From City Planning to Magical Thinking in the College Area: ‘Oh, How Far We Have Fallen’

A Plea for Residents of Other Neighborhoods to Stand With the College Area at the Upcoming Planning Commission Hearing — Oct. 9

By Robert Montana

With San Diego’s proposed update to the College Area Community Plan, we are witnessing the complete negation of professional urban planning in the City of San Diego. And this proposal on our eastern edge matters mightily to all citizens throughout the city because if appointed and elected officials don’t come to their senses, this updated plan will become the blueprint for all future ‘planning’ efforts from city staff.

The College Area Community Planning Board (CACPB) needs the assistance of everyone who believes that good urban planning matters to us today and to those who
will come to our region in the future with hopes of a brighter destiny for themselves and their children. Specifically, the San Diego Planning Commission will hear the proposed plan update on October 9, 2025, in their new location at 7650 Mission Valley Road in Mission Valley. And the CACPB needs people from all the communities within San Diego to stand, speak and declare that growth is important, but that it must be accompanied by improvements in basic infrastructure that meet expected demand in a timely manner. The glaring problem with the proposal is the lack of any nexus between development and infrastructure.

Let’s dive into some specifics.

With forethought, the CACPB produced a document, entitled the 7 Visions Plan (7VP), in anticipation of the need to update our community plan. In that document, the community proposed an increase of about 22,300 residents and 11,200 new dwelling units over the next 30 years. It is important to note that this plan accepted the need for an increase of about 112% from the current population. The 7VP located most new development along already existing transit corridors and areas close to the SDSU Campus in an effort to create a Campus Village that could form bonds between residents and students while also allowing walkable access to the existing Trolley Station.

In stark contrast, the City Planning Department proposes to quadruple the capacity of the College area (332%). And, in a bold departure from any facade of equity, the City proposes to place nearly all of this new development in the three areas that have been opportunity areas. In other words, the State of California recognizes that these areas within our community already fall short in economic, education and environmental indicators versus other neighborhoods in our area and across the city. Indeed, the
project proposes to dramatically increase density in these very communities without any concrete plans regarding how to provide the additional needed infrastructure and
services to improve the resources in these zones. One commentator called the City’s proposal for new infrastructure ‘aspirational’ at best.

The poster child for this lunacy is our one park of less than 2 acres. It was built after the approval of the existing 1989 Community Plan. A plan that noted that the College Area needed at least 48 acres of park land. And the proposed Plan Update promises zero new acres of park land. Zero, because let’s face it folks, building a livable city is hard.

Parks, in particular, are difficult to build. They require foresight, planning, budgeting, funding, a vision and dedication to the residents and constituents of this city. So,
instead of actually doing any of that, we are supposed to just trust the city. It will happen, you’ll get what you deserve, not what you want or need, but what you deserve.
Meanwhile, we have been advised to use neighboring recreation centers and aquatic centers which are already overburdened by their own service areas.

Friends and neighbors, please join us at the Planning Commission hearing. Stand up and declare that “I’m from City Heights, Linda Vista, Logan Heights, Encanto, Shell
Town, Ocean Beach, Clairemont, Point Loma and East San Diego, and this is my fight.

I demand city planning that provides infrastructure and services at the scale and at the time when development occurs. I demand that the city commit itself to using our tax
dollars and funds collected from development projects to plan and build parks, recreation centers, police stations, fire stations, transit stations and aquatic centers at the right time, in the right location, and at the proper scale whenever new projects are approved and built.

What happens in the College Area will set the precedent for the upcoming Mid-Cities Community Plan Update – it won’t stop here. What the City gets away with in the
College Area will set the stage for the next plan update, so let’s hold the line now and ensure that extreme density increases aren’t allowed without the supportive
infrastructure they require. We need your help, please.

Robert Montana earned a Graduate Degree in City Planning from SDSU, practiced his career locally for the County San Diego and the US Navy.  He is currently the Chair of the College Area Community Planning Board.