Dear Friends of UC,
The first draft of the updated University Community Plan, known as the Community Discussion Draft, is available to view. It will be formally presented by City staff at this Tuesday’s UCPG meeting, April 11th. We provide some quick takeaways from this draft at the end of this update, but we encourage residents to look over the document for themselves.
We recommend downloading the file to your computer, as it is very large and slow to load.
The City will be taking comments on this draft plan until June 30, 2023. A revised draft plan will then be issued during the summer which will be the subject of an Environmental Impact Report, or EIR.
Additional information about the draft process and an FAQ can be found at planuniversity.org (scroll down on the homepage).
All feedback for the City should be emailed to planuniversity@sandiego.gov
Thank you for your time and participation!
Important University Community Planning Group (UCPG) meeting:
April 11th 6:00 p.m.
This is where the Community Discussion Draft will be presented by City staff publicly for the first time.
The meeting facility can accommodate only about 30 community members plus City staff and UCPG and Plan Update Subcommittee members. Members of the public are encouraged to participate via Zoom due to this constraint.
To participate via Zoom, click here to register for the Zoom link: https://sandiego.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsf-6urz8uGf-OxdOqQujB2Tf0hXDBzgc
If you wish to attend in person (note the above limit on capacity), the location is:
Alexandria Grad Labs
9880 Campus Pointe Drive, Third Floor, Terra Nova Room
San Diego, CA 92121
Community Discussion Draft - First Impressions:
We are still studying this document, but here are some points that stand out.
Please note that page numbers listed are not the page numbers printed on the pages, but in the PDF header for the “On-Screen” PDF file.
Large increases in overall density: This draft community plan is based on Land Use Scenario A (see Page 16), and only includes Scenario B near the end as an alternative for EIR study (Page 103). Land Use Scenario A is the city-staff-recommended scenario, and proposes 30,000 new units for UC. Lower-density Land Use Scenario B, based on input from the Community Plan Update Subcommittee and the community, proposes 22,000 new units.
South UC: In addition to increased density at commercial properties along Governor Drive (e.g., Vons, Sprouts), the plan proposes to “develop/maintain a continuous street wall along Governor Dr.” See Pages 45-46 for Focused Enhancements in South University City.
Traffic flow on major roads: See Table 4 on Page 57-58 for Planned Roadway Classification Modifications, including Governor Drive.
Parks and recreation plans: Changes to existing parks, as well as proposed new parks, are outlined on Pages 59-69.
Guidelines for implementation: The plan includes guidance on how the proposed changes should be implemented, starting on Page 85. For example, Table 6, Section 2.19 (Page 88) describes development policies for the Governor Drive area, including retaining grocery stores “where feasible” and considering “unbundled” parking.