President’s Message
By Marilyn Reed
The next Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, January 22nd, will feature as main speaker former Councilmember Mr. Carl DeMaio
Land Use
By Marilyn Reed
Read about the various projects and development actions that affect Allied Gardens and Grantville here.
| Town Hall Meeting Minutes July 26, 2012 Ascension Lutheran Church 5106 Zion Avenue San Diego, CA 92120 |
By Marilyn Reed
This New Year has certainly gotten off to a rough start for residents of Allied Gardens. The multifamily residential project called the “Village at Zion” is scheduled to return to the San Diego Planning Commission on January 17th for approval of the revised plans. As the decision by the Planning Commission regarding this development will be made after the publication of the Newsletter; it cannot be reported here. However, if the Planning Commission remains consistent with its previous decisions regarding developments in our community, especially pertaining to multifamily residential construction, I have no doubt that the revised plans for the project will be approved and recommended to the City Council for acceptance, just as the original plans were.
I described the revisions in the previous Newsletter for this project; however, if you are not aware of those changes, they are as follows: the actual building is now proposed to be two stories with underground parking containing 60 spaces for 60 units. The original plans consisted of a three story building with parking on site for 58 units and about one parking space per unit. Very little visitor parking was provided on site. Some of the concerns voiced at various community meetings where the project was presented focused on the lack of adequate parking for the project and the density of the complex being placed on a 1.2 acre parcel in the heart of Allied Gardens. Although the project did not receive an approval for recommendation by the majority of the members on NCPI both times it was presented, it will most likely receive a nod of approval for recommendation to the City Council on Jan. 17 by the Planning Commission.
The fact that the project is to be senior housing is not the issue as to why residents are against its approval. However, the fact that it will be the first high density multifamily residential complex built in the middle of this single family neighborhood is the issue. The property is currently zoned for the construction of seven single family homes. Approval of the project will rezone the property to multifamily residential.
It is unfortunate that the City of San Diego has such a short memory regarding the opinion of this area regarding multifamily developments. As president of AGCC in 2002, I felt our community needed to be informed as to the new planning direction the City of San Diego was taking called the “City of Villages” and that it would not be well received. The focus of this planning strategy was to promote multifamily residential developments within older established communities. AGCC hosted several well attended meetings on this new proposed strategic framework element for City planning.
Overwhelming, approximately six hundred residents came out on two very warm July evenings to attend presentations on this topic and made it very clear that the community did not want Allied Gardens to be included on the City of Villages’ map. The Planning Commission reluctantly agreed and Allied Gardens was the only community removed from the map at that time. Apparently, that decision was either reversed or disregarded. We are currently facing just the beginning of many such changes toward high density developments within our single family community. Of course, the final decision on this project will lie with the City Council. It will be extremely interesting to see how this new Council votes on projects such as this. I personally gave Councilmember Sherman and Mayor Filner copies of a letter from AGCC and a petition signed by over 120 residents against the Village at Zion project. I hope that our efforts will be taken seriously and not be so callously disregarded as they have been in the past.
Finally, this will be my last article in the Newsletter as President. These last four years (as were my first four) have presented countless challenges in dealing with NCPI and the City of San Diego. AGCC needs to keep a strong representation of AG residents on the Board and I encourage you to volunteer. Our election of Directors will be held at this January Town Hall Meeting. Please consider volunteering. Otherwise, the voice of residents will be overshadowed by comprise and negotiation and the benefits can only be a “win” for developers with the rest of us experiencing adverse effects to traffic, parking and other conditions within our community.
Land Use Report
Prepared by Marilyn Reed
Land Use Report—AGCC Board Meeting Jan. 7, 2013
- Allied Gardens Community Council
-Location: Ascension Lutheran Church – 5106 Zion Ave.
-Board Meeting—First Monday of each month
-Next Town Hall Meeting—January 22, 2013—Elections of Directors
Speaker for Town Hall Meeting will be Carl DeMaio
Main land Use issue is the upcoming City of San Diego Planning Commission Hearing on the “Village at Zion” on Jan. 17. According to the Public Notice,” the Planning commission will hold a public hearing to recommend approval, conditional approval, or denial to the City Council of the General/Community Plan Amendment, Rezone from RS-1-7 to RM-3-7 (which means to rezone from single family home development of seven houses to High Density multifamily) and Conditional Use permit for the construction of 60 for-rent senior housing units within a two-story building, above underground parking, totally approximately 71,305 square-feet, on a vacant 1.21 acre site located at 5150 Zion Ave. The proposed project will conform to the Inclusionary Affordable Housing Requirements and Council Policy 600-27 criteria for the Affordable/In-Fill Housing Expedite Program by providing 100% senior housing”.
The Hearing will be held at the Council Chambers, 12th Floor, and City Administration Building at 202 C Street, San Diego. The Hearing time is 9:00 AM. You may contact Laura C. Black, Development Project Manager at (619)236-6327 or lblack@sandiego.gov with your comments and concerns about this project prior to the Hearing on Thurs., Jan. 17.
- Navajo Community Planners, Inc.
Temple Emanu-El
6299 Capri Dr.
-The November Meeting was cancelled due to lack of agenda items
-Last Meeting was December 17, 2013
-Next Meeting will be held on Jan. 28 at a new location in Allied Gardens. The Church on the corner of Estrella and Zion Ave. will be the new location for all meetings.
Main Action Item on the Agenda for December was the discussion of the San Diego Park Master Plan—the presentation was given by Robin Shifflet (City of San Diego) and Todd Mead, (Consulting Firm called Civitas).
Amendments to the Navajo Community Plan Implementation Overlay Zone and Amendments to the Navajo Community Plan were discussed and voted on. The Board voted to recommend approval of the amendments as presented and the Overlay Zone.
--NCPI Chair Allen Jones resigned to accept a position in the New Administration of Mayor Filner. Mr. Anthony Wagner (Vice-Chair) is currently serving as Chair of NCPI until Officer Elections in March.
- Grantville Action Group Meeting
VFW on Twain Ave
-Last Meeting Jan. 3, 2013
-Next Meeting Feb. 7
John Staad, Councilmember Sherman’s Representative for Navajo, reported that asphalt over-lay work will begin in April and continue until November of 2013 along Twain Ave. to resurface areas of the road where sewer repairs have made it difficult to travel on.
Dr. Peterson discussed the Lawsuit and Grantville funding going to improvements for the downtown area. Also, a new way of reinstating redevelopment with Infrastructure Financing Districts is moving forward with a Bill from State Representative Wolk (D-Davis) in the form of a Bill SB 33.
| Town Hall Meeting Minutes November 27, 2013 Ascension Lutheran Church 5106 Zion Avenue San Diego, CA 92120 |
CALL TO ORDER: President, Marilyn Reed, called the Town Hall Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
FLAG SALUTE: Marilyn Reed led the flag salute.
MINUTES: The minutes of the previous Town Hall Meeting were approved as published in the Allied Gardens Community Council Newsletter.
PRESIDENT’S ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- Holiday lights will be strung on the flyover bridge on Saturday, December 8, at 8:00 a.m.
- Members of the AGCC Council will decorate the Christmas tree at the Triangle, at the corner of Zion Ave. & Waring Rd., on Sunday, December 9, at 10:00 a.m.
- The Tree Lighting Ceremony, at the Triangle, will be held on Thursday, December 13, at 6:00 p.m. The AG Kiwanis donate the tree for this festivity.
- The Fifteenth Holiday Festival, at Lewis Middle School Auditorium, will be presented on Friday, December 14, at 7:00 p.m. The second grade students from Foster and Marvin Elementary Schools will perform various holiday favorites. The Lewis Middle School Choir will also perform at this event.
- Volunteers are needed at Foster Elementary School for the Everyone A Reader. EAR is a volunteer tutor program that matches trained tutors with struggling readers in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. For more information and training dates, please contact Chipo Makwakwa at 619-287-3211, ext. 119 or cmakwakwa@missionnaz.org
- The Shawnee/River Bend Project was approved, October 2nd, by the San Diego City Council.
- The Village at Zion was voted down by NCPI but the project will still go forward to the Planning Commission in January 2013.
ELECTED OFFICIAL REPORTS:
There were no representatives attending the meeting.
PROGRAM:
Tonight’s speaker was Mayor-Elect Bob Filner. He stated that it was an awesome responsibility to be selected as mayor of the 8th largest city in the U.S. There will be continuity with some employees of the city and the mayor’s office such as the budget director. Scheduled along with his inauguration on December 3, which will be held at the Balboa Park Club, there will be five community receptions in various locations around the city. Filner said that there are constraints on the strong-mayor type of government. One large structural change will be to re-institute the Planning Development Department to make sure the infrastructure is in place before building projects are approved. He has turned down all meetings with developers and said that he will meet with anyone—in the mayor’s office. The Planning Department should make neighborhoods more livable. People in each neighborhood should make their own decisions as to which projects that should be approved in their area. Marilyn brought up the Shawnee and the Village at Zion projects to Mr. Filner. He said that he will look further into both projects. Donna Frye will be appointed as Filner’s new director of open government, concerning community engagement issues. He wants to make sure government process is open. He stated that he would like to see students involved in government process. Filner wants to insure that city officials are telling residents the truth about city issues. That is not happening now. Filner said that the police and fire departments are under-funded. He said that he wants to expand our port to create jobs. Another project he would like to work on is to provide solar power to all city buildings.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Terri Lattman, Recording Secretary