November 17, 2022: PLANNING COMMISSION INFORMATIONAL WORKSHOP
The Planning Department gave a status update on the College Area Community Plan Update to the Planning Commission on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022. The Planning Commission was not taking any action at this workshop. The College Area Planning Group also presented its 7 Visions plan to the Planning Commission.
Read more about this workshop here.
Recent updates: At the September 14, 2022 meeting of the College Area Community Planning Group, the planning group adopted a community-driven plan, reflecting the community's "7 Visions". This plan was submitted to the Planning Department for consideration alongside the plans proposed by the Planning Department in advance of the September 28th meeting.
September 28th Meeting Recap:
Technical difficulties, disabled chat, and a surprise 7 Visions plan dismissal.
You can read about the events of the September 28th meeting here.
October 26th, 2022:
Due to technical difficulties at the September 28th meeting, a new College Area Planning Group meeting was held on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. The community's revised "7 Visions" plan was resubmitted and should be presented alongside the Planning Department's plans after being dismissed by the Planning Department without prior notice at the September 28th meeting. The Planning Department is expected to present the same land use scenario that was proposed at the September 28th meeting.
(You can find the 9/28 recording and documents here).
Proposed COLLEGE AREA
plan adopted at the September 14 CACPG meeting
Based on the guidance of the community at the August 23 meeting at the College Rolando Library, NFABSD volunteers put together a proposed plan for the College Area. This was presented to the College Area Community Planning Group on September 14. The presentation above reflects the plan as amended and approved by the planning group at that meeting.
Resident Planning Maps from the
COLLEGE AREA
June 6th Meeting!
At the June 6th planning exercise for the College Area hosted by Neighbors For A Better San Diego and the College Area Community Council, residents got together at 14 tables of 8-10 people to map their own ideas for the future development of the College Area.
The resulting maps (see scroller above) were compared to identify common themes and areas of development for future housing and community parks.
These results have been collated into a Summary Report, which can be viewed here.
Again, we thank everyone who participated. The report has been forwarded to the College Area city planner, Nathen Causman, for consideration and guidance for the upcoming June 29 College Area Community Plan Update.
Recap of the
PLAN THE COLLEGE AREA
June 6th Meeting!
Following the Planning Department's May 25th meeting, more than 100 residents participated in a June 6th planning exercise for the College Area hosted by Neighbors For A Better San Diego and the College Area Community Council.
Unlike previous meetings with the Planning Department where residents were force-fed unacceptable plan proposals and equally-flawed survey results, this was a grassroots opportunity for people to come together to understand the objectives of the community plan update, discuss what they do and don’t like about the College Area, and then shape the future by putting their own ideas on paper.
After getting to know each other and discussing their priorities for the community plan update, each table of 8-10 people drew their proposed changes onto a map. The next step will be to compare the maps to identify the important themes for the community. Once we collate the data from each of the individual tables, we will share the end product with the participants, the community, the District 9 office and the Planning Department as input to the Planning Department's June 29th Open House.
We genuinely thank all of the participants for taking part in this exercise and for the thoughtful ideas that were developed. We look forward to sharing more details after we have collated the data and following up with next steps.
Mayor Gloria's
College Area Community Plan Update
College Area Neighborhoods Deserve Better
(Although this issue is specific to the College Area, we are posting this information here because Neighbors For A Better San Diego feels it's important for other communities to be aware of the actions of Mayor Gloria's Planning Department. The playbook that is being used by the Planning Department in the College Area is sure to be attempted in all future community plan updates.)
The City of San Diego is working on a College Area Community Plan Update with plans to significantly upzone much of the El Cerrito and College Area neighborhoods.
This new plan will transform whole sections of the community from single-family residential to multi-family, multi-story development through rezoning. Below is the current College Area Land Use Map and the two current proposed plans.
CURRENT COLLEGE AREA LAND USE MAP
Focuses highest density along El Cajon Blvd.
Offers residential transitions and preserves single-family neighborhoods (pale yellow)
PROPOSED PLAN A (Bad)
"Grand Boulevards"
Allows 2- to 5-story apartment buildings in existing single-family neighborhoods
PROPOSED PLAN B (Worse)
"15-Minute Neighborhoods"
Allows 3- to 8-story apartment buildings in existing single-family neighborhoods
The Mayor's Planning Department is Using Out-of-Date Data, Inflating Future Population and Housing Needs
Click here to learn how out-of-date data are exaggerating population and housing projections in these plans.
The Survey is Junk
Major flaws have been identified with the College Area Community Plan Update survey.
The survey deadline was May 1st, but we encourage you to read this email that was sent to the Mayor, Planning Department, and Council President Elo-Rivera to call their attention to the problematic survey.
Make Your Voices Heard!
We encourage all College Area residents to communicate either your support or concerns about the proposed plans, the survey, the planning process, etc. You can use the Talking Points provided below, but please use your own words, which are always more meaningful.
Email your letters to:
Mayor Todd Gloria:
District 9, Council President Sean Elo-Rivera:
Talking Points
Here is a list of talking points that you may find helpful.
Click here for the latest College Area Updates and other related news.
