Update Process to University Community Plan Was Deceptive
We invite you to read the commentary below on how Mayor Todd Gloria has been able to push through his proposed University Community Plan Update that ran in the July 19th issue of the
OB Rag. The Plan Update process has largely ignored the reasonable input of community residents who have been willing to accept their fair share of new housing. Rather, outside special interest groups have been allowed to dictate the outcome.
LU&H Committee Bulldozes Over Residents' Concern About Plan
As many have described, it was much like watching a horrific car crash in slow motion, as all four Land Use & Housing Committee members unanimously approved plans that would literally double the number of residents within University City. UC PEEPS made a 12-minute PowerPoint presentation outlining specific faults of the UC Plan Update that can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CfkpOsLBJ5ofwFugiijSdMAvl1HCRUzm/view
The Fix is In: Planning Commission Approves UC Plan
Disappointing but not surprising, the San Diego Planning Commission passed the University Community Plan Update 4-0, with two members absent, despite extensive opposition, the absence of a final Program EIR, a rushed approval process, and hearing three major land use proposals all on the same day.
The Commissioners chose to ignore the many strong points made about the flaws and consequences of the Plan Update, and instead rushed it through to a vote without the thought, questioning and analysis that a plan of this magnitude would normally require.
UC PEEPS members Bonnie Kutch, Michael Kozma and Julie Meier-Wright made a compelling, 12-minute PowerPoint presentation that you can view HERE.
Please Send in Your Comments on the UC Plan Update and DEIR!
If you haven't already, please send your comments to city officials on the revised University Community Plan Update and Draft EIR no later than MONDAY, APRIL 29TH. Every letter becomes part of the public record and helps build our case against the City's high-density housing initiatives and proposal to reduce Governor Drive to one lane in each direction. Click on the link below that will take you to UC PEEPS' comment letters. You can also email us at
and we'll send you our recent email update that has our comment letters with live links to city officials' emails. Feel free to borrow our language about the issues, or customize as you see fit. Thank you for taking action soon!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18nV2ttMUDChj0yuPg89MUoClYViddadf/view?usp=sharing
Urgent Action Needed Now!
Under Mayor Todd Gloria's misdirection, the City of San Diego wants to reduce Governor Drive to one lane each direction to add rarely used bike lanes. He also wants to up-zone our south UC shopping centers to add as many as 572 apartment units at the Sprouts center and 373 apartment units at the Vons center, and allow both of them to be 10 stories high! All three scenarios would likely cause extreme traffic congestion and possibly cost lives if emergency vehicles are unable to reach us quickly enough or if we're unable to evacuate our neighborhood. Please call District 6 Council Member Kent Lee at 619-236-6616 along with Mayor Todd Gloria at 619-236-6330, and tell them THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!
CCHS: Complete Chaos in our Communities!
Do you realize what's planned for the southwest corner of Genesee Avenue and Nobel Drive? Under the City of San Diego's "Complete Communities Housing Solutions" regulations, Willmark Communities wants to build three enormous high-rise towers comprising 1,315 apartments, with only 1,350 onsite parking spaces! The project would replace the existing 108-unit affordable apartment complex and displace hundreds of residents. Complete Communities is profit-driven CHAOS, not the smart growth we need. Visit www.complete-chaos.com to learn more.
Who We Are
UC PEEPS is a Coalition of University City Residents and Taxpayers that formed from the need to protest the City of San Diego’s reckless and irresponsible high-density housing proposals. These initiatives far exceed demonstrated demand, ignore the need for supportive infrastructure, shift San Diegans from future homeowners to lifelong renters, destroy our urban canopy, fail to provide truly affordable housing, disregard existing residents’ input, and intentionally destroy single-family neighborhoods.
Our Message
The all-volunteer Coalition is calling for responsible growth, meaning sound planning with growth balanced with infrastructure, ample parks and open spaces, preservation of our urban canopy, truly affordable housing policies, opportunities for home ownership, redevelopment of underused commercial and industrial properties, and preservation of single-family neighborhoods for future generations where families can grow and thrive. Most of all, responsible growth includes residents in the decision-making.
The City's Flawed Plan
The University Community Plan Update threatens to add as many as 33,000 new housing units to our small 7.35-square-mile community, which would more than double the number of rental apartments and exponentially increase population -- without adding sufficient infrastructure. The plan also could up-zone the Sprouts and Vons shopping centers to accommodate as many as 1,100 apartments combined. At the same time, the city also is proposing to reduce Governor Drive to one lane in each direction to create bike lanes, which would cause severe traffic congestion and greatly hamper south UC residents' ability to evacuate in the event of a wildfire in Rose or San Clemente canyons or the unmaintained open space.
More Poor Planning
In addition to the community plan update, UC residents are faced with lenient building codes on ADUs and Bonus ADUs; expansion of transit priority areas (TPA) from ½ mile to one mile from a public transit stop, allowing dense development to occur in much broader areas; and SB 9, allowing four units to be built on a single-family lot. The most harmful high-density housing initiative the city attempted to pass was SB 10, which would have allowed as many as 14-unit buildings up to three stories high on single-family parcels, with nearly 100% concrete coverage of lots and no contained parking requirements. Thanks to a successful opposition campaign, SB 10 was removed from the Housing Action Package. However, there is no guarantee the city won't try to "salvage" parts of it during its planned workshops and reintroduce it under a different name.
Our Request to the City
Residents of University City are united in their call for more measured, sensible growth that does not exceed 10,000 housing units. Infrastructure, including more roadways, parks, schools, recreation centers and retail opportunities, must be added concurrent with any new development. There must be enough fire and safety protection, and recognition among city officials that our community is in a high-risk fire zone. Residents need to be kept safe -- that is the job of local government. Any new development must respect the sensitive flora and fauna in our surrounding canyons, as well as meet the city's climate action goals for reduced carbon emissions from vehicle traffic. University City residents deserve to have input on the future of their community.
Fighting for Our Youth
What San Diegans for Responsible Growth is calling for has everything to do with preserving our single-family neighborhoods for the Next Generation. We want our young citizens to be able to one day become homeowners, rather than be life-long renters, and to live in neighborhoods that will nurture and protect their children. Michael Kozma, a 16-year-old who grew up in University City and attends UC High School, was inspired to stand up for his generation and, in the process, he inspired us all with his three-minute speech that he gave during the August 3rd Planning Commission meeting that earned him loud applause and sincere praise from City Planning Commission Chairman William Hofman. You can watch Michael give his powerful presentation at 3:06 in the videotaped meeting here.
SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS
UC PEEPS are not accepting monetary donations to our legal fund at this time. However, this could change, depending on whether or not a lawsuit is filed against the City in the coming weeks. Please standby as we await the release of the City's revised Draft EIR on July 8th and the outcome of the City Council vote on July 30th. Thank you for your continued involvement.
