GREATER GOLDEN HILL PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES
February 10, 2010
Meeting was held at Balboa Park Golf Course Clubhouse – Golf Course Drive. Called to order at 6:35 pm by Vice Chair D. Skillman. Agenda had been posted in accordance with Brown Act.
Members present: Laurie Burgett, Maureen Burke, Carole Caffey, Dave Caldwell, Scott Glazebrook, Richard Santini, Pat Shields, David Skillman, Marie Skillman, Angela Vasconcellos. David Strickland was seated later in the meeting. Members absent: Ruchell Alvarez, Richard Baldwin Chris Blatt, Anita Margolis, Frederick Ruffell
Community Police Officers John Graham: Crime statistics look good in the community, except for a recent rash of car break-ins and thefts.
City Council District 3 - Anthony Bernal: Thanked those who attended Councilmember Gloria’s latest community coffee; the next one will be at Baby Cakes in Hillcrest 2/27. Office is working with the Moose Lodge to set up a public cleanup of their recent fire.
City Council District 8 – Diana Jurado-Sainz: Arrived late and gave her report during Public Comment. Is working with Tershia on brush management zones in 32nd Street Canyon. Working with CDC to set up community cleanup in late March. CDC members were exempted from having to comply with a FPPC ruling that Parking District Board members must fill out Conflict of Interest Form S700. The exemption was due to the nature of the contract and revenue stream between GHCDC and Mid City Parking District. Councilmember Hueso gave his State of District last week, full version is on City website. Office is also working with Moose Lodge on cleanup issues.
53rd Congressional District – Kathryn Fortner. No newsletter this month. Davis is working with colleagues on health care legislation, and is focusing on jobs and education. She favors the 50% tax on bonuses given by TARP recipients. Davis voted for allowing donations to Haiti relief made in 2010 to be deductible on 2009 tax returns. An email and enewsletter will give details of outreach events taking place in the district in early March.
Mayor; 76th Assembly District: no reports
City Planner’s Report - Bernie Turgeon: CPUAC met 2/3 with discussion of the self-guided walking tour. Feedback is being taken through 2/22, and will be included in minutes of the meeting. A 3-4 hour joint meeting of the CPUAC’s from GGH, Uptown and North Park will be held on Saturday, 3/20. Topics: (1) a presentation about the Historic Resources element, which may include contact statements (2) Urban Design consultants will go over best practices and have breakout sessions with each community. An Open Mic session for community organizations to tell what they do and what their concerns are will be held Wed. evening 3/24. Locations for both meetings are TBA. The GGH CPUAC meeting on 4/7 will concentrate on the Land Use elements. Regular meetings are planned for May and June, with charettes in July.
A tentative hearing is scheduled on March 3 for the Verizon Gala tower at 30th & Ivy. DSD will send out public notices.
Approval of Minutes: Approved minutes of 1/13/10 meeting (motion Caldwell, second Glazebrook, all in favor.)
Public Comment.
CCDC – Sheila Hardin. We welcomed Sheila back after her absence due to health concerns. The 2010 Projects Guide is available online at www.ccdc.com. North Embarcadero project ruling will come down 2/11. Winter homeless shelter is open and crime is being controlled. CCDC has pledged $10 million for a permanent intake center. Consultant is working on feasibility study for Chargers stadium downtown; site may have toxic issues. Public vote could take place in 2012. Distributed flyers about downtown bus tours.
Catherine McNeal. Asked if there was an update or renewal to construction permit for work at 2937 E street. She thought the permit was only good for one year; Turgeon stated that no time frame was required. He said that plans for the cul-de-sac improvements there are pending.
SUBCOMMITEE REPORT: Membership and Elections.
Vasconcellos introduced David Strickland. Strickland stated that he was a member of GGHPC in 1984 and has just moved back into the community. He is a licensed landscape architect who works for CalTrans. Vasconcellos stated that Strickland had met the 3 meeting attendance requirements for Committee membership. She moved, Shields seconded, that he be appointed to fill a vacant seat. All in favor.
Annual Committee elections will be held during the March meeting. Caldwell may be termed out; he wondered if he could still serve on CPUAC if he is not an active member of GGHPC. Turgeon said he would check into it. He also mentioned that there is a vacant public seat on CPUAC, and that the criteria for that seat, for a commercial business, could be revised. Shields questioned home-based businesses being treated differently than commercial businesses, and suggested that we be careful about changing the rules relating to CPUAC as we go.
Turgeon read from Council Policy 600-24, which says that the “serve no more than 8 consecutive years” criteria for PC membership can be overridden by a 2/3 vote of the PC, if there is a vacancy on the PC. There was considerable discussion. Shields summarized that the PC should do what it can to make sure Caldwell can remain on the PC and CPUAC.
Vasconcellos said she would contact members whose terms are expiring to see which ones wish to stand for re-election. Blatt may also be termed out; she will verify his status.
Public nominations for new PC members should be made in February, but this Action Item was not on the agenda for February. Therefore, the following 2 Action Items will be placed on the March agenda:
(1) Receive public nominations for election, and announce those members seeking re-election
(2) Election ballots passed out, cast and counted.
If vacancies on the PC exist after the Election, a separate Election Ballot could be passed out, cast, and counted relating to override of “serve no more than 8 consecutive years” criteria.
CONTINUED PUBLIC COMMENT.
Jerry Ray. Learned that George Washington Station Post Office will be open for one more year.
Catherine McNeal. Reported that she had found a website with information about “Under 6” care facilities; Shields took the information and will follow up. Juardo-Sainz will provide Shields with a list compiled by District 8 office. McNeal reported that she had found information on the school district website about the school district constructing a pedestrian bollard as a solution to security issues at “park” west of Einstein School. Santini said that he constantly sees drug and alcohol use and general “hanging out” at the location, and it is used as a passage from A Street. Santini said the school district had pulled funding for fencing the area, even though they have a legal obligation to secure the property. Another matter McNeal mentioned was security staff unprepared when public safety meeting was held at the school.
INFORMATION ITEMS:
Chairs Report/Mail. No report.
Monetta Slaybaugh and Park Troutman of the “1 in 10 Coalition” gave information about their goal for a streamlined permitting process for community gardens. Their proposal relates to city land that is not part of Parks and Recreation. For most zones, the permit required is a Process 2 Neighborhood Use Permit. This type of permit is too expensive and paperwork intensive for most local gardeners. The minimum fee would be $5,000 and could be much higher. For example, the City Roots garden in City Heights cost around $45,000. Their proposal is that a Process 1 permit be required instead. Troutman said San Diego’s city garden regulations, such as requiring a permit and having a code ordinance, is unusual. The “1 in 10 Coalition” wants to get the permitting shifted and wants GGHPC to work with them on the proposal.
Caldwell asked if a Land Use/Whole Committee vote on this would be more than advisory. Turgeon asked if this permit change would be city wide – Troutman said yes. Juardo-Sainz said the Rules Committee had been discussing this proposal and is waiting for public input.
Burke will draft a letter of support and an Action Item will be placed on the March agenda. “1 in 10 Coalition” will appear again at the March meeting.
Land Use – Dave Caldwell: Explained projects listed on agenda as follows: (1) Project TBA – is a remodel on the back of property, not requiring any action (2) #199341 is for interior issues on a series of offices (3) #193688 is information only (4) # 96101 is not in our area. Noted that the portable recycling center we heard about several months ago is going in at Gala Foods parking lot.
Clean Green and Safe MAD: no official report. Shields said that MAD Program Manager Alex Ibarra believes that the Oversight Committee is not subject to the Brown Act. Alex Ibarra apparently believes the threshold for competitive bidding is $10,000. Shields checked the contract and it is $5,000. Burke said CDC director Pedro Anaya believes there was a misunderstanding relating to Ruchell Alvarez not being part of the selection committee for Oversight Committee members.
ACTION ITEMS: None
SUBCOMMITEE REPORTS.
Transportation, Airport Noise, Parks, Balboa Park, Historic: No report.
The next meeting will be March 10, 2010.
Meeting adjourned by Vice-Chair at 8:15 pm.
Marie Skillman.
Secretary
