Watermark Truth and Dare: A Fact Check by the Sandpiper Editorial Board

Terry Gaasterland’s response to the Sandpiper’s question about Watermark dodges the truth and dares voters to ignore her responsibility for the two key votes she cast in 2020 that caused the Watermark developer to abandon a Specific Plan for a 38-unit development, and pursue, instead, the “by right” development  of a 50-unit, 4-story project.

The Sandpiper’s recap of these disastrous Gaasterland votes is here: delmarsandpiper.org/2021-05-003/

Watermark attorney Marco Gonzales’s letter to the City reporting the developer’s pivot to a “by right” development placed the blame squarely on the two “no” voters, including Gaasterland, saying “it is clear that [the] required 4 votes needed for a Community Plan amendment will not occur in the foreseeable future.”

But you don’t have to take the Sandpiper’s word for it. Here is how the City of Del Mar’s own website describes it:

“During the 5th Cycle a Watermark Specific Plan was in process via a private development application…. However, following the City Council votes on September 8 and October 5, 2020, which failed to pass approval of a Community Plan Amendment for North Commercial, the applicant decided to withdraw their Specific Plan application and pursue a permit application pursuant to Senate Bill 330 for “by-right” processing….”

delmar.ca.us/829/Implementation-Overlay-Zone—5th-Cycle-  (see paragraph 5)

If Gaasterland cannot acknowledge her central role in supersizing Watermark, the voters certainly can, and should. Ponder that, as you watch the construction now underway for the 50-unit, 4-story development at Watermark.