Dear Friends of UC,
We’ve had two significant developments in the past two weeks:
1) The City Council finalized its 5-4 vote in support of including Sustainable Development Areas in the Land Development Code. This allows the City to identify properties as eligible for transit-oriented development up to one mile walking distance from current or future transit stops. Our District 6 Councilmember Kent Lee voted yes.
2) The Community Plan Update Subcommittee (CPUS) meetings started up again in person, with the most recent meeting conducted on February 21, 2023, at University City High School. Help Save UC members made statements during both comment periods: for non-agenda and agenda item (mobility plan) comments . We estimate that at least 100 concerned community members attended in person, and many more watched the Facebook live stream. One thing is certain: UC residents are passionate about their community!
Help Save UC made a high-resolution video of the CPUS meeting with louder audio than the livestream. You can view it at https://youtu.be/IPu0FvwHnJs
Proposed Mobility Networks
During the CPUS meeting, the City presented the following changes as recommended mobility improvements in South UC:
Governor Drive:
• Traffic calming enhancements west of Lakewood/University Gardens Park
• Enhanced pedestrian environments in front of both malls.
• A Class 2 standard buffered bike line replacing one lane in each direction. These have a 2-ft striped buffer separating bikes from other vehicular traffic.
Genesee Avenue:
• A smart Corridor with Queue jump lanes in conjunction with adaptive signal timing to prioritize buses over other traffic.
• Class IV cycle track separated from traffic by a curb or dividers.
You can hear the presentation about mobility starting at 32:15 by clicking here: https://youtu.be/IPu0FvwHnJs?t=1935. Presentation slides are available here and maps here.
Two Land Use Scenarios Under Consideration
Help Save UC continues to advocate for responsible development. The City is currently proposing two Land Use Scenarios:
• Scenario A is staff-recommended and adds 30,000 new housing units.
• Scenario B is CPUS-directed and adds 22,000 new housing units.
University City (north and south) has about 27,000 housing units at present.
In South UC, currently only the commercial properties along Governor Drive are identified for increased development. The Vons and Sprouts shopping centers are already zoned for 29 dwelling units/acre (approximately 200 housing units). In Scenario A, the City proposes to increase this density to 73 dwelling units/acre (approximately 500 – 600 new housing units).
What You Can Do
If you don’t agree with the increased densities for these shopping centers, or if you want to provide comments on the mobility proposals, please contact our City officials now so the City receives your comments before it finalizes the Draft Community Plan. We believe the City wants to introduce the next Draft Plan at the March 21, 2023 meeting.
Please let the City know that:
1) Scenario A should be revised with no increased density at the commercial properties on Governor Drive.
2) Any rezoning of single-family residential properties should stay out of the Community Plan Update.
Please submit your comments to:
• Supervising Project Manager Nancy Graham at NHGraham@sandiego.gov.
In addition, please copy the following people on your comments:
• Senior Traffic Engineer Leo Alo at lalo@sandiego.gov (mobility comments)
• Kent Lee (Our District 6 Councilmember): KentLee@sandiego.gov
• Dustin Nguyen (District 6 Director of Community Engagement & UC community rep): DVNguyen@sandiego.gov • Joe LaCava (District 1 Councilmember): JoeLaCava@sandiego.gov • Todd Gloria (Mayor): MayorToddGloria@sandiego.gov • Tait Galloway (Deputy Planning Director): tgalloway@sandiego.gov
Thank you for your continued support!
Volunteers of Help Save UC