Pair of landlocked boathouses near the beach

As San Diego considers relaxing rules around historic properties to make it easier to build more housing, Encinitas is exploring the creation of citywide historic districts.

The idea, introduced last week by councilmember Joy Lyndes and deputy mayor Allison Blackwell, is "preserving community character."

Berhalter House on Sunset Drive

"We're running out of anything to save," said local Jennifer Hewitson.

Supporters include an alliance of neighbors who have been fighting new housing and the destruction of trees along Melba Road, where a developer is building 27 market-rate and three low-income homes. They urged making Melba Road a historic district.

The plan would span the residential communities of Old Encinitas, New Encinitas, Olivenhain, Cardiff-by-the-Sea and, to the north, Leucadia, which one resident called "the funkiest of them all."

La Paloma Theater

Mayor Tony Kranz noted that the Downtown Specific Plan already considers preservation, and an inventory was done of historic properties downtown. 

"Let's consider the entire city," Lyndes suggested. "It doesn't mean everything would be a historic district."

Ecke ranch house

The first step is for city staff to figure out the cost to determine which properties might be eligible. Councilmembers voted 4-0 to move ahead with the cost analysis, and will decide if they want to fund it at the next funding cycle in 2025.

Property owners could benefit from historic designation under the Mills act; if eligible they would see a 70 percent reduction in property taxes by joining the program. 

Cardiff Mercantile building

Moersch Team

Current resources on the historic property local register list are Cottonwood Creek, part of the town's origins; a pair of landlocked boathouses near the beach; La Paloma Theater on South Coast Highway 101; Bumann Ranch; Olivenhain Town Meeting Hall; and the Berhalter house on Sunset Drive.

There are so many more, said councilmember Bob Ayers, who was "keenly interested" in the idea and questioned if voluntary designation would be enough.

"We certainly have a lot of opportunities, even downtown Cardiff with the Mercantile. You could go as far as the Ecke ranch building," he said, referring to a former poinsettia nursery — even San Dieguito Academy, with all the Lilian Rice design buildings.

"They're everywhere," Lyndes agreed.

The project has the support of the board of directors of the Encinitas Historical Society, the Heritage Museum, and others involved with preservation and tourism.