April 9, 2008 Minutes

GREATER GOLDEN HILL PLANNING COMMITTEE MINTUES: APRIL 9, 2008

 Meeting held at Balboa Park Golf Course Clubhouse – Golf Course Drive

Call to order: Christ Blatt called to order at 6:32 pm.

Agenda had been posted earlier.  Copies were available.

 Members present:  Chris Blatt, Richard Baldwin, Maureen Burke, Carole Caffey, Dave Caldwell, Scott Glazebrook, Carlos Legerrette, Anita Margolis, Frederick Ruffell, David Skillman, Marie Skillman, Angel Vasconcellos.  Absent: Laurie Burgett.

 City Planning Department. Bernie Turgen. Question was raised about the plans for “Gala Foods” at 30^th& Grape Street.  A member of the audience stated that escrow is set to close on the property on June 1, and that it was possible that at 24-hour drug store and a “Fresh & Easy” market are planned for the site.  David Skillman reported hearing on the news that “Fresh & Easy” announced a pause in beginning new stores.  Neither Bernie nor the committee had received any information about the project.

 Community Police Officer John Graham.  Reminded the committee that the Captain’s Advisory group meets at 25^th & Imperial at 5:30 pm.   In response to a question, he stated that the Lomas gang is not gone.  He recommended that committee or community members take pictures of graffiti or other evidence of gang activities and send them to Art Petrea, the officer in charge of keeping files of such materials.  These archives can be used in possible prosecutions.  Questions were raised about weapons activity at 33^rd & E Street, and an incident in the alley at 31^st Street between A & B Streets.  Officer Graham said that penalties for not cleaning up graffiti on private property are handled by Code Compliance.  14–day letters are sent to property owners.  He passed out pamphlets on “Reporting Disorder & Other Problems”.  This can be downloaded from city website.

District 3.  Jeffrey Tom.  Discussed the graffiti abatement program.  The hotline telephone number is 619-525-8522.  Free paint and brushes are available by calling 619-527-3431.  Toni Atkins’ last State of the District speech will be given on April 24.  Announced that the budget process, including 13 meetings, has begun. Passed out copies of April issue of “The Toni Times”.

District 8, Mayor, 76^th Assembly District, 53^rd Congressional District:  no reports

Approval of Minutes.  The minutes of the March meeting had just been distributed on April 9 and most committee members had not had the chance to review them.  It was decided not to ask for approval until next month.

Public Comment.  None.

Information Items:

Clean, Green and Safe (MAD) Advisory Board.  Will be holding a meeting at the Golf Course Clubhouse on April 14 at 6:00 pm regarding the budget for 2008-2009.  Regular meeting is April 21 at 6:30 pm.

Housing Commission.  Victoria Joes presented copies of the Annual Action Plan for FY09 to each committee member.  This action plan is the basis for Commission applications for funds from HUD. Victoria pointed out that there is a substantial amendment in the plan relating to Community Development Block Grant funding.  Such requests must now be for $25,000 or more.  This is a result of input from HUD monitors.  The monitors said that administrative costs were too high on smaller projects, unless they are a one-time action or can be completed in one funding cycle.   The last day for comments is May 4; the plan goes before the City Council on May 5.  She urged anyone with comments to direct them to her by telephone, letter or fax. Comments should state what specific project or objective they relate to.

Land Use Subcommittee.  

Information Item:  Dave Caldwell and Scott Glazebrook reported that property managers from 1503 30^th Street/ 3006 Beech (Permits #1 PTS 121366 #2 PTS 129408 #3 PTS 141955) would be making another presentation to the subcommittee.  Bernie Turgen from Planning Department is going to follow-up on the permits for that project. Dave asked Bernie to remind the Planning Department staff that this committee should see all plans for projects within the PDO.  

 ACTION ITEMS:

Land Use Subcommittee:

Consent Agenda:  The following 4 items were approved unanimously:  (1) 1625 Felton Street PTS 128529 (2) 2448 A Street PTS127090  (3) 27^th & F Streets PTS 132506  (4) 1714 Dale Street – outside PDO.

 Letter from City: A letter was received from the city in response to our letter last month regarding tree planting and Tershia d’Elgin.

 SUBCOMMITTEE AND AD-HOC COMMITTEE REPORTS

Membership & Elections.  (Meets as needed) Angela Vasconcellos reported that 2 members are still needed to have a full committee.  Committee assignments were discussed.  Frederick Ruffell asked that each committee describe what they do and when they meet.  The secretary will distribute a list of meeting dates/times.  Carlos Legerrette will make name cards for members to use at the meetings.

 Parks. (Meets last Wednesday of odd numbered months, 6 pm, Golf Course Clubhouse) Maureen Burke.  Talked about community garden.

 Code Compliance.  (Meets last Wednesday of odd numbered months, Golf Course Clubhouse, meetings not open to public) Chris Blatt. Committee works with compliance officer Lewis Dennis on compliance issues that have been identified. 

 Transportation.  (Will be meeting quarterly, no set day at this time)  Scott Glazebrook.

 Balboa Park Committee.  Laurie Burgett was absent.

 Airport Noise Advisory. (An advisory committee to the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority meets third Thursday of odd numbered months at 5:30 pm at the Commuter Terminal)  Carole Caffey is this committee’s representative now; Dave Caldwell held the position previously.

 Historic. (Does not have regularly scheduled meetings at this time)  Angela Vasconcellos said she is now getting mailings from the City about historic reviews in the area.  Richard Baldwin passed around a flyer he had received about the public meeting scheduled on April 18, 2 pm at City Hall regarding changes to the Historic Review process.  Marie Skillman will attend the meeting and report back to the committee. 

 OTHER DISCUSSION.

 Marie Skillman asked when the Community Plan Update process would begin, and whether this committee would have a representative in the process.  Bernie Turgen said the process would begin in July, after the City budget is approved.

 New members asked about documents for the current Community Plan and Planned District Ordinance.  These are available on the City website.  Zoning is in Chapter 14.  The PDO is in Chapter 15.

 Marie Skillman offered to be the committee secretary for the coming year.  The committee approved this unanimously.

 Meeting adjourned at 7:35 pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 12, 2008 minutes

Greater Golden Hill Planning Committee: Minutes: March 12, 2008

 Meeting held @ Balboa Park Golf Course Clubhouse- Golf Course Drive

 Call to order: Chris Blatt called to order @ 6:30pm.

 January Minutes: Approved (Chris Blatt, Richard Barrera, David Skillman, Angela Vasconcellos, Dave Caldwell, Laurie Burgett, Carlos Legerrette, Scott Glazebrook. Opposed (none), Abstained: Maureen Burke, Carole Caffey

 February Minutes: Unanimous approval.

 Elections:

-Angela Vasconcellos gave an overview of the election process and eligibility requirements for the committee, and she asked if there were any write-in candidates to be added to the ballot (there were none). Those up for election (and re-election) were asked to say a few words. Richard, Maureen, Anita, David, and Maurice briefly introduced themselves. Angela and Laurie Burgett passed out ballots.

 Community Police Officer:

-John Grisham, @ the request of a citizen @ the last meeting, checked out 2673 C St. No formal complaints have been made about the property, and there were no code enforcement concerns. He reminded us to keep an explicit log if we see or suspect disruptive and/or illegal activity. Get license plates w/ dates & times. Digital photos are helpful, too. While there must be criminal activity for the police to take immediate action, they can always run plates to see if a car was stolen and/or owned by a parolee. Civil court remains an option. Leo Wilson (chair of the CPC & Uptown Planning Committee) founded a program called Safe Streets to help citizens w/ problematic neighbors. He took a fellow condo owner to court for selling drugs and successfully forced the dealer out of the complex.

-Captain’s Advisory Committee will be meeting March 25^th @ 25^th & Imperial @ 5:30pm. Beat officers are rotated every 3 (4?) months. If you want to be promoted as a cop, you don’t stay in 1 position for more than 2 years.

-New Lieutenant: Dawn Summers introduced herself. The best way to reach her is by phone. Her # is: 619-744-9502. Her headquarters is @ 2501 Imperial (had been 1401 Broadway).

 District 3:

-Jeffery Tom for Toni Atkins office. Passed out a newsletter. Announced the 95’ pole @ Switzer Canyon is (finally) gone. District 3’s undergrounding is done, and they are now working on taking down additional poles. District 8 is in the process, but they need a lot more easements.  Carole Caffey asked if they have done any emissions measurements since undergrounding, esp. near Albert Einstein. He said it was much better but didn’t have any solid #s.

 District 8:

-Diana Jurado-Sainz for Ben Hueso’s office. A middle school girl was followed/ harassed on her way to school, so they’re working on getting addt’l volunteer patrols in the area. Contact Annie Anderson (619-446-1016) if you’re interested.

-Community cleanup- Saturday, March 15^th from 7am – 3pm. 1920 E. Street. There will be 2 large bins (so bring your big stuff). No oil or batteries.

-Lights out? Give them a call. They’re working w/ the streets division to get repaired/ replaced promptly.

-Street sweeping: To address the needs of residents, some areas are now 10am-1pm. 28^th & 25^th switched back to 7am to accommodate commercial interests.

-Getting married! Diana is getting married & will be gone in August. Congratulations all around.

-GGHCDC Mad- contract now completed & in docket office. Should be on city council docket w/in next 2 weeks. Once approved, MAD will be able to start contracting.

 City Planner’s Report:

-Miles Pomeroy. City approved the general plan on 3/10/08 (8 years in the making).

-Annual COW May 17^th- required for new committee members and encouraged for all others. Metropolitan Waste Water Facility 9192 Topaz Way (1/2 day).

-Swan song: After 4 years of working w/ our committee, Miles is moving on to bigger & better things. Dave stood up and formally thanked Miles for his professionalism, hard work, and sound guidance. Everyone concurred, and Miles was given a big round of applause.

-Bernie Tergen (1 of Mile’s 2 replacements) was introduced. Bernie’s been w/ the department since the early 90s, and he’s also a senior planner. (Marlin Paghenitan, not present) will also be working w/ us. They’re both involved w/ our community plan update (they’re clustering 3 together), and it is a priority. They’re seeking funding now and plan on using consultants in addition to city staff. (Budget appropriations will be in July).

 CPC Update:

-Chris Blatt announced the San Diego Taxpayers Association is soliciting nominees for their Golden Fleece Awards. Must submit them by April 4^th.

 MAD update:

-David Skillman: MAD will be putting up banners soon. Carole asked why trinkets were getting priority over staples. In MAD, money was earmarked specifically for them, & it was an easy place to start. There was a lot of discussion about the impact the MAD will have on city services. Jeffery Tom said they are supposed to supplement, not supplant, our basic services. He offered to help facilitate a discussion to help clarify this issue and will report back in April. It was suggested that the CDC and/ or MAD give a presentation to help clear up the confusion. The MAD committee meets every 3^rd Monday @ the Golf Course.

 CDC’s MOU w/ GH Community Garden:

 -Rosemary Downing was out of town & unable to attend.

 City Council District 3 Candidates:

-Will appear @ a forum Mon, April 7^th for questions & to present their platforms @ Christ United Church (on Fir between 30^th & Fern).

 Land Use:

-Information only items: the 27^th & F project is a few months away from presenting, and the concept for the 30^th & Broadway site was shown @ the last Land Use meeting.

 Action Items:

-Address on consent agenda item 3 was improperly noticed, and it was pulled from the consent agenda and rescheduled for April’s meeting.

-Consent agenda approved. Unanimous.

 Public Comment:

-Matt Thomas (1 of 2 partners): Info update from Alchemy Restaurant. They had a fire but are back on track. All of their permits have gone thru. Dave (and others) think project should have come before us for review (exterior elevations/ materials/ offsetting planes), and he’d heard some historical aspects had been stripped. Matt offered to come back in April & discuss restaurant plans again. Dave wanted the project # & project manager’s name for follow up. Universal Boot Shop owns the building. Miles will check status & see if this project is in their system (1503 30^th St). Mile’s best guess was that is was a ministerial process, but Dave wondered how that would apply to a project built from the ground up. Per David, 3006 Beech St. is the county assessment # for the same property.

 -Tershia d’Elgin: Tershia discussed the letter she’d asked us to endorse/ send to the San Diego Unified School District re: tree maintenance & re-planting in the 32^nd Street Canyon, and asked us (if approved) to send it to Tony Rasso w/ a cc to the city. Angela wanted to know if the wall the SDUSD constructed on the site had been part of the environmental review. Tershia explained that the school district didn’t have the design done during the review, but they had told the community they would work w/ the existing topography. The wall, therefore, was a surprise. Tershia  read the letter, and it was unanimously approved.

 Elections:

-Everyone was elected & seated! (New members: Frederick Ruffell, Anita Margolis, and Marie Skillman. Re-elected: Richard Baldwin, Maureen Burke, and David Skillman).

 Parks:

-No report

 Code Compliance:

-No report

 Balboa Park Committee:

-Laurie Burgett: They’re having their 1^st public meeting on a governance model proposed in a massive, recently released report. It’s available on the Balboa Park website, as well as City TV.

-There may have been some trees taken down in the park. Laurie will investigate & report back. The park is removing non-native and sick flora from the 28^th Street area & Golden Hill Park. Tim (from the audience) said park & rec hired CCC to do some of the work. They’re going to start planting some good sized oak and another native tree next week. Will they irrigate? Not sure. Irrigation is set up.

 Airport Noise:

-Next meeting: March 20^th

 Historic:

-No info available yet per Angela.

 Meeting adjourned.