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 25th @ 25th & 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 15th 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. 28th & 25th 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 17th- 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 4th.
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 3rd 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 7th for questions & to present their platforms @ Christ United Church (on Fir between 30th & Fern).
Land Use:
-Information only items: the 27th & F project is a few months away from presenting, and the concept for the 30th & 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 30th 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 32nd 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 1st 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 28th 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 20th
Historic:
-No info available yet per Angela.
Meeting adjourned.
