Wednesday, May 17, 2006

April 2006 Minutes for the Full Planning Committee

Greater Golden Hill Planning Committee
Board Meeting
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Balboa Park Golf Course Clubhouse
**Minutes for Approval**

Present: Chair Patricia Shields; Marc Kratzschmar; Steve Stratman; Dave Caldwell; Richard Baldwin; Brad Lenahan; Rob Leach; Scott Glazebrook; Maureen Burke; Todd Philips
Absent: Chris Blatt (E), Richard Barerra (E), Carole Caffey (unexcused); John McWilliams (unexcused); Tim Doyle (unexcused)

Chair Shields called the meeting to order at approx. 6:35 pm by requesting for additions/deletions to the agenda. NONE NOTED
Treasurers Report: None given – Treasurer MIA
Community Police Officer: Gary Gonzales was not present
District 3- April Chesebro passed out the March and April editions of the “Toni Times” as well as cards with contact information for the City of San Diego.
District 8-
  • Diana Jurado-Sainz spoke about the increase in graffiti and the Alpha Project and the Urban Corps roles in addressing this issue. Said that the mayor has removed this program (Take Back the Streets) from being funded by Community Block Grants. Several Council members requested of the mayor for these services to be funded from other sources. Diana requested that the committee write a letter in support of such funding. Rob Leach-committee member- questioned the proper noticing requirement. Chair suggested that given the “emergency” criteria of noticing given the immediacy of the action. Dave Caldwell requested to identify the amount of funding that we would be endorsing. Diana responded that approx. $300,000 per fiscal year expense. After discussion, a motion was made to support the funding without referencing the Council members specific position. A second was made, and the motion was approved in a 9 approval with 1 against.

  • Diana informed the committee of a recent incident that implicated a business at 1034 25th Street regarding a death. The District Attorney’s Office is involved in this.

  • Diana also informed the committee of “the F Street Skeleton” (24th @ “F”) which has been an “eyesore” in the community for the past 12-years, being a shell construction of a former apartment building. Diana identified that owner/applicant was to appear before a Golden Hill committee that meets on April 19th. Several committee members noted that the applicant was misinformed, as the Land-use Sub-committee would be the proper venue to discuss, and the next meeting would be May 3, 2006. Dave Caldwell questioned the funding of the review process through Developmental Services for this project.

  • Diana spoke of parking as being an issue throughout Greater Golden Hill, and identified 10 additional parking spaces being found on 2500 block of Russ Blvd. (a sub-standard street), as well as 4 additional parking spaces on Broadway @ 24th if the bus-stop would be moved to the end of the street instead of the middle of the block.
Mayor’s Representative: None present- Chair Shields requested of Council representatives and City Planner Pomeroy if they knew if Mayor Sanders planned on having representation at community planning meetings. All responded that they had no knowledge of the Mayor’s plans.
76th Assembly District-Sari Hamerling was not in attendance.
53rd Congressional District-
  • Katherine Fortner spoke of having a meeting in mid-March with the Postal Service regarding the issues of Graffiti and maintenance of its facility in Golden Hill.

  • In addition, she informed us of the Congresswoman missing several votes due to having an accident where she fell in her residence in Washington, D.C..

  • She also passed around a clipboard for sign-up for those who wanted to receive her e-mail new letters.

  • Chair Shield spoke of having previously attending a workshop on Grant Writing, sponsored by the Congresswoman, and encouraged both Mary McLellan and Tershia d’Elgin to attend an upcoming workshop that is to be held in the summer.
City Planner’s Report-
  • Myles Pomeroy stated that the city was in budget crisis, and that one of the Planning Departments cost cutting steps was to stop providing mailings for some community planning items. To be stopped will be the mailing of agendas’, which will be done exclusively by e-mail. Discussion ensued regarding the particulars and ramifications of such action.

  • Myles spoke of the upcoming COW for April 29th. He personally delivered invitations to Richard Baldwin and Maureen Burke, and stated that he would call Richard Barerra to make sure that he was aware of the importance in attending the C.O.W.

  • Myles also made the committee aware of the SANDAG sponsored Smart Growth workshops being held on April 17th (La Mesa), April 19th (Balboa Park Club) an April 20th (Oceanside) for Trans Net Funding.
Approval of Minutes- March 2006- Steve Stratman made a motion to approve the minutes for approval as provided by Beverly Davis. Dave Caldwell seconded. 8 (approved)- 0 (against) with 2 abstentions.
Public Comment on non-agenda items-
  • Chris and Megan Harris-2456 “E” Street came before the committee concerning a property that they hope to “Re-hab” under an existing Conditional Use Permit. The facility is proposed to be run by CRASH, Inc represented by Leila Attar. Ms. Attar gave a brief description of their existing programs that they operate in the Golden Hill House and spoke of being a “Good Neighbor”. Dave Caldwell-committee member- spoke of the moratorium for assisted living facilities in Golden Hill. Myles Pomeroy said that state law supercedes the city’s right to have such a position. Megan Harris stated that they would be seeking a variance to the existing C.U.P. It was noted that a C.U.P. stays with the property, and not with the owners. It was noted that the “level of care” would change with this proposed use, as the previous C.U.P. was for assisted living, whereas this C.U.P. would have “treatment” as its legal threshold.

  • David Moren spoke of the addition of a 4-way stop sign at 22nd and “C” Street. He came to commend whoever was responsible. Chair Shield said that although we would like to take credit, that perhaps this was an action sponsored by Dist. 8 and or police officer Gonzales.

  • Sheila Harden- Community Relations Manager for CCDC passed out a flyer on the Navy -Broadway Complex. Answered a question concerning the funding for the Downtown Community Plan. Said that consultants where paid 2.9 million over a 4-year period. This excluded any dollars from CCDC staff being charged to this process. If one wants to participate in a 1st or 3rd Saturday bus tour of downtown, please call 619-235-2222.


  • Tershia d’Elgin updated the committee on the Golden Hill Elementary play field. Said that the Oversight Committee had established a sub-committee that was to present on this action at its last meeting, but that the action was postponed. Thought that this might be a result of USD law students requesting a supplemental Environmental Impact Report. Also noted that many educational groups had participated in plantings in the canyon. Dave Caldwell-committee member- notified the committee that flyers had been circulated to encourage enrollment in the facility.

  • Mary McLellan reported on the GGH-CDC sponsored Charette that had approx. 100- attendees. The main topic at the Charette was “quality of life issues” as well as Golden Hill Park becoming more user friendly. A report of the Charette will be distributed. Noted that city planner Myles Pomeroy had suggested that a “Revititalization Plan” be a result of the Charette.
Information Items:
  • Chair’s Report: No mail received. Also was unable to attend last months CPC meeting

  • Plan to replant in 32nd @ Hawthorne Canyon-Drew Potocki (city of San Diego) J. C. Thomas (SDG&E) Governmental Affairs and Bruce Taylor (SDG&E) Area Forester provided an overview and answered questions concerning the issues at 30th @ Hawthorne. Admitted to mistakes in “outreach”, however, said that outcome would have been the same. 60-trees removed, when noticing identified “trimming” as the activity. Stated that debris problem still exist and clean-up of canyon would be offered. Stated that 24” box and 13-gallon trees were being proposed for re-planting. Diana Jurado-Sainz interjected that District 8 portion of Greater Golden Hill was “re-prioritized “ for undergrounding of utilities. Work to now occur in year 2009-10. Roger Lewis who lives adjoining the affected property, asked if it was time for him to “get over it, and move-on”. Another resident, Marie Racliff (?) spoke of the species and watering schedule. Questioned both the maintenance responsibility and the trimming notification given. Tershia d’Elgin suggested better solutions.

Action Items:
  • Ray Pennisi requested that the Two Year Study of District 3 sidewalks be post-poned till the May 10th meeting. Said that Jerry McKee had not responded to his calls to discuss.

  • Land-use- The consent agenda was unanimously approved.

  • Formation of the Committee for the coming year- Steve Stratman-membership and elections, passed out ballots with those individuals who had responded to his request for consideration for executive and sub-committee appointments. The following individuals had responded for the following positions:
Chair: Patricia Shields; Land-use: Dave Caldwell; Parks: Maureen Burke; Transportation: Marc Kratzschmar; Historic: John McWilliams; Membership & Elections: Richard Barerra.
  • The following individuals volunteered at the meeting to run for the following positions:Secretary: Todd Philips; Code-compliance: Brad Lenahan; Airport Noise: Dave Caldwell

  • The following individuals were nominated for the following positions: Chris Blatt-Vice Chair; Carole Caffey-Treasurer. Membership and elections chair asked if anyone wanted to be considered for any of the above positions. There being none, Steve Stratman asked that the slate be approved by acclamation. The motion was seconded, and the executive committee and subcommittee were unanimously approved as delineated above.

Inclusionary Housing-Todd Philips-committee member- kept the committee informed of recent council action regarding Condo Conversions and parking issues.

Land-use Sub-committee Meeting Dates: Steve Stratman-committee member reminded the committee that a proposed change in meeting days had been suggested, and that the committee should address this issue at this time. After several minutes of discussion, a motion was made and seconded, to move the Land-use meeting to the LAST Wednesday of each month, starting with the June 28th meeting. The motion passed on a 9-0-1 vote.

Chair Shields adjourned the meeting at 8:45 pm.

Respectfully submitted.

Steven M. Stratman-acting recording secretary.