Encinitas will take out all of its remaining U-shaped, concrete seating spaces along Coast Highway 101 in downtown because of complaints about them becoming trash-filled, “public nuisances.” In a 4-1 vote, with Councilmember Bruce Ehlers opposed, the City Council decided Wednesday to demolish the big bench structures and gradually replace them with bike racks and landscaping. The demolition and removal portion of the project is estimated to cost $50,725. “Businesses are done with these benches,” Councilmember Kellie Hinze said as she mentioned some of her recent conversations with merchants. Sheriff’s deputies have told her that it’s difficult to supervise what goes on inside the bench area from the street because the benches have high backs, she said. They’re even being used as unofficial bathrooms, city employees said Wednesday. “No one actually uses them (as benches),” Clinton Prager, co-owner of Prager Brothers Artisan Bakery, told the council. However, he said, he didn’t think bike racks were the best future use of the space, saying, “please take the benches out, but do something cool with it.” Creating more parking would be particularly helpful, Prager said. Jim O’Hara, a running event company owner who’s seeking election to the council as a District 2 candidate, said he thought the bench removal was pointless. “The benches are a symptom of the problem, they’re not the issue,” he said. Instead of yanking out benches, the council needs to do more to control unruly homeless people, who are behaving badly and scaring other people downtown, he said. Councilmember Ehlers, who mentioned that he liked the protective feel of the high concrete benches, said O’Hara made a good point when questioning the removal proposal. “I do agree with Jim O”Hara that we’re addressing the symptom, not the problem,” he said as he explained why he was voting no. If this is the justification for removing downtown’s seating, then what about Moonlight Beach or other places, Ehlers asked, adding, “Are we going to remove every bench? That’s ridiculous.” Others on the council responded that they were only interested in removing downtown’s concrete benches. Encinitas installed five of the big bench structures in 2001 as part of a downtown beautification project. Each one contains space for about five people to sit, and all were given a mock stone facade to match the other elements of the downtown beautification project. Out of the five, two in the 600 block of S. Coast Highway 101 are already gone. They were eliminated with the construction of the Pacific Station and Compass building projects, a city staff report notes. The three that remain are located at 552 S. Coast Highway (in front of the 101 Diner), 553 S. Coast Highway (Bliss 101) and 628 S. Coast Highway (Eastern Village and Honey’s).