“I think the 65-foot Interim Height Ordinance is a good compromise.”
— Mayor Jerry Sanders to the Hillcrest Town Council at their February meeting
Is Mayor Jerry Sanders running the City of San Diego? At the February 12th meeting of the Hillcrest Town Council, Mayor Sanders expressly stated his support for the proposed Interim Height Ordinance (IHO), which would apply to Hillcrest during the update of the Uptown Community Plan.
However, the Mayor’s planning staff flip-flopped at yesterday morning’s meeting of the City Planning Commission. What took place Thursday was a-not-too-subtly-staged attempt to stonewall the adoption of the IHO. It was announced at the start the hearing on the IHO (at about 11:30am) that one commissioner had to leave at noon and would not be returning. This would deprive the Planning Commission of a quorum — and the Planning Commissioner requested the item be continued a week. Abruptly, the Assistant Director of Planning from the Mayor’s office stated that her office needed a four-week continuance. The justification for the delay was a memorandum submitted by 301 University developer Bruce Leidenberger. It questioned the City staff’s determination about the effect of a height limitation on density. The density issue had been brought up and fully discussed at prior meetings, so was not new. It certainly does not merit a four-week delay.
On March 12th, the Land Use & Housing Subcommittee of the City Council had voted 3-0 to support the IHO, and requested it be immediately placed on the City Council docket. This motion was now, in effect, overridden by the advisory Planning Commission; this says a lot about the power and influence of our present City Council. After yesterday’s meeting, Planning Director Bill Anderson indicated that the IHO could not go to City Council until after the Planning Commission made a recommendation. Why then did the Mayor’s office request such a long continuance? This clearly violates the intent of the Land Use & Housing Subcommittee motion.
Early last week, a member of the IHO Task Force was informed by a reliable source that the Mayor’s office had promised to delay the adoption of the IHO until a new 110-foot tall project planned for the site of the Corvette Diner and Kemo Sabe had completed the application process (and be exempt from the ordinance). The project filed its initial application several days later. Was the source correct?
Mayor Sanders enjoys a lot of goodwill in Uptown. It may be about to evaporate with this major flip-flop. What took place today was a staged event and an insult to the Hillcrest and the Uptown community. The Mayor needs to assure us that he is the one in charge in San Diego, not his staff, and that Uptown can rely on his words and promises.
— Leo Wilson, Uptown Planners Chair
