Protect Point Loma: The Charge of the Light Brigade

By Colleen O’Connor

Canon to the right of them.
Canon to the left of them.
Canon in front of them
Boldly they rode and well.

These lines from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade” accurately describe the atmosphere of Friday night’s town hall meeting, Feb. 21, fighting to Protect Point Loma.

The overflow crowd at the Point Loma Assembly Hall charged (verbally) against the Mayor, the City Council, and the developers supporting the destruction of many San Diego “neighborhoods.”  Not just Point Loma, but Ocean Beach, Encanto, Mission Hills, Clairemont, Park Boulevard and others.

Some in the audience want them all to join ranks. After dodging canons on the right of them, the left of them and in front of them, these fighters are defending not just their own neighborhood, but the whole city and have begun to succeed.

They stopped the homeless shelter on Kettner and Vine.  Are fighting against the SB10 permitted overbuilding.  Stalled a project near Ocean Beach on Point Loma Avenue. And are tackling a new high-rise building that violates all the “character of the neighborhood” dictates.

The latest is a 4-story tall building, housing 56 units (presently zoned for only 14 units), on the corner of Rosecrans and Talbot, sitting on an active fault line, and hazarded waste left over from a previous gas station on the property.

It abuts the Cabrillo elementary school, the Jennings House eatery and is but feet from California Coastal Committee oversight protections.  The Osprey, and endangered species nests nearby.

There are no setbacks and no public input allowed (under the so-called “Complete Communities” plan).

Indeed, the City only acknowledged the underground hazardous waste contamination February 8th.

All the “affordable housing units are on the first floor and subterranean with no secondary exit.”

Also, no one can sue the developer until the City releases the building permits (which they have refused to do) despite being in negotiations with said developer since 2022. The 266-page planning documents described by one audience participant as “Wack-a-Doodle.”

Together, this new “light brigade” from Point Loma is formidable, facing down the canons and charging ahead. They may just succeed. They have hired a lawyer, dedicated their website and standing together with other affected neighborhoods.

Boldly they fight.  And if Friday night’s audience was any indication, they and their new partners will win!