Important changes are happening in our community; now is the time to get involved!
The City cancelled the January meeting for the University Community Plan Update. The next meeting is scheduled for February 21st. We believe that the Planning Department is continuing to work on the Land Use Scenarios to incorporate the latest round of comments. The new Scenarios (A and B) presented by the City in November did reduce the overall proposed density compared to the City’s first Scenarios (1 and 2), but the City is still proposing significant increases in density compared to existing uses. In South UC, the City’s Scenario A proposes a large increase in allowable density at the Sprouts and Vons shopping centers on Governor Drive.
The City has stated that these two shopping centers are currently zoned to allow housing at 29 dwelling units/acre, which equates to approximately 200 housing units at each location. Scenario A proposes 73 dwelling units/acre at both shopping centers, which equates to approximately 500–600 housing units at each location. There is no guarantee that current commercial services would be retained or that adequate parking spaces would be required.
On January 15th, Help Save UC submitted comments on Scenarios A and B, including a request that the housing density for the Vons and Sprouts shopping centers in South UC remain at 29 dwelling units/acre. You can read our letter here.
Meanwhile, the City wants to change the definition of transit-oriented areas known as Transportation Priority Areas (TPAs) to Sustainable Development Areas (SDAs) as part of the annual update to the San Diego Municipal Code for 2023. The SDA designation expands transit-oriented areas from half a mile from a major transit stop (the TPA definition) to one mile walking distance from a major transit stop. If this change passes, a much greater area of the city will be subject to transit-oriented development (including much of south University City), allowing for more density without requirements such as parking or setbacks. This proposed change will be heard by the City Council on February 7th. Without significant community pushback, the City Council is very likely to approve the SDAs. Information on this issue can be found in this post by Neighbors for a Better San Diego.
What can you do?
Email Nancy Graham, Tait Galloway, and Heidi VonBlum (the Planning Department), Kent Lee (our new District 6 City Councilmember), Joe LaCava (our former District 1 Councilmember), and Mayor Todd Gloria to say that you support Help Save UC’s comments on the Plan Update. Email us at HelpSaveUC@gmail.com if you need help crafting your email. We ask that you make the following points:
No commercial properties along Governor Drive should be rezoned to include more density, including but not limited to the Vons and Sprouts shopping centers.
Transit-oriented development areas should not change from half-mile TPAs to one-mile SDAs.
No single-family homes should be rezoned to townhomes. (Our strong community response removed this idea from the Plan Update last May, but we need to ensure that this proposal does not return.) List of email receipients: Nancy Graham – NHGraham@sandiego.gov Tait Galloway – tgalloway@sandiego.gov Heidi VonBlum – vonblumH@sandiego.gov Kent Lee – KentLee@sandiego.gov Joe LaCava – JoeLaCava@sandiego.gov Mayor Todd Gloria – MayorToddGloria@sandiego.gov
Attend the Community Plan Update meeting on February 21st and the City Council meeting on February 7th to be heard on these issues. Numbers matter!
Donate to Help Save UC via the yellow "Donate" button on our website at the top of this page. Donations support Help Save UC’s outreach efforts, such as making and distributing flyers before the February Plan Update and City Council meetings to increase community awareness and participation at these meetings. Members of Help Save UC have funded all costs for previous flyers, the website, and booth rentals for the 4th of July and Oktoberfest. Please help us continue our community outreach efforts.
Tell your friends to subscribe to our mailing list. Also, join the mailing list of Neighbors for a Better San Diego for updates on SDAs and other citywide topics.