Encinitas grants one-year extension to surf schools to use beach

Current surf school permit holders can keep their beach spots in Encinitas next year, but a proposed overhaul of the permit process needs a great deal more work, the City Council decided late Wednesday.

Council members unanimously agreed to give the nine current permit holders — plus one that received permission, but didn’t use its allotted spot this year — permission to continue their classes next year at their designated beach spots.

However, a new proposal to revise the city’s application system, with the goal of streamlining it and making it less subjective, is going back to the drawing board. Council members said the city Parks, Recreation & Cultural Arts Department proposal needs to be rethought and decided to create an ad-hoc committee to craft revisions.

Councilmembers Jim O’Hara and Luke Shaffer will serve on the new committee, and surfing industry representatives will be invited to participate in its meetings.

“I think we throw the (scoring) rubric out and come back with something that’s clear,” O’Hara, who suggested forming the committee, said before the council’s vote.

Encinitas should treat the surf schools like downtown’s Mom and Pop retail shops, instead of trying to assess whether they’re doing a good job by requiring them to submit many documents, including instructor education levels and a company business plan, he said.

“We have a responsibility to get out of their way and help them build their business,” O’H...