November 19 – Today – Is Deadline for Comments to City Planner
Today is the deadline for OBceans to get their comments, recommendations, suggestions and ideas about the new Update OB Community Plan to the City planner responsible for OB’s plan.
Here is Teresa Millette: tmillette@sandiego.gov
And here are the OB Rag’s comments (presented at the Nov. 13th Town Hall meeting):
- The new Plan calls for a 6% increase in residential units by 2030 – that’s 850 new residents. The City anticipates these new residents will be housed in the 3 community commercial districts along Voltaire, Newport and Point Loma Avenue. These figures are based on SANDAG estimates – which are often wrong.
- The City is trying to place parts of OB into the “City of Villages” concept, but that concept is directly tied to easy access to mass transit – and OB does not have much of that.
- The Plan cites OB’s “park deficiencies” – but says they would be even greater if the Barnes Tennis Center was not included (Barnes is a private facility on public land) and if Famosa Slough was not included. Yet, there is no mention of including Collier Park in northeast OB as a park for the community. (That neighborhood park is considered part of Point Loma and not OB, despite its original designation and names on census tracts.)
- Too much money was spent by the city on determining OB’s “pedestrian circulation routes”.
- “Bulbouts” are called for – but where would they be placed as OB’s streets are already crowded.
- More crosswalks are needed, especially the one next to OB Elementary School mid-block on Santa Monica Avenue.
- Street furniture is needed and is great – but who is to pay for it? Shall we have bake sales?
- The Plan calls for “pedestrian connections” which is good, but this may pave the way for the feared “boardwalk” along the beach front that OBceans have been resisting for decades.
- The call for a Rapid Bus Service and for shuttle bus service during the summer months are excellent recommendations, but MTS will have to be included in order to include that element.
- There is no mention of advocating for the trolley to come to the beach.
- Too many signal lights are called for.
- Nimitz Boulevard does not need 6 lanes.
- No paid public parking anywhere in OB.
- Improve the public parking lot next to Bo Beau’s near Robb Field – it’s a public lot.
- Under Chapter 4 Urban Design, there are many good recommendations regarding bulk, facades, roof types, landscaping, balconies, decks, courtyards, etc.
- Developers cannot be allowed to get around the 30 foot height limit by piling massive amounts of dirt on their lots in order to raise the “ground level”. This is going on right now with the new Saratoga condos project down along Abbott.
- Chapter 5 Public Facilities – the main OB lifeguard station was NOT built in 1983 as the Plan states, but was put in during the Sixties. OB needs a new lifeguard station.
- OB needs new public restrooms next to the new lifeguard station.
- On the OB Library, OB was promised a new library a decade ago to be attached to the historic portion of the building. This needs to happen.
- The OB Recreation Center needs to be upgraded.
- Language requiring only “native plants” in OB along the San Diego River needs to be altered, as there were no trees in OB when the Spanish arrived.
- It is an excellent recommendation not to allow construction on the bluffs of OB.
- In Appendix B Street Trees – there is not one word on OB’s fabulous Torrey Pines particularly along the 4600 block of Saratoga.
- There needs to be language in the new Plan that requires the City or anybody who wants to cut down a tree either in the public right of way or on public land to come before the Planning Board for approval.
- The History section at the end of the Plan glosses over the corrupt lies by Billy Carlson, one of OB’s founders.
- And finally, there is no mention of the historic grassroots struggle and campaign to re-write the original Precise Plan and to establish the OB Planning Board itself.
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