Planning Commission OKs Hillcrest, University City Urbanizing Plan to Double Population
Summary
- Hillcrest's plan would add 17,000 new homes, some in 20-story buildings, increasing the Uptown area population from 40,000 to over 100,000 by 2050.
- University City's proposal would add 30,000 housing units, accommodating an additional 64,000 residents, nearly doubling the current population of 65,400. It also aims to add 72,000 new jobs.
- Both neighborhoods are considered ideal for dense development due to their job centers, appealing locations, and strong housing demand. University City's new trolley line is seen as an opportunity for transit-oriented development.
- Critics raised concerns about insufficient parks, gentrification, congestion, and evacuation routes. The limited additional park space in the proposals was a major concern.
Supporters
Some specific supporters mentioned in the articles include:
1. Planning Commissioner Matthew Boomhower, who characterized Hillcrest and University City as ideal locations for dense development and a "second downtown" for San Diego. President and Founder of Southern Cross Property Consultants, Matthew is a licensed California Architect and Attorney. Active involvement in shaping San Diego’s building industry has been an earmark of Matthew’s career.
2. Business groups like the Hillcrest Business Association and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, which see the plans as crucial to addressing the region's housing crisis and attracting talent.
3. The group Vibrant Uptown, which the City Council chose to replace Uptown Planners as the recognized community planning group for the Hillcrest area.
While city officials and some business groups are pushing the plans forward, the articles also mention significant opposition from residents and some community groups in both neighborhoods, who have concerns about infrastructure, parks, gentrification, and changes to the neighborhoods' character.
Opposition
1. Uptown Planners, the neighborhood group that has represented Hillcrest, opposes the plan primarily because they believe it doesn't include adequate infrastructure to support the new housing. Mat Wahlstrom, chair of a group subcommittee, stated, "We've been asked to stuff 10 pounds into a 5-pound bag."
2. Andy Wiese, chair of a subcommittee of the University Community Planning Group, said the current proposal for University City is too intense. He stated, "The UCPG supports robust residential and commercial development in University City. However, we believe the UC plan, as written, is overbuilt."
3. Critics in both neighborhoods raised concerns about the limited amount of additional park space included in the proposals, especially considering the plans aim to double neighborhood populations. Wiese noted that this has been a trend across San Diego as the City Council has been updating neighborhood growth blueprints.
4. Opponents worry that new development allowed by the updated blueprints could lead to the demolition of older affordable housing and force out longtime businesses and residential-serving retail like grocery stores and dry cleaners.
5. Some residents are concerned about the blueprints' plans for major street changes in both neighborhoods, such as making Robinson and University avenues one-way streets in Hillcrest and narrowing Governor Drive in University City to make way for bicycle lanes.
6. General concerns about gentrification, congestion, and evacuation routes were also mentioned by residents opposing the plans.
Planning Commission OKs Hillcrest, University City updates
SAN DIEGO —
Hillcrest and University City got one step closer to becoming more urban and heavily populated Thursday when the San Diego Planning Commission approved aggressive new growth blueprints for both neighborhoods.
The new blueprints, which aim to double the populations of both neighborhoods within 30 years, now move to the City Council’s housing committee in mid-June and then the full council for final approval in July.
The Planning Commission’s unanimous vote came despite ardent opposition from many residents in both neighborhoods. They raised concerns about insufficient parks, gentrification, congestion and evacuation routes.
Planning commissioners said the two neighborhoods are ideal for high-rise housing and dense development because they are already job centers in appealing locations with strong demand for housing.
They characterized Hillcrest and University City as the two city neighborhoods that could best be described as a second downtown for San Diego.
“The university neighborhood’s always been our second downtown,” said Commissioner Matthew Boomhower. “More housing and employment options here make so much sense.”
He said a new trolley line with six stations in University City should exempt the neighborhood from the common complaint that San Diego approves too much high-density housing in areas with inadequate transit.
“Here we’ve got our transit, so let’s go ahead and exploit that,” he said.
In Hillcrest, Boomhower noted that the new growth blueprint would reverse a 2016 decision not to increase housing capacity in the neighborhood because of community opposition.
“I’m simply not going to be dissuaded from this by anti-housing and anti-density single-family homeowners,” he said.
The Hillcrest proposal includes what would be the city’s first protections for businesses considered “legacy tenants,” which city officials said could be forced out by rising rents and property values caused by the new growth.
While commissioners praised the concept, they suggested city officials hadn’t adequately fleshed out the details. Commissioner Kelly Moden suggested requiring protections for legacy tenants be on property titles.
Moden also had a broader message for residents who oppose updating the growth blueprints based on fear of changes to their neighborhood’s current character and way of life.
“It will take years if not decades to even see any kind of tangible impact to the community,” said Moden, stressing the 30-year time horizons of both plans. “It takes a long time for land to get turned over and redeveloped.”
The proposal for University City would add more than 64,200 residents, nearly doubling the neighborhood’s current population of 65,400. It would do that by adding just over 30,000 housing units.
It would also aim to add about 72,000 new jobs by changing zoning in many places to allow developers to build 20 million more square feet of commercial projects.
A subcommittee of the neighborhood planning group — the University Community Planning Group — suggested adding a more modest 22,500 homes and 55,000 jobs.
Andy Wiese, chair of that subcommittee, said the current proposal is too intense.
“The UCPG supports robust residential and commercial development in University City,” he said. “However, we believe the UC plan, as written, is overbuilt.”
The proposal for Hillcrest would add 17,000 new homes, some of them in buildings with 20 stories or more. It would swell the population of Uptown — a wider area that also includes University Heights, Mission Hills and Bankers Hill — from about 40,000 to more than 100,000 by 2050.
One of the key concerns raised by critics in both neighborhoods was the limited amount of additional park space included in the two proposals, especially with both proposals aiming to double neighborhood populations.
The University City proposal would only provide new park space for about 25,000 of the new residents, leaving 40,000 new residents without any.
Wiese said not providing adequate park space has been a trend across San Diego as the City Council has been updating neighborhood growth blueprints.
“Added to the Hillcrest plan and others, hundreds of thousands of San Diegans in the future will not be served by park facilities,” he said. “We believe these deficits are a red flag that the plan’s land-use scenario is overbuilt.”
The city’s Parks and Recreation Board declined to approve both growth blueprints this month based on such concerns. City officials chose to move forward anyway.
Other key concerns for opponents are the blueprints’ plans for major street changes in both neighborhoods.
In Hillcrest, the new blueprint would make Robinson and University avenues one-way streets between First Avenue and 10th Avenue, with Robinson traffic moving east and University traffic moving west.
In University City, Governor Drive — the main east-west route in the southern part of the neighborhood — would be narrowed from four car lanes to two car lanes to make way for bicycle lanes.
Uptown Planners, the neighborhood group that has represented Hillcrest, opposes the new growth blueprint primarily because they believe it doesn’t include adequate infrastructure to support the new housing.
Mat Wahlstrom, chair of a group subcommittee devoted to the blueprint, said it was clear to him that city officials had no intention of making changes in response to resident complaints.
“We’ve been asked to stuff 10 pounds into a 5-pound bag,” he said.
Another concern raised by critics in both neighborhoods is that new development allowed by the updated blueprints could lead to the demolition of older affordable housing and force out longtime businesses and residential-serving retail like grocery stores and dry cleaners.
Business groups don’t seem to share those concerns.
“The housing crisis is real — we see it every day,” said Ben Nicholls, executive director of the Hillcrest Business Association. “Hillcrest is prepared to do its part.”
The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce said the growth blueprints are key to solving the region’s housing crisis.
“Our city’s lack of available housing is probably the biggest barrier to San Diego companies, including our members, attracting and retaining talent,” said Evan Strawn, a policy adviser for the chamber.
The Hillcrest proposal also calls for celebrating the legacy of the neighborhood’s gay community — which continues to thrive after emerging in the 1970s — with a special historic district featuring public art, preserved buildings, plaques and other attractions.
The City Council last week voted to replace Uptown Planners, which has been criticized as aggressively anti-development, as the recognized community planning group for the area.
They instead opted to let the community group Vibrant Uptown create a new panel called the Uptown Community Planners Group. The new group won’t take over until it elects board members in coming weeks.
On Thursday, the Planning Commission also unanimously approved a related proposal that would change San Diego’s citywide blueprint for growth to prioritize climate-friendly housing opportunities near jobs, schools and mass transit.
For details on the Hillcrest proposal, visit planhillcrest.org.
For details on the University City proposal, visit planuniversity.org.
Plans that could double populations of Hillcrest, University City move forward
The San Diego Planning Commission passed two proposals Thursday that could double the populations of Hillcrest and University City by adding more housing and jobs.
Item 3, the University City plan, on the agenda during Thursday's planning commission meeting was passed with a unanimous vote. Item 4, the Hillcrest/Uptown plan, also passed with a unanimous vote.
The proposal for Hillcrest would add 17,000 new homes, some in buildings with 20 stories or more. The populations in the Uptown area would increase from roughly 40,000 to 100,000 by 2050.
A similar situation for the plan in University City, where the growth proposal would add an estimated 30,000 housing units, which would add roughly 64,000 residents by 2050. The area currently has a population around 65,000.
The plans would also add an expected 72,000 new jobs.
City planners favor growth plans in Hillcrest and University City because that's where the jobs are. Both are employment-rich regions, so putting housing closer to jobs is the idea.
After passing the planning commission, the next step is the growth plans to be debated and eventually voted on by the San Diego City Council.
Citywide blueprint calls for population growth in Hillcrest, University City
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The Planning Commission voted to pass city officials’ proposals unanimously at a meeting Thursday.
The proposal for Hillcrest would add 17,000 new homes in 20-story buildings to address housing needs. The move would increase the uptown population, which includes University Heights, Mission Hills and Bankers Hill — from about 40,000 to more than 100,000 by 2050.
The proposal for University City would add more than 64,000 residents by 2050 by adding 30,000 housing units and an estimated 72,000 new jobs by changing zoning in many places.
On Thursday, the Planning Commission unanimously voted to pass the plans. However, many voiced their opposition.
“We understand the need for and support more housing, but do not support this plan’s vision for numerous high rises through the community,” one attendee said during public comment.
While many residents spoke up against the plans, others expressed their support.
“Our city’s lack of available housing is probably the biggest barrier to San Diego companies attracting and retaining talent Blueprint SD is a great initial step to solving this problem,” another resident said.
Now that the Planning Commission has approved the plan, it could be finalized by city council this summer.
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