OB Planning Board from L to R: Kevin Becker, Barbara Schmidtknecht, Scott Therkalsen, Ronson Shamoun, Tom Gawronski, Pete Ruscitti, Denine Wand, Giovanni Ingolia, Andrew Waltz, Raeanon Hartigan, and Bill Bushe.
There was a lot going on at the last OB Planning Board meeting; there was the unveiling of the new design for World Oil’s Sunset Plaza and a presentation by City planners on the new draft OB Community Plan Update. And there was more ….
Meeting in the community room of the OB Rec Center last Wednesday, June 5th, Chair Tom Gawronski gaveled the meeting to order right around 6pm. He had a quorum: newly appointed Andrew Waltz of District 1, Board members Barbara Schmidtknecht and Kevin Becker from District 2, Scott Therkalsen for District 3, Ronson Shamoun District 4 (Kelly Taing was absent), Giovanni Ingolia and Bill Bushe District 5, Tom and Pete Ruscitti District 6, and Raeanon Hartigan for District 7.
Landry Watson – a longtime Board member and former Chair – had not turned in an official resignation letter, although several knew that he had moved to north county; he represents District 1.
There remains vacancies on the Board in District 3 and District 7. (Go to the OB Planners’ website for maps of the planning area as well as individual districts.) And there is the anticipation of the vacancy in District 1 – Watson’s seat.
One of the first orders of business was the appointment of Denine Wand for the vacancy in District 7. She turned in her required number of signatures and Chair Gawronski had verified them. She lives in District 2 on the 4600 block of Santa Monica.
Barbara Schmidtkecht, the treasurer, announced that the Board has $399.58 in its treasury.
John Ly – Councilmember Faulconer’s new rep – made announcements: the oversized vehicle ordinance is coming up before Council this month; Faulconer supports the mayor’s budget, tax revenues are up, and contract negotiations with the city’s unions are nearly finalized.
State Senator Marty Block’s rep Roberto Alcantar announced that Block had awarded his “Small Business of the Year” award for the 39th District to the OB Hotel – owned by Rich Grosch. Grosch was a former aide to Block. Block has been working closely with the OBCDC on the Veterans’ Plaza project, helping to find funding.
On a non-agenda item, 3 local residents – Barbara and Tom Houlton and Mr Hicks – spoke before the Board asking them to resubmit the record of their vote on the Point Loma Inn of last month, to delete the hand-written note on the document – which was not part of the motion passed.
A representative of the City appeared and requested the Board to form a sub-committee on public facilities financing – as all planning committees are now being asked to do this by the City. A motion was made and passed by the Board to set up such a sub-committee. Giovanni was appointed chair of this new sub-com. The Board had begun working on a priority list for public facilities. An audience member reminded the Board that the City had promised Ocean Beach a new library a decade ago but due to city finances taking a dive, it never materialized. Giovanni responded that as a son of a librarian he would ensure that the new library is at the top of the list.
Chair Gawronski announced that the Appeals Sub-committee had been “shot down again” over the appeal regarding development on West Pt Loma Boulevard.
June 19th is the date for a scheduled City hearing on the police trailer in the pier parking lot, although the date may be changed.
The OB Street Fair – coming on June 22 – needs more volunteers – especially for the murals. If you’d like to volunteer, call 619-224-4906. Denny Knox of the OBMA assured people that there will plenty of security and police presence at the Fair.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
As I mentioned at the planning board meeting the June 19th hearing will not be held, the docket for the trailer project will be pulled.
The project is going to back to step one.
Honesty, integrity and respect for the process has not been a priority for the applicant, fortunately a supervisor in the planning department agreed and stopped the project.
S.D.P.D. the City of San Diego & Park & Rec. all choose to ignore the reasons the coastal commission issued a violation. The violation clearly states the severe shortage of parking, and blocking a PUBLIC view from multiple locations are serious violations.
The identical thing I told the corrupt city code enforcement supervisor Bob Vachi five years ago.
For some reason the project manager concluded the parking spaces are not required ?
She never checked the validity of the statements made by the applicant in regards to the use of the trailer. One of the most ridiculous statements states the trailer is used ON A DAILY BASIS by the police bike team ? also the trailer is used during special events ?
There are thousands of public photos that show the trailer is either moved to Robb Field, to a corner of the parking lot or left in place and surrounded by attendees. the real police trailer is set up at the lifeguard tower.
Daily bike team ? that’s not even funny.
The applicant is more of a creative nonfiction writer than a cop.
Can anyone suggest where I can post copies of the project documents for the public to see ? you have to see it to believe it.
I meant creative FICTION writer.
I’m Councilmember Faulconer’s Communications Director. I want to expand on the comments reported by Frank from our representative John Ly. Councilmember Faulconer supports elements of the budget but has major concerns about key neighborhood services that were left out, including $80 million in infrastructure and street repairs and a lack of restorations to recreation center hours. You can read more about it here: http://voiceofsandiego.org/the-plaza/#!/post/1370927846-239-956
Thanks, Frank, for bringing this to my attention and allowing an opportunity for clarification.