Half a Billion in Sewage Losses, a Cannabis Milestone, and a Solar Approval in East County
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A preliminary analysis presented to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on September 15th estimated that the ongoing Tijuana River sewage crisis could impose regional annual economic losses of as much as $503.5 million. The figure encompasses impacts on residents, tourism, and South Bay businesses — capturing the concrete commercial toll of beach closures, lost hotel bookings, shuttered restaurants in Imperial Beach, and economic activity that simply does not occur because the waterway is contaminated. Congress has been asked to act, but no committed federal remediation funding has been announced.
The Board of Supervisors also advanced two significant policy decisions earlier this month. By a three-to-two vote, the board approved a socially equitable commercial-cannabis policy for unincorporated San Diego County — covering cultivation, distribution, manufacturing, microbusinesses, retail, temporary events, and testing. Supervisors Paloma Aguirre, Terra Lawson-Remer, and Monica Montgomery Steppe voted in favor; Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond voted no. The policy takes effect thirty days after adoption, pointing to an early-to-mid October effective date for areas of unincorporated county that have largely been excluded from the legal cannabis market.
In a separate land-use decision, supervisors unanimously approved a major-use permit for a solar-and-battery-storage project in Boulevard, a rural East County community that has become a focal point for large-scale renewable development due to its geography and proximity to transmission corridors. The approval advances both county and state renewable-energy goals, though local opposition centered on community impact and land-use concerns was described as substantial.
The Board also voted four-to-one on September 16th to direct county attorneys to investigate and potentially sue companies accused of selling high-powered electric motorcycles as e-bikes. Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer framed the action around the danger of machines capable of forty to sixty miles per hour being operated by children. Supervisor Jim Desmond cast the lone dissenting vote, arguing legal action was premature. Elsewhere in the regional economy, San Diego International Airport's new Terminal 1 project received a National Award of Merit from the Design-Build Institute of America, recognized for its work with architecture firm Gensler — a marker of the scale of what is among the most significant public infrastructure investments in the region's recent history. And in Del Sur, The Cambridge School received approval for a 6.5-acre private-school campus featuring a three-story classroom building, a multipurpose facility, and a track, responding to growing demand in one of North County's fastest-expanding residential areas.