April 10th - Town Hall Recap
With the city preparing to release an updated draft of the Focused Plan Amendment (aka Plan Hillcrest) to the Uptown Community plan, Vibrant Uptown sponsored a town hall to ensure our neighbors had an opportunity to hear directly from the city and provide feedback on the plan.
Working with co-sponsoring organizations; Hillcrest Town Council, Hillcrest Business Association, Hillcrest all-inclusive Kiwanis, Impulse and the @hillcrestsandiego instagram page we developed a program that was focused on community feedback. We set up six tables in the auditorium at the SAn Diego LGBTQ+ Center auditorium, each dedicated to discussion of one or more chapters from the proposed plan update. Members of our co-sponsoring organizations provided moderators to ensure everyone had a chance to express their opinions with all opinions and points of view welcomed. We were ready to go!
About 80 neighbors came to listen and discuss the planned long term changes to the core of our community, as most of the changes are centered on the urban core of Hillcrest. After words of Welcome from City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn and Hillcrest Business Association president and owner of Rich’s nightclub, Ryan Bedrosian and an update on Vibrant Uptown from Jon Anderson it was time to get down to business. Shannon Corr and Claudia Brizuela went through an overview of the changes proposed and we broke out to the tables to hear from the community. Councilmember Whitburn, Shannon and Claudia from the planning department as well joined in circulating to the tables to answer questions.
The discussions at the various tables were robust. At the tables focused on land use (housing) and mobility large scale maps were provided to provide a visual aid for discussion - and a place to take notes or make suggestions. Overall, the feedback from those who attended was positive about the direction proposed. Of course there were lots of questions and discussions about alternative approaches, as well as concern over a few areas in the draft.
Housing
One of the key questions was trying to understand why some areas were targeted for higher density and others were not. Once these areas were compared with proximity to major employment or retail zones or access to easy transit paths to these areas it became much clearer to all that these changes would help reduce the need for longer commutes, parking for commuters and provide more foot traffic for local retail and entertainment venues. Having most of the density targeted to the urban and commercial core of Uptown was also recognized as a welcome move. There was of course some concern over the potential loss of some older buildings and retailers, but overall the tradeoffs were seen as positive.
As we add more people, in up to 17,000 new homes, it is necessary to look at how people are going to get around. There is little opportunity with the uptown neighborhoods to widen roadways or substantially increase parking to accommodate more personal cars. The mobility table discussed the proposed approach; reduce vehicle miles traveled through changing the existing thoroughfares to accommodate multiple alternate modes, aligned to the city’s general plan mobility element. This involves completion of the cycling infrastructure as well as improving walkability, adding more promenades and improving public transit.
Mobility
Two mobility concerns rose to the top; safety and the long timelines and unclear funding for transit from SANDAG. Most of the major changes are targeted for 10-30 years out, and participants would like to see more concrete interim steps (park and ride from other neighborhoods, bus service along proposed streetcar and trolley routes, etc.) For safety, increasing numbers of cyclists and pedestrians combined with lax enforcement and speeding traffic are creating demand for more concrete safety changes in Uptown. These include;
Elimination of right on red along urban corridors
Reduced speed limits (20 mph)
Dedicated traffic patrols
Continental (raised) crosswalks
Closing key residential street segments to vehicular traffic (5th Ave between Robinson and washington as an example)
Narrowing lanes and adding more traffic calming design changes
What are the plans for bike facilities on university from 1st to the washington bridge?
The proposed class 2 (“sharrows”) bike lanes on 6th south of University are completely unacceptable. You have speeding traffic exiting the 163 and (a) this traffic needs to be slowed quickly and (b) bicyclists protected.
The one-way couplets were generally liked, as they have the opportunity to clear traffic waiting for left turns, as long as appropriate calming is provided
Public Spaces
In the discussion of parks and public spaces, a few key topics came to the forefront. The plan proposal requiring promenades and other public spaces to be a requirement of developers as they make changes or redevelop properties is viewed as insufficient at best and likely to fail to realize consistent spaces. The city needs first to develop these paces and then ask developers to ADD amenities rather than develop these spaces one piece at a time. Failure to do this will leave long term gaps and discontiguous spaces that are hard to use. Space needs to be envisioned for a dog park. Participants also wanted to see more signage and development of canyon trails and other paths through the neighborhoods.
On the business front. There was discussion around the need for a way to promote and fund innovative startups and new concept prototypes, maybe in a shared location where space can be rented or popups supported? How do we make sure consumers can get to the businesses they wish to access. The conversation on park and ride, a potential short term parking lot in a new commercial building or circulating electric tram service, as well as better (safe) bike parking.
LGBTQ Cultural District
The LGBTQ Cultural District conversation table covered a lot of ground. Key points included;
Recognition that San Diego’s LGBTQ+ community has evolved and migrated over the years. While it has ended up in Hillcrest today, it has been centered in several other neighborhoods and those should be recognized as well.
The need for LGBTQ+ themed gathering places other than the bars and nightclubs. While these spaces have been traditional safe spaces for the community many are looking to meet outside of these venues.
Consider the need for recognition of how the LGBTQ community has contributed to many areas of life; the military, HIV/AIDS, women, BIPOC and trans communities among others
Preserve affordability for lower income LGBTQ+ community members. It is common for people from small towns or facing challenges at home to move to larger cities to join the communities there. We need to make this move to safe neighborhoods possible.
Establish a process for the LGBTQ+ community to have an ongoing voice in determining which events, businesses and places are important to the community and how they should be protected and recognized.
Overall, lots of great feedback. We are well on the way to a plan we can all live with and that will help our Uptown communities continue to grow and evolve.
If you have additional feedback or want to see the slides used by the planning department, visit https://planhillcrest.org.