OB Rag

City Hall’s Hillcrest “Amendment”: More Density, More Bike Lanes, Less Parking

By Kate Callen –  a candidate for City Council District 3

The “strong mayor” autocracy that runs San Diego has decided that Hillcrest, one of District 3’s most congested communities, just isn’t congested enough. A new fast-tracked “Hillcrest Focused Plan Amendment” has been foisted onto the Uptown Planners group for a cursory review. Details are outlined in an Oct. 29 Union-Tribune story. Some takeaways:

The new plan calls for building 20,000 new units and 50,000 new residents in Hillcrest with no measures to increase affordable housing.

Historic preservation will be phased out, especially if Mayor Gloria succeeds in weakening the City’s historic resources ordinance.

If San Diego planning officials get their way, the community of Hillcrest will undergo significant changes with the current update to the community’s blueprint for the future. The changes include dozens of 20- and 30-story buildings, more one-way streets, roughly 50,000 more residents, new public promenades, plus an LGBTQ historic district– and were unveiled in late October.

The proposals would translate to downtown-style high-rise housing in Hillcrest along existing transportation corridors and revamped versions of the neighborhood’s two large hospital campuses.

See this news video from CBS8 on the proposed changes; Mat Wahlstrom is interviewed;

Here are some of more of the elements/consequences of the new proposals:

• 20,000 new units of housing in Hillcrest
• 50,000 new residents
• proposal would double current density maximum now allowed of 109 dwelling units per acre, which typically allows for buildings of 10 to 12 stories to 218 units per acre in some areas and nearly triple it in some limited spots to 290 units per acre. That means buildings of 20 and even 30 stories could be built in Hillcrest.
  

The following was given at “A Conversation on Gaza-Israel War” program at the Olympia Center, in Olympia, Washington on October 17, 2023, and revised 10/30/2023.

By Peter Bohmer

I want to share how my background causes me to support the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation of all of Palestine including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Since 1967, I have actively opposed the U.S. military aid and ideological support for Israel, and in solidarity with Palestine.

I mourn the deaths of 9500 people murdered in southern Israel and Gaza over the last three weeks (as of October 29th) over 1400 in Israel, mainly Israeli civilians by Hamas and over 8000 Palestinians in Gaza and growing numbers in the West Bank by the Israeli military, the IDF. Let us take a moment to reflect on this death of human life and the injuries of many more.

My parents and grandparents were Jewish from Central Europe, my parents grew up in Vienna, Austria. The German military and Nazis were welcomed by much of the Austrian population when they invaded in spring 1938. Germany immediately annexed Austria. My dad was 22 when he was incarcerated in Vienna by the Austrian Nazis and frequently  beaten.

The Ocean Beach Planning Board meets Wednesday night, November 1  inside the OB Rec Center at 4726 Santa Monica Ave. Their meet begins at 6 pm.

Notable agenda items include a presentation by a representative volunteer of Power San Diego campaign about this upcoming ballot initiative. The presenter will spell out the justification for non-profit control as well as the mechanics of how it is possible.

…From SOHO

San Diego’s historic neighborhoods represent an essential part of our city’s cultural heritage. They embody a valuable, authentic legacy, providing a tangible connection to the past, ongoing pride and bonds, and a sense of continuity for the future.

Our neighborhoods are now threatened by one gratuitous developer’s bill after another, all seeking to overbuild your community, your street, and putting aside/devaluing a general quality of life that all Americans seek. These bills have a significant negative impact on the historic character and integrity of our neighborhoods and threaten to change the face of San Diego forever.

To be alarmed, if not downright scared, we need only look at California SB 10—the fatally flawed, outrageously punitive to homeowners, and, if adopted, irreversible legislation that was sold as a means to create more affordable housing.

by Ernie McCray

The seventy
and eighty
and ninety-year-olds
and beyond
compose a generation
whose days,
after so many yearly journeys
revolving around the sun,
are moving on,
yet,|
though their days will be done,
along with their memories
of a war that was won,
the ending of Jim Crow shenanigans
and marches in the street
for peace and justice and equality
that faced firehoses and snarling dogs
with bared teeth
and so many things –

Restaurant Review

La Perla Cocina Mexicana #3
1224 Rosecrans Street
San Diego, CA 92106
619-795-0063

By Judi Curry

It is seldom that I do not have to make dinner for my foreign language students on a school night, but tonight all three of the students had things to do and none of them were going to be home until late, so Steve and I decided to try another new restaurant in the neighborhood.

This time we decided to try a Mexican restaurant we had gone to a long time ago when it was Hector’s.  The few people that I had talked to about the new owners gave it favorable reviews, and since we were doing shopping in the Rosecrans area anyway felt it was a good time to try the place.  And I have to say that we were really happy that we did, because the food was very, very good!

By Colleen O’Connor

The false choices for bringing Trump to account for violating “gag orders” are looming large.

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith (January 6th investigation), the judge in Trump’s civil fraud case, the Attorneys General in Georgia, and New York have all railed against the not-so-subtle threats against themselves, their families, and/or clerks and Georgia election workers.

Fines have failed to deter Trump’s outbursts on social media, in front of the press, and at rallies that would have landed any other defendant in jail.  $5,000 or $10,000 are meaningless. 

Some Point Loma residents are upset about the city considering a plan to create a mixed-used homeless shelter site on a 5-acre city-owned plot of land near the airport — called “Barracks H.” They took their case to the media last week and have set up an online petition for their cause.

Vacant buildings on the site have for years been utilized for firefighting practices – and some of the buildings have already been demolished. From NBC7:

According to the city’s Homeless Shelter and Solutions Strategy, the site could have traditional shelters, but also potentially include a safe sleeping parking lot with tents and a safe parking lot for people to sleep in their vehicles. … the proposed timeline has the site opening as early as summer of 2024.

By Judi Curry

Dozens of people attended the Neighborhood Watch meeting at St. Peter’s by the Sea meeting room earlier this month. Over half a dozen signs had been put over the local area notifying people that there was a watch group forming in the neighborhood. Two people – Rosamaria Acuna and Gary Werchak – were responsible for bringing the effort together.

The City of San Diego served notice on October 23, 2023, of a upcoming decision by the Development Services Dept on the permit to build a new 3-storty multi-unit complex at 4705 Point Loma Avenue in south OB.

Development Services Staff will make a decision to approve, conditionally approve, modify, or deny an application for a (Process 2) Coastal Development Permit to demolish an existing commercial structure and to construct a new 3-story multi-dwelling unit, located at 4705 Point Loma Av.

Development of the 0.17-acre site has long been anticipated – and the corner itself has an interesting and controversial history.

Earlier this month U-T reporter Phillip Molnar wrote that a new study by Lending Tree, a loan website, determined that “6 percent of homes in the San Diego metropolitan area — which includes all of San Diego County — are vacant. In terms of raw numbers, that is 74,936 homes.”

Again, that is nearly 75,000 homes, houses, apartments, condos, studios, ADUs – that are taking up space that have no humans in them. In an area in an affordable housing crisis, that’s an astounding number.