OB Rag

Here’s the complete packet of FAA documents regarding the 5 historic palm trees the City of San Diego cut down this week in Point Loma.

There’s a 7 page letter on each of the identified palms – and except for the palm’s location and height, the letters are identical. Along with the five letters, there were a number of photos of many palms and an accompanying graph.

Here’s the packet for “Tree #1”:

The OB Rag has copies of the FAA documents the city of San Diego told the public were a mandate to cut down five specific palm trees.

The documents include a letter dated February 28, 2022, regarding each identified palm on Newport Avenue, but they’re basically form letters and except for the address of the specific palm and its height, they’re all identical.

But here’s the problem for the city. Each letter calls for public notice and comment. This means the city misrepresented the FAA mandate. Not only that, the letter(s) spell out a required process that states the outcome of each identified palm tree “cannot be predicted prior to public circularization.” That means, nothing can happen, no outcome can be resolved before the public is notified and has an opportunity to comment.

By Geoff Page

The City of San Diego committed a crime against the Point Loma / OB community on the morning of Monday, April 25, there is no other way to put it. They came out to Newport Ave. and thumbed their noses at the public while hiding behind a phalanx of police officers as they murdered historic palm trees.

What is so infuriating is that the city did this very same thing last October. Only the public outcry the morning they showed up and quick legal action saved the trees in 2021. In both cases, the city attempted to come out and quickly, and stealthily to kill the trees, with barely 24 hours of notice to anyone. On Monday, it was less than 24 hours.

April 25, 2022

Dear Resident,

Thank you for supporting our urban forest.

On March 25, 2022, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority again directed the City of San Diego, under both state and federal law requirements, to remove five palm trees for public safety. These trees currently intrude into the protected airspace for the San Diego International Airport, and to avoid impacts to the Airport operations, these palm trees must be removed. The palms are located at the following locations:
• 4404 Newport Av
• 4411 Newport Av
• 2 trees at 4386 Newport Av
• 4369 Newport Av

By Judi Curry

People that know me are aware that I enjoy most sports. I frequently went to the Chargers game – or Patriot’s games when I lived in Maine; I went to baseball games at Dodger Stadium since I was a little girl – a hundred years ago. I attending Horse Racing all over California, Arizona and Maine; My grandkids played a variety of sports – rugby, soccer, softball, and a grandson was a wrestling champion not all that long ago. I attended their game/matches whenever I could. Every now and
then my husband and I would attend a Gulls Ice Hockey game, and it was enjoyed.

However, those same people that know about my enjoyment of those sports are now aware of my distaste for Ice Hockey. My problem is that Steve has season tickets to the Gulls game; his seats are one row back from the goal, and we have a practically unobstructed view of the game. Perhaps that is some of the problem for me. If Ice Hockey were the only thing played it would be great,

By Danna Givot

Last December 2021, SANDAG adopted Series 14 projections for population and housing growth through 2050. These projections take into account the latest California Department of Finance population projections. Despite the availability of these updated projections, the Planning Department continues to plan based on outdated, inflated data. This leads to unnecessary, harmful impacts.

For the City as a whole, the new SANDAG Series 14 data projects 132,000 less people living in San Diego in 2050 versus Series 13 numbers. That is 19% population growth versus 28% population growth previously expected. SANDAG Series 14 projections are available by community planning area, where the differences versus Series 13 can be huge.

The College Area is a great example.

CBSNews8 today published a letter from the San Diego International Airport that demanded the City of San Diego cut down five palm trees in Point Loma it had identified as “obstructions.” The letter from Dennis Probst, Vice President – Development for the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority to Jay Goldstone, Chief Operating Officer for the city was dated March 25, 2022.

Here’s the letter – but no attachments were provided by the news station:

City of San Diego Senior Public Information officer Anthony Santacroce issued the following statement Monday, April 25, in response to media inquiries:

“The City of San Diego removed five palms on Newport Avenue this morning at the direction of the FAA and the San Diego Airport Authority. The trees removed today presented an urgent threat to flight paths and aviation operations that impact public safety and economic health of San Diego.

By Geoff Page

A long presentation by one of the Midway redevelopment project proposers that the city wants to jettison and more about the homeless were the main points of interest at the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Board’s regular monthly meeting Wednesday, April 2022.

“Neighborhood Next”

Neighborhood Next is the name of the consortium that made the presentation. They are one of the original seven proposers on the Sports Arena redevelopment project. At the outset, the city declared two proposers to be unresponsive. Just recently, the city again cut the list from five to three proposers. Neighborhood Next was one of the two that were dropped.

OB Rag reporter Geoff Page was on site this morning as city crews removed 5 tall, healthy palm trees on Newport Avenue.

Here is a photo gallery of what he witnessed.

OB Rag reporter Geoff Page just reported that city crews killed 5 palm trees on Newport Avenue near Santa Barbara Avenue.

Under heavy police presence, crews took the chains to the tall, healthy palms. Nearly 2 dozen local residents turned out – and one nearly was arrested. Several TV news stations are also on the scene.

Page believes the crews are done for the day but expects they will be back. Initially, 7 palms were targeted by the city. “No Parking” signs were placed along Newport Avenue between Venice and Guizot over the weekend.

Here is the KUSI report from this morning:

City of San Diego in process of cutting down iconic Ocean Beach palm trees

This is an emergency notice for the people of Point Loma and Ocean Beach for Monday morning, April 25.

Today, the city of San Diego has crews out on Newport Avenue ready to cut down 7 palm trees between Venice and Guizot. “No Parking” signs were placed along the blocks over night.

By 7:30 this morning, a small crowd of residents have gathered to protest the rampage but the crews are guarded by at least 8 police officers. Residents and OB Rag researchers have proved that these palm trees are not a danger to the airport and they are not diseased.