OB Rag

Sustainable Development Areas (SDAs) – Not a good bargain for the City of San Diego

By Nico Calavita / February 13, 2023

On February 14th, the San Diego City Council will vote on expanding two incentive programs, the Complete Communities Housing Solutions Program (CCHS) and the
Accessory Dwelling Unit Affordable Density Bonus Program (ADUDB) to almost the entire city through the creation of a new geographic area — Sustainable Development Areas (SDAs) — in the Municipal Code.

It is one of the most important land use decisions of the past few years, yet it is buried in the Land Development Code package with 83 other items.

The local residents’ group, Neighbors for a Better San Diego, are urging the City Council to pull what’s called the Sustainable Development Area (SDA) proposal from the Land Development Code Update. They’re also urging their fellow residents to speak out at today’s council meeting.

The full council is meeting today, Tuesday, Feb. 14, on this controversial proposal at 2 pm.

The Voice of San Diego reporter Andrew Keats broke a story at the end of last week that Midway Rising, the Sports Arena redeveloper, was fined $5,000 by the San Diego Ethics Commission for failing to submit a disclosure form that informed the public of its political investments until nearly a year after it was due.

Of course, it didn’t really matter as the San Diego City Council chose the partnership Midway Rising – pushed by Mayor Gloria – as the winning developer without the benefit of any disclosures. And Keats notes, “That made it impossible for the public to consider that political spending ahead of the city’s selection.”

In September 2022, the San Diego City Council chose the partnership Midway Rising, led by Zephyr development, to redevelop the Sports Arena.

By Steve Anderson / LomaBeat.com/ Feb.

Nearly 200 years ago in the spring of 1845, Henry David Thoreau borrowed an ax and began collecting lumber for his cabin that he intended to build at Walden Pond. For about two years Thoreau lived at Walden Pond and practiced simple living.

He dedicated his life for a couple of years to learning to live off the land with as little as possible, rejecting any sort of luxurious living and argued that the comforts of life served as hindrances to the advancement of mankind.

By Grace Toohey / Los Angeles Times / Feb. 9, 2023

A growing debate over the possible environmental damage caused by fireworks shows, especially over waterways, recently erupted in federal court where climate activists are pushing for stronger regulations of a popular Independence Day celebration in Southern California.

While fireworks have for years been known to cause significant air pollution — with July 4 and 5 recording some of Southern California’s worst air quality days — activists and attorneys with the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation want officials to help minimize the damage fireworks pose to waterways

by Ernie McCray

Black History Month
has come a long way
since a beginning
that was filled with
controversy over celebrating
it in the month that has the fewest days
when Black History, so much of it
American History,
could be integrated in historical studies
throughout a school year
and there have been those

Mexico News Daily Staff / February 8, 2023

At the site of the world’s largest pyramid (by volume), the Great Pyramid of Cholula, Puebla, the remains of pre-Hispanic braziers and a sculpture of the god Tlaloc were discovered during restoration work, the according to a press bulletin from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

The findings were made while working on the pyramid’s stairway, “Escalinata del Pocito”, which started in December under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture through INAH. The first discovery was an adobe core that would correspond to the filling of the fifth stage of the pyramid base, dated towards the end of the Classic period (100-600 AD).

Ocean Beach Historical Society Presents: Coastal Scrub to Garden Fair, by Nancy Carol Carter, Thursday February 16 at 7:00 pm at Water’s Edge Faith Community – 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.  

After many years of debate and controversy, a formal plan for the landscaping and planting of San Diego’s City Park was adopted in 1902. Much of the original plan was shelved when preparations for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition began in earnest.

When the Olmstead Brothers Landscape firm bowed out of the Exposition team, opportunity fell to two “accidental landscapers.”  Balboa Park historian Nancy Carol Carter will describe how this precarious predicament resulted in the richly planted and beautifully maintained grounds

The OB Rag International Desk reports on little-known news. Here’s the latest:

Despite China’s spy balloon and deteriorating relations between governments, consumers in America and manufacturers in China broke trade records in 2022.

Fortune magazine reports: Trade between the US and China is on track to break records, a signal of resilient links between the world’s top economies amid the heated national security rhetoric in Washington and fears of “decoupling.”

The OB Rag National News Desk reports on news often over-looked. Here’s the latest:

A Biden administration task force designed to reunite children separated from their families during President Trump’s presidency has reconnected nearly 700 children with their families, officials said Thursday. President Joe Biden issued an executive order on his first day in office to reunite families that were split up under the Trump administration’s

By Sarah Gleason / LomaBeat.com / Feb.8, 2023

An uptick in reported catcalling incidents at Point Loma Nazarene University has led the Assistant Director of the Department of Public Safety (DPS), Kaz Trypuc, to look into the events for patterns and perpetrators. However, Trypuc is unable to say if the increase is due to either a rise in incidents or reporting of incidents.

Next week, San Diego and Imperial County artists and creative practitioners can apply for part of the $4.75 million Far South Border North Creative Corps grants. The application portal will open on Feb. 15, 2023. This is an exciting opportunity, the City’s Communication Department is saying. Here’s more:

The Far South Border North initiative will be implemented in partnership with the San Diego Foundation, San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition and the Catalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties. The partnership combines government, foundation and community collaboration, providing financial support to artists and cultural practitioners to: