GREATER GOLDEN HILL PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES
July 13, 2011
Meeting Agenda is found in Attachment 1 at the end of these minutes.
Meeting was held at Balboa Park Golf Course Clubhouse – Golf Course Drive.
Chair Pat Shields called meeting to order at 6:33 pm. Agenda had been posted in accordance with Brown Act. A quorum of members was present.
Members present: Ruchell Alvarez, Richard Baldwin, Cheryl Brierton, Susan Bugbee, Maureen Burke, Carole Caffey, John Kroll, Pat Shields, David Skillman, Marie Skillman, David Strickland, David Swarens, Matt Thomas, Members absent: Richard Santini, Angela Vasconcellos, Jessica Wolf.
Addition/deletions to Agenda - None.
Approval of Minutes – Minutes of 6/8/11 meeting were approved (motion Brierton, second D Skillman) 12 in favor, none opposed, Burke abstained.
Treasurer’s Report: – balance remains the same.
GOVERNMENTAL REPORTS.
Community Police Officer- Suzy de la Pena: Reported two incidents South of imperial: (1) on 7/3 a developmentally disabled person was molested – male perpetrator has been found (2) 4 incidents of inappropriate touching by a male jogger. Introduced Lt. Dave Mitchell, who is taking over from Lt. Murphy in this area.
INFORMATION ITEM (b) SDPD Police Position on Western Division Boundary in So. Park. Police Captain Jones spoke about the Police Beat Restructuring that has been proposed as a result of the Dept.’s looking for more effective used of resources. They decided to leave Juniper Street as the northern boundary of the division. They feel officers from Western Division can respond to the area faster than from Central Division.
Thomas asked if the entire department was being realigned. The proposal is being assessed and changes will be made. Capt. Jones said restructuring that took place in the 1990’s had worked well to reduce crime. Burke noted that it seems odd that the small area north and west of Juniper to Switzer Canyon, geographically connected to the rest of South Park, is not in the same beat. Capt. Jones said that response times are best from the Western Division. D Skillman asked if a beat map was available. Capt. Jones had one with him. Kathryn Willetts offered to post it at the Greater Golden Hill CDC office.
Thomas said that businesses in the area are concerned about coverage. Police officials agreed to attend the South Park Business Association meeting July 27 to discuss the situation. Swarens noted that the issue was brought to GGHPC by SPBG. Shields said that geographical logic goes to changing the boundaries.
GOVERNMENTAL REPORTS continued.
City Council District 3 – Todd Gloria: Distributed copies of July District 3 Dialogue. Gloria said he backs the police decision on the boundaries. He said Police Department is not one of the city services up for privatization. He noted that the closest officer, regardless of Division, responds to an incident. Mid-City boundaries would be changing in the North Park area.
Gloria noted that (1) City Budget was passed with fire department brownouts eliminated, libraries and recreation center closings avoided (2) City is being asked to make a $70 million payment to the State from redevelopment funds, $7 million of this coming from District 3 projects. San Diego and several other cities plan to sue the State of California over the new redevelopment law. (3) New business in South Park – Stone Brewery (4) Resodding of Dog Park is happening; Dist. 3 is matching private funds from park users.
Thomas said he thought crime data statistics would help reassure businesses near the Juniper boundary. De La Pena said they are available on ARGIS system; and are based upon calls received. We should always call if there is something to report. Burke thanked Gloria for his support on the 25th Street Renaissance project, which is being re-energized. She reminded Gloria that a cap over Hwy. 94 is desired.
City Council District 8 – Melina Meza: Distributed flyers about the Water Reuse Program, and noted that she can help arrange tours of the demonstration project.
76th California Assembly District – Lindsey Masukawa: State budget was passed with many cuts including redevelopment and education. Select Committee on Homeless will be meeting in San Diego on 7/20.
Shields is concerned about sober living facilities for 6 or under; Gloria has talked to Police Chief Lansdowne about the issue. Masukawa explained that the State is turning the tracking of non-violent parolees over to local governments, and funding provided is not necessarily adequate. Atkins is working to improve the situation. Shields said that citizens and service providers need a seat at the table for these discussions.
53rd Congressional District – Katherine Fortner: Distributed July Davis Dispatch, and flyers about Grant Writing Training. Public meetings scheduled this month include 7/19 interactive meeting on Federal Budget and 7/22 Protecting Medicare Forum.
Brierton asked if Greater Golden Hill would remain in Davis’ district after the federal redistricting. Fortner said that representatives are not part of the process – outcome is presently uncertain.
Mayor’s Office – no representative present.
PUBLIC COMMENT. None
CONSENT AGENDA. None
CHAIR’S REPORT. Shields said that GGHPC is an advisory group to the City. She is triaging presenters, hoping to give the committee enough time for discussion and taking positions if desired.
INFORMATION ITEM (a) REDISTRICTING. Chief of Staff Midori Wong: Final draft map is not yet available, several are being studied. Shields asked if GGH status is stabilized; some maps proposed putting us with City Heights. Caffey said some maps had put GGH with District 8. A district boundary from Hwy 94 North makes sense to her, putting all of GGH in one district, and asked what we could do at this point. Wong suggested GGHPC take a stand on the draft map when it becomes available next week. Public comment is to be taken at meetings between 7/26 and 8/3. Burke noted that this is a short comment period. Shields said all of the meetings take place before GGHPC next meeting.
Shields polled the committee: Do we want to take a position? Majority in favor. Shields asked if our position was that the southern boundary should be Hwy 94. Brierton moved, D Skillman seconded, that an emergency item be considered. Motion passed.
Caffey offered a motion on her position, seconded by D. Skillman. Kroll asked what the other boundaries would be. Willits said that having 2 council members representing the community has historically been helpful. She noted that demographics in the south part of GH are different, more similar to Downtown. Swarens agreed that split representation has advantages.
Brierton called the question – 10 in favor, 3 abstained
The motion was stated: “Greater Golden Hill Planning Committee recommends to the City Redistricting Commission that Golden Hill be included in the District that includes South Park and North Park.” 10 voted in favor, 3 abstained.
Secretary M Skillman will notify the City Redistricting Committee of this vote.
SUBCOMMITTEE & LIASON REPORTS.
Transportation Subcommittee: Has not met.
Historic: South Park Historic District application will be discussed at August GHPC meeting. Volunteers are sought for doing the survey work, once the application has been processed.
Balboa Park: Did not meet in July
Airport Noise: Meets next week
Land Use: Information items only: Urban Chickens, a troubled property owner.
INFORMATION ITEM (c) CalTran/SR-94 HOV/BRT Project.
Ron Caraet, outgoing project manager, introduced incoming project manager Andrew Rice and associates Jenne and Truedau. The current proposal is to add one HOV/BRT lane in each direction on Hwy 94. One ramp has been dropped. Original map and 2 with alternatives currently under consideration were shown.
Alt. 1 would place the 2 new lanes on a bridge from Hwy 805 over Hwy 94, over existing Home Avenue ramps, ending just east of Hwy 15. Interchanges at Hwy 94 and Hwy 15 would be changed to standard exits. Eastbound ramp to Hwy 94 at 32nd Street, westbound Hwy 94 loop ramp from northbound Hwy 15, and the currently existing exit lane on southbound Hwy 94 to Market Street would be eliminated. This would eliminate the dangerous left lane exit from 94 east to 15 south, which the Committee saw favorably, but would eliminate the exit from 15 north to 94 west, the 30th street onramp to 94 east, and the Market Street exit to 15, which the Committee saw as decreasing access options for GGH residents.
Alt. 2 would place the 2 new lanes on a bridge from Hwy 805 to 25th Street. Interchanges at Hwy 94 and Hwy 15 would be not be changed. This alternative had adverse noise, air quality and view impacts for GGH.
Rick Accurso asked about the 94/15 ramp closure. Caraet said the loop is too tight as currently configured. Swarens likes changing the 94/15 interchanges; wonders what the right of way changes are. Caraet showed the areas that must be purchased on the map. He said only a few buildings would be impacted. D Skillman asked if these maps are available online – they are not as they are undergoing changes. Final draft is not due until May 2013. Brierton expressed concern about noise. Thomas asked how high above exiting Hwy 94 the bridges would be – 16 ft. M Skillman said many views would be lost. Caraet said they had heard lots of ideas and were preparing a package for SANDAG to review.
Willetts distributed a handout about an Urban Park over SR 94, a cut & cover from 22nd to 25th Streets. She said this type of project is being done around the country to recover community space lost in freeway construction over the decades. She was asked to come back to GGHPC in October to discuss further. Burke said GGH has no parks currently.
Brierton asked if our comments at this meeting would be taken into consideration. Caraet said the two alternatives he described are being carried forward. Thomas asked if the cut & cover at 25th Street was being taken seriously. Rice said price for construction (without landscaping) would add $50 million (2 blocks) to $85 million (3 blocks) to the cost of the project. Currently, only funding for the environmental reports is in place. The alternatives are being forwarded to SANDAG for approval of further funding.
Brierton asked about the need for this project. Rice said it is part of HOV/BRT project from South Bay all the way north on Hwy 805. Baldwin said he thought the half a billion-dollar cost of this project would be better spent for additional rail. Caraet said trolleys on wheels are part of SANDAG’s plan, which uses existing right-of-ways. Rail would require additional real estate, and has more grade issues. Burke asked what the commute time saving from this project would be for South Bay residents. Caraet said SANDAG & MTS plan to have buses run at 10-minute intervals. Shields asked Caraet to send her the actual time savings figures. D Skillman asked about access points from Southeast San Diego, since none were shown in original plan. Caraet said that SANDAG had committed to a study and another station. Swarens voiced his concern about air quality and noise standards for the cut & cover, and wondered what uses would be allowed on the aboveground part. Shields is concerned about impacts to local traffic flow.
ACTION ITEMS.
a) Community Plan Update. Shields said she was planning to have discussions at upcoming meetings where PC would take a stand on CP issues. Turgeon said he supports moving the process forward.
b) Results from survey and assessment of park and recreation needs for GGH, NP & Uptown.
Howard Greenstein from City Planning explained that a scientific survey was needed, in addition to all of the community input from meetings and charettes, to inform the Recreation Element of the Community Plan.
BW Research was hired to take the scientific survey about usage, priorities and future development of parks and recreation. The telephone survey (land line and cell phones) was done during March 2011. The presentation would show the results of the survey. Similar presentations will be made to PC in North Park and Uptown, and to the Balboa Park Committee.
Josh Williams from BW Research distributed copies of his PowerPoint presentation and the full report including questions. Both reports will be available on the City website. Among the results: 54% of GGH residents use neighborhood parks or outdoor areas at least weekly. 54% are very satisfied with these facilities. Expanding existing trails and updating facilities was preferred over developing new ones. 74% see Balboa Park as a regional park as well as serving local needs. For complete results, see http://www.sandiego.gov/planning/community/profiles/greatergoldenhill/index.shtml
Brierton asked if Balboa Park had been defined in the survey to include the Golf Course area, because she believed that GGH residents did not all perceive this to be part of Balboa Park, yet all wanted more access to trails for bikes & pedestrians in the southeast area. Williams said such information is limited in a telephone survey. Burke asked where to send feedback on the survey. Greenstein said he would accept it at hgreenstein@sandiego.gov Willetts asked if addresses of respondents could be identified. Williams said they are only by neighborhood or Zip code.
Shields asked if there could be another presentation of this information to our group. Greenstein said that was not practical, but comments could be taken to the presentation at the Balboa Park Committee on 8/4. Swarens said comments on the product (survey) should go to City planners. Brierton was concerned that this survey would be used to override the extensive community planning input received for over a year, concerning the GGH residents' desire to have greater access to Balboa Park from the southeast area, where the Park borders on South Park and Golden Hill, for pedestrian and bike trails. Turgeon said planners would consider all of the information, not just this survey.
a) Community Plan Update, continued. Shields asked Accurso to read through the comments the focus group had compiled about Balboa Park. The comments, with references to the East Mesa Precise Plan, had been circulated to GGHPC members in advance, and can be found in Attachment 2 of these minutes. Members were asked to vote on whether each comment should be forwarded to City planners as reflecting the view of the committee.
- Install a Pedestrian/Bicycle path on the eastern edge of the park (28th street alignment) between Date and Maple. Yes 11, No 1, Abstain 1
- Provide safe walkways and bike paths, particularly along Golf Course Drive. Yes 13
- The portion of the City Operations Station north of Russ Boulevard is dedicated parkland. Develop the Pershing Recreation Complex at that location for active recreation. Yes 12, Abstain 1
- Preserve the historic fountain in Golden Hill Park. Yes 13
Several comments related to pedestrian and bicycle paths in the park. Alvarez and Kroll expressed concern about the number of paths suggested. Concern about exact locations and wording of the comments was voiced. Deborah Sharpe, a project officer from the Park Planning Section in Development Services Division at the City, said that the City has a set of suitability criteria for trails that would be applied to any improvements or additional trails. After receiving this information, members voted on these 4 comments together, Yes 11, Abstain 2
- Provide a pedestrian/bicycle path along Russ Boulevard between 28th and 26th. Near 28th Street, follow the golf course fence line and bridge over the small canyon.
- Provide pedestrian and bicycle paths from Golden Hill Park to the Pershing Recreation Complex.
- Continue the sidewalk along Russ Boulevard from 26th to 24th.
- Provide a pedestrian/bicycle path along Pershing to allow access to the Pershing Recreation Complex, the Florida Canyon and Balboa Park area from the vicinity of 19th and B Streets.
The remaining comments require fuller discussion at future meetings: - Install a low fence around the dog park at Grape Street Park. Set aside a portion of the park for other activities such as a children's playground. - Create a gateway feature at the entrance to Golden Hill Park. -Remove the existing fence along Russ between 25th and 24th.
Comments the focus group compiled relating to PDO and Zoning will be discussed in a similar manner at the next meeting.
c) Discussion of Plaza de Panama. Shields said she wanted GGHPC to have the opportunity to officially comment on the Jacobs project. It was on the June agenda, but we were given information at that time was that the project was not going forward, after the Memorandum of Understanding failed to receive a positive recommendation at the Rules Committee. The full City Council will be voting on the MOU next week.
Strickland said he wanted GGHPC to wait to vote until the matter of the MOU was decided. If the MOU does not pass, there won’t be a project to vote on. Since the EIR is going through the process, he felt we should wait to vote on those alternatives.
Shields wanted us to vote. Brierton agreed. Swarens said he wanted our vote to inform the City Council vote.
Motion 1 was amended to read “To oppose the “bypass bridge” off of the historic Cabrillo Bridge embodied in the current Jacobs plan for Balboa Park” Vote was Yes 10, No 3
Motion 2, relating to closure of the Cabrillo Bridge, was pulled once it became clear that we had incomplete information about those plans.
Bruce Coons of Save Our Heritage Organisation thanked us for the vote. Secretary M Skillman will prepare correspondence for the Chair to forward to all City Council members and the Mayor’s office.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, August 10 at 6:30 pm.
Shields adjourned meeting at 9:15 pm.
Marie Skillman.
Secretary
ATTACHMENT 1. MEETING AGENDA
GREATER GOLDEN HILL PLANNING COMMITTEE
July 13, 2011 at 6:30 P.M.
Balboa Park Golf Course Clubhouse at 2600 Golf Course Drive
http://www.gghpc.blogspot.com
Monthly Meeting
6:30 CALL TO ORDER – please be punctual
a) Additions/Deletions to Agenda
1. Approval of Minutes
2. Treasurer’s Report & Pass-the-Hat
6:40 PUBLIC COMMENT
6:50 GOVERNMENTAL REPORTS
7:00 CONSENT AGENDA : None
7:00 CHAIR’S REPORT
7:10 INFORMATION ITEMS:
a) Redistricting. Tentative Map. Midori Wong
b) SDPD Police position on Western Division Boundary in So. Park
c) Caltrans/SR-94 HOV/BRT Project. Staff update & Community input
8:00 ACTION ITEMS:
a) Community Plan Update process. Progress report and interim procedures for community input through the full Planning Committee. Turgeon/Shields
b) Results from the survey and assessment of park and recreation needs for the Greater Golden Hill, North Park and Uptown Community Plan Updates - Howard Greenstein, City Planning, Josh Williams, BW Research Partnership.
c) Discussion of Plaza de Panama
Motion: To oppose the “bypass bridge” off of the historic Cabrillo Bridge embodied in the Jacobs plan for Balboa Park.
Motion: The committee finds any closure of Cabrillo Bridge will be highly detrimental to citizen access to the Park and the efficient operations of Park institutions. Therefore the committee strongly opposes the proposed closure of Cabrillo Bridge.
8:50 SUBCOMMITTEE & LIAISON REPORTS
a) Airport Noise – Carole Caffey
b) Balboa Park Committee - David Strickland
c) Graffiti Hotline – 619 525-8522
d) Community Planners Committee (CPC) – Ruchell Alvarez
e) Community Plan Update Advisory Committee – City Planner Report
f) Historic – Susan Bugbee
g) Transportation – David Strickland
9:00 ADJOURN MEETING
Note: Land-Use Subcommittee. Confirm mtg/agenda. Richard Baldwin(kimorb_1999@yahoo.com)
Last Wednesday of the Month at 6:30PM
Location: Balboa Park Golf Course Clubhouse at 2600 Golf Course Drive
Historic Subcommittee. Confirm mtg/agenda. Susan Bugbee (bugbee@sandiego.edu)
1st Tuesday of the Month at 6:30pm
Location: 1724 29th Street (between Date & Elm)
*Times are estimates – Action Items may also be taken before Information Items
The City of San Diego distributes agendas via email and can also provide agendas in alternative formats as well as a sign language or oral interpreter for the meeting with advance notice. To request these services, please contact the City at 619-236-6479 or SDPlanningGroups@sandiego.gov.
GOVERNMENTAL REPRESENTATIVES:
a) Community Police Officer – Suzy de la Pena [744.9514 orsdelapena@pd.sandiego.gov ]
b) Council District 3 – Anthony Bernal [236-6633 or abernal@sandiego.gov]
c) Council District 8 – Melinda Meza. melinam@sandiego.gov. [236-6688]
d) Mayor’s Office – Denice Garcia [236-7056 or deniceg@sandiego.gov]
e) 53rd Congressional Dist. – Katherine Fortner [280-5353] Katherine.Fortner@mail.house.gov]
f) City Planner – Bernard Turgeon [533-6575 or bturgeon@sandiego.gov]
Attachment 2. BALBOA PARK COMMENTS
Draft 6/23/11:
Balboa Park recommendations
On May 14, 2011, five members of the CPUAC (Marie and David Skillman, Maureen Burke, David Swarens and Rick Accurso) met informally to review the Balboa Park comments from the CPUAC Meetings 1-5 matrix and the Charrette matrix. We drew up a list of recommendations for the park that we think have merit and which we believe reflect the main themes in the public comments. Subsequent review of the 1993 Balboa Park East Mesa Precise Plan revealed that the majority of our recommendations were anticipated in the Precise Plan (excerpts included).
Install a Pedestrian/Bicycle path on the eastern edge of the park
(28th street alignment) between Date and Maple.
Install pedestrian/bicycle trails to connect between Date and Maple Streets. Construct pedestrian and bicycle bridges within the canyons as necessary. The character of the bridges should follow the craftsman style of the adjacent neighborhoods utilizing materials related to the landscape of the Park such as cobbles,- concrete, and steel pole rails. The bridges should be small scale, intended to span drainage ways and steep portions of the canyons. (page IV-64)
Install a low fence around the dog park at Grape Street Park. Set aside a portion of the park for other activities such as a children's playground.
Construct five play areas for children, geared for different ages throughout the Neighborhood Edge. Each area shall include children's play equipment and seating for accompanying adults. [...] the fourth is in the Grape Street Park [...] (page IV-62)
Provide a pedestrian/bicycle path along Russ Boulevard between 28th and 26th. Near 28th Street, follow the golf course fence line and bridge over the small canyon.
Provide sidewalks along Russ Boulevard from 28th Street to the Golden Hill Recreation Center, bridging over the small canyon. (page IV-63) Provide low level pathway lighting to supplement the dispersed street lighting.
Lighting cut-off design should be cognizant of residential neighborhood intrusion. (page IV-65)
Provide safe walkways and bike paths, particularly along Golf Course Drive.
Provide a pedestrian sidewalk and bicycle lanes along Golf Course Drive. (page IV-93)
Bicycle lanes will be 7 feet wide at a minimum, 8 feet preferred where the right-of-way is adequate. Bicycle Lanes will be along:Pershing Drive, entire length 26th Street Florida Drive Zoo Place Morley Field Drive
Golf Course Drive (IV-113)
The portion of the City Operations Station north of Russ Boulevard is dedicated parkland. Develop the Pershing Recreation Complex at that location for active recreation.
The City Operations Station currently occupies what will be the Pershing Recreation Complex. [...] The portion south of Russ Boulevard will remain as the City Operations Station, accessed from 20th and B Street, as this segment is not dedicated parkland. (page IV-95) The Balboa Park Master Plan designates the land of the City Operations Station, north of Russ Boulevard, to be reclaimed for public park use. The recommendation
of the East Mesa Precise Plan is to utilize this area for active recreation and as an attractive entrance to the East Mesa from downtown and Interstate 5. (page IV-95)
The Precise Plan includes recommendations such as: relocating the velodrome to the Pershing Complex; construction of a soccer field; parking for 218 cars; a pedestrian/bicycle bridge over Pershing to Inspiration Point and the Central Mesa; ponds, picnic tables and a playground.
Provide pedestrian and bicycle paths from Golden Hill Park to the Pershing Recreation Complex.
Construct and maintain three pedestrian/bicycle trails to link the Golden Hill area with the Pershing Recreation Complex in the valley below. Two trails should provide access unimpaired by stairs while the third, at the southern edge of the Park should have short segments of stairs to provide direct access. The maximum
grade of the two northern trails is to be eight percent, with sections at five percent wherever possible. Each of these trails should be paved with asphalt because of the anticipated high frequency of use, and sloped for proper drainage. (page IV-86)
Create a gateway feature at the entrance to Golden Hill Park.
Create a neighborhood oriented gateway feature at the entrance to Golden Hill Park, near the intersection of 25th Street and Russ Boulevard. In light of security concerns, the new feature should not be a reconstruction of the historic gazebo once found in the area but possibly a small plaza, fountain, or work of public art.
(page IV-84)
Continue the sidewalk along Russ Boulevard from 26th to 24th.
Remove the existing fence along Russ between 25th and 24th.
Provide concrete sidewalks along Russ Boulevard from the Golden Hill Recreation Center west to the paved trails of Golden Hill. (page IV-87)
Preserve the historic fountain in Golden Hill Park.
Preserve the old stone fountain at the head of the southwestern canyon in a state of "arrested decay" until the area has reached a level of security that would reinforce its protection. Utilize photographs from the historical society and informationoffered by the members of the Golden Hill Community and the San Diego Historical Society to follow the original character when restoration is implemented.New plumbing, circulatory system, electricity, and a new source of water will be required. Consider reclaimed water when available. (page IV-84)
Provide a pedestrian/bicycle path along Pershing to allow access to the Pershing Recreation Complex and the Florida Canyon area from the vicinity of 19th and B Streets.
Although this is outside of Balboa Park it's an important park access issue.
