency vehicle egress when all three are in use,” Satoun said, citing multiple DUI collisions that were logged for the corridor in 2024. Longtime residents and drivers told council they watched delivery and transit vehicles detour through neighborhood streets because they could not make turns onto or from Santa Fe.

Multiple speakers asked the council to halt landscaping and re‑striping work until a fuller safety review is completed; others urged immediate remedial action such as grinding out striping in noncompliant areas and removing oversized planters. “If you don’t stop this now, and that includes landscaping, it’s not just the lights… stop the landscaping,” said Donna Westbrook.

Separately, public commenters also pressed the council over wildfire risk and illegal fireworks, with Bernadette Dillon and others urging stepped‑up enforcement and use of tools such as drones to curb illegal fireworks that residents say could ignite drought‑affected canyons. “We are a fire from Cardiff to La Jolla… it’s going to take one firework,” Dillon said, asking the city to increase penalties for illegal fireworks. Sheila Cameron and other residents urged the council to produce or publicize an evacuation plan and to coordinate with regional transit and the Red Cross for mass‑evacuation readiness.

Council members did not take immediate action during oral communications but acknowledged the concerns and discussed follow‑up steps later in the meeting. Several council members said staff were already reviewing safety complaints and that specific street‑design and public‑safety reviews would be considered within staff work programs. The city manager’s office later circulated a reminder about emergency‑preparedness resources on the city website and said city fire personnel were assisting mutual‑aid operations outside the region.