GREATER GOLDEN HILL PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES: June 11, 2008
Meeting held at Balboa Park Golf Course Clubhouse – Golf Course Drive
Call to order: Chair Chris Blatt called to order at 6:31 pm.
Agenda had been posted earlier. Copies were available.
Members present: Richard Baldwin, Chris Blatt, Laurie Burgett, Carole Caffey, Dave Caldwell, David Skillman, Marie Skillman, Frederick Ruffell, Angela Vasconcellos Absent: Maureen Burke, Scott Glazebrook, Carlos Legerrette, Anita Margolis
Marie Skillman requested a change to the agenda, to approve May meeting minutes not March and April minutes, as printed in the agenda.
City Council District 3. Jeffrey Tom. City Council vetoed Mayor’s proposal to cut jobs in parks and recreation and library staff, but Mayor may override Thanked Blatt, David Skillman and Marie Skillman for attending dedication ceremony for the underground transmission line. Discussed poles that have not yet been removed. Asked everyone to notice the mural on southwest corner of 30th & Juniper, a project of property owner, South Park Action Council, District 3 office and several individuals. Discussed a list of poles that still need to be removed; some are metal and others wooden. Carole Caffey asked about broken light fixtures where repair or maintenance was promised a few months ago in the circle at the 25th Street Park. Laurie Burgett thanked everyone who had worked to get the undergrounding accomplished.
City Council District 8. Diana Jurado-Sainz. Reported actions relating to Code Compliance: (1) Skeleton building on F Street is coming down (2) Councilman is working on a remodeling ordinance that would address “perennial remodels” (3) DART/police activity at 1250 25th Street where a nuisance renter was evicted. The absentee owner is doing some renovation work, with progress reports required every 30 days (4) Edgemont property that had burned in an arson fire also involved loan issues. The final lender is working with City and demolition is in progress. Dave Caldwell thanked Diana for working with Code Compliance on all of these issues. He asked about 2693 C Street, which has long been vacant. Diana reminded the committee that if a property is locked and secured, no ordinance requires that projects be completed or updated. Referring to the ordinance Councilman Hueso is working on (Item 2), it is going before the City Land Use committee this month if the appropriate language can be settled upon. Regarding City Budget, Councilman Hueso has found separate funding to backup any pool and park staffing hours cut in District 8.
53rd Congressional District. Kathryn Fortner. Distributed copies of the June issue of Davis Dispatch. Representative Davis is working on increasing unemployment benefits; the legislation is to be voted on in the coming week. Representative Davis is in favor of tying troop withdrawals with Iraq war funding. Representative Davis will be hosting local meetings over the summer.
City Planning Department. Bernie Turgeon. A consultant has yet to be hired for Community Plan Update process. This person will be coordinating with community planning committees and holding public workshops, focusing on corridors, urban design and historic surveys. No dates have yet been announced for the stakeholder meetings. Chairs of planning committees are asked to meet with Bill Anderson, Operating Officer and Executive Director of City Planning and Development on June 18 at an Action Plan Workshop.
Community Police Officer, Mayor, 76th Assembly District: no reports
Approval of Minutes. Approval of May meeting minutes was tabled until July meeting due to correction requested to agenda. Action items cannot be changed at the meeting (Brown Act)
PUBLIC COMMENT.
CCDC. Sheila Hardin. CCDC offices are moving to 401 B Street (Wells Fargo Building) on June 20. The Downtown Information Center is moving to Horton Plaza in August. There will be no downtown bus tours in July due to the move. A workshop about downtown parking will be held on July 24. A needs assessment for downtown parks is in progress. Workshops will be held relating to an East Village dog park, lighting, etc.
Jerry Ray, a community member. Presented graffiti photos of Alchemy and Kemp Pharmacy/Mobility Center. She reported that Sonic Arts center had been vandalized and it appeared that the burglars had been closely monitoring the business in advance. Plumaria were destroyed at her home near Beech and Dale, which the police have classified as grand theft.
Friends of Einstein School. Carole Caffey. Reported that the school is being repainted. A fundraising event on June 6 netted $60,000 for the school, which they hope to use to install turf on a vacant lot. Noted that underground power lines have made all classrooms safe to use.
Tinto. Susan Prise and Wendy Lee. Have applied for a liquor license for the wine bar that they plan to open by November at 219 30th Street (in the middle building that Shapery is remodeling between Fern and 30th south of Ivy.)
Ray Pennisi, host of gghpc.blogspot.com. If committee members want to make postings on the blog, he can add them to a list of those approved post. Mentioned that committee minutes have not been posted for some time. Marie Skillman will be in contact with him about correcting this.
INFORMATION ITEMS:
Chairs Report/Mail. Chris Blatt distributed mail to subcommittee chairs.
Clean, Green and Safe (MAD) Advisory Board. David Skillman reported that at the MAD Oversight Board is meeting on June 16 at 6:30 at the Golf Course Clubhouse. The Board will be meeting with Rosemary Downing of CDC, Luis Ojeda and Scott Kessler of the City, and newly hired MAD program manager Alia Kanani to try to iron out the responsibilities and relationship between CDC and Oversight. Projects are underway including street banners and trash pickup. A temporary employee was hired for the month of June to survey the amount of cleanup work, graffiti removal, etc. required in the district in advance of contracting for these services. News about the MAD can be found on the CDC website goldenhillcdc.org under “Clean Green & Safe” or at ghcgs.org.
Police Officer’s CPC Meeting will be July 22 at their station at 25th and Imperial.
Old House Fair. Will be held on June 21 at 30th & Beech. The committee was offered a booth but decided instead to have flyers with dates and location of meetings and subcommittee meetings available at CDC booth. Marie Skillman will make up the flyer, which will also make a request for participation. Ray Pennisi said that 12 more docents are needed for the home tours. There are 2 shifts, those interested can contact Ray or call Maureen at Studio Maureen.
Metropolitan Wastewater Department. Albert Sohikish asked committee members to fill out comment sheets stating whether they concur with the staff recommendations for Chocolate Canyon. Keith Pillati, representing a canyon group in the area, spoke and said his group had reviewed the project and supported the recommendations. There were no further questions.
Pedestrian Master Plan Update. City Traffic Engineer Maureen Gardiner presented information about the Pedestrian Master Plan. In Phase I of the Plan, they made a report that indicated high needs areas in the city. In Phase II and III they will be doing an inventory of the community to locate pedestrian deficiencies and addressing solutions. Dave Caldwell asked about getting a traffic count on Golf Course Drive relating to the need for a pedestrian path. Ray Pellisi asked if the report incorporated information from the District 3 Sidewalk Study. Sheri Ryan, the project manager, said that the Phase I report named Greater Golden Hill as a high needs area, which is why the neighborhood is being visited to identify deficiencies. A community audit tool (see map information below) was developed to allow the community to help them look for these five types of deficiencies: (1) unsafe crossings (2) sidewalk gaps (3) missing curb ramps (4) obstructed sidewalks (5) poor walkability. She handed out maps that can be filled out and returned to them, indicating location of any of the 5 items. After the inventory and community audit are completed, priorities will be set. There will be a workshop on November 18. Both Gardiner and Ryan stressed that they are looking at making pedestrian improvements, not handling sidewalk maintenance issues. Barriers to pedestrian traffic are being looked at. Several people brought up making maintenance contingent on improvements.
Land Use Subcommittee. Dave Caldwell reported that there were no updates on “Alchemy” (Permits #1 PTS 121366 #2 PTS 129408 #3 PTS 141955) or the Solar Hibay Garage (PT126503). Chris Blatt reported that the original project at Gala Foods is cancelled as the result of a lawsuit. A second buyer is in the due diligence process. Dave Caldwell had just received information about a project at 26th & C Street where an upgraded pole and underground cell site will be going in. He also had a received an item about a sewer project in the 32nd Street/Huckleberry Canyon. These two items will be on the agenda at the Land Use Subcommittee meeting on June 25.
ACTION ITEMS:
Metropolitan Waste Water. Laurie Burgett made a motion that the committee accepts the city’s preferred alternative of partial redirection in Chocolate Canyon. Angela Vasconcellos seconded. Voting in favor: Richard Baldwin, Laurie Burgett, Dave Caldwell, David Skillman, Marie Skillman, Frederick Ruffell, Angela Vasconcellos. Voting against: none. Abstaining: Chris Blatt, Carole Caffey
SUBCOMMITTEE AND AD-HOC COMMITTEE REPORTS
Membership & Elections. Angela Vasconcellos reported that the committee still has 2 vacancies.
Parks. Maureen Burke was absent.
Code Compliance. Nothing to report.
Transportation. Scott Glazebrook was absent.
Balboa Park Committee. Laurie Burgett reported that 45 trees had been planted in Golden Hill and Grape Street parks. There is a meeting June 18 at 5:30 at the War Memorial Building regarding governance models for Balboa Park. Among those under consideration are Joint Powers Authority and the Park District Model. On July 24 there will be another meeting about Balboa Park, this one focusing on Leases & City Assets.
Airport Noise Advisory. Carole Caffey had attended the latest meeting. They are setting up a tour for advisory members to learn more about the Quieter Home Project.
Historic. Angela Vasconcellos had received notices of 3 properties applications for historic designation: 2851 Ivy, 1846 Granada and 2914 Dale Street.
Meeting adjourned at 8:06 pm.
