City Heights Area Planning Committee

Minutes February - April 2023

C.H.A.P.C. MINUTES – April 3, 2023

1 - The Chairman called the meeting to order at 6:33 PM and called the roll. Dan Castañon, Russ Connelly, María Córtez, Francisco García, Edwin Lohr, Mazda Mehraz, David Nelson, Susan Ornelas, Evihn Vasily and Jim Varnadore were present to form a quorum. Rahmo Abdi, Marcellus Anderson, Savannah Bradley, Alexander Hemphill, Denisse Lopez, Randy Torres-van Vleck, Carolyn Tran, Patty Vaccariello and Mark Van Milligan were absent.

 

2 – Approval of minutes of March 6, 2023 were postponed to May meeting.

 

3 – Coin toss was held to determine winner of tie vote for District 3-2025 seat between Wendy Miller and Mick Rossler. Chair Russ flipped the coin and it was determined that Wendy Miller was the winner and was seated.

 

4 – Verified Roll call of new board was taken.

 

5 – Agenda as modified was approved without objection.

 

6 – Council Member Stephen Witburn discussed the upcoming City Council hearing on his proposed “Unsafe Camping Ordinance”. Jim, David, Mazda, Francisco, Daniel and Maria asked questions and made comment. Natalie Koski-Karell introduced herself as the interim Community Planner for Mid City due to pregnancy leave for the current planner.

 

7. Becky Rapp commented on the City’s Marijuana Retail Policies.

 

8.1 - (Action) PRJ1080359 AT&T Telecommunications facility at 3770 Altadena Avenue. Harold Thomas Jr. of MD7 presented plans for a new cell phone facility. After the committee reviewed the plans submitted and asked several questions about the design of the facility, Dan made a motion to approve the placement of the facility. Maria seconded. Vote was 6-3-0 with the chair not voting and the motion passed.

 

8.2 – (Info) Proposed sidewalk work on Central Avenue near Myrtle Street. Alejandro Serafin and Heidi Lemm of the City of San Diego presented a project to install sidewalks and curb improvements on Central Avenue. They presented a drawing of the location and proposed upgrades. David, Edwin, Jim and Francisco made comments specifically questioning the possible lack of use of the sidewalks and that the money could be spent in other areas of City Heights that currently lack sidewalks.

 

8.3 – (Action) David and Jim volunteered for the Officer Search Committee.

 

9 – Russ discussed the formation of a joint committee of the four Mid City community planning areas to review a possible update of the Mid City Community Plan. Each group would have 2 members along with representatives from the Business Improvement Groups. No date for a first meeting has been set yet. Francisco expressed interest in participating.

10 – No committee comment.

11 – The meeting was adjourned at 7:49 PM to reconvene at 6:30PM on Monday, May 1, 2023.

 

C.H.A.P.C. MINUTES – March 6, 2023

1 - The Chairman called the meeting to order at 6:40 PM and called the roll. Rahmo Abdi, Patty Vaccariello, María Córtez, Francisco García (7:00), Brian Green-Carson, Edwin Lohr, Denisse López, Mazda Mehraz, Julieta Ornelas, Susan Ornelas, Evihn Vasily (6:50), Jim Varnadore and Russ Connelly were present to form a quorum. Asma Abdi, Marcellus Anderson, Dan Castañon, David Nelson, Randy Torres-van Vleck, Carolyn Tran, Phoung Nguyen and Nick Rossi were absent.

 

2 - There were no corrections made to the minutes of February 6, 2023.

 

3 – Jim Varnadore made a motion to approve the agenda, Patty Vaccariello seconded. The motion passed without objection.

 

4 – Chair Denise made no comments.

 

5 – Francisco Peralta from council office for D9 spoke about the draft budget dropping next month including community forums being scheduled (mix of in person locations and virtual meetings). Youth opportunity pass extended one year (5 million uses 1st year). Community cleanups planned and a meeting about privacy concerns forum for streetlight cameras.

 

6 – No Public Comment.

 

7.1 - (Info) Update on status of in-person meetings per Planning Department and City Attorney in regard to Brown Act, AB361 & AB2449. A short presentation was given by chair on this item. No discussion or comments from board members or attending public members.

 

7.2 – (Action) Discussion of possible support letter regarding SB411 - Brown act Revisions regarding Permanent Alternate Teleconferencing provision. Jim Varnadore made a motion we draft and a send a letter in support of SB411. Mazda Mehraz seconded. Vote was 7-0-3. Motion passed.

 

7.3 – (Discussion) Meeting time change & room availability for meetings. No objections from present board members to changing the time of the meeting from 630pm to 6pm in order to give board more time to meet before meeting spaces close (typically at 8pm). Several board members shared of potential locations to meet such as Columbus Club, SAY SD community space, UPAC Center, Mid-City substation, or City Heights Rec Center. D9 representative was also going to look into potential options.

 

7.4 – The 2023 Election Subcommittee (Maria, Edwin and Denisse)did not have an update on the election taking place that evening. Email to follow with results.

 

8 – Committee Member comments from Patty, Mazda and Brian

9 – The meeting was adjourned at 7:12 PM to reconvene at 6:30PM on Monday, April 3, 2023.

 

 

C.H.A.P.C.  MINUTES – February 6, 2023

1 - The Chairman called the meeting to order at 6:37 PM and called the roll. Asma Abdi, Rahmo Abdi, Marcellus Anderson, Dan Castañon, María Córtez, Francisco García, Brian Green-Carson, Denisse López, Mazda Mehraz, David Nelson, Julieta Ornelas, Susan Ornelas, Randy Torres-van Vleck, Carolyn Tran and Russ Connelly and were present to form a quorum. Edwin Lohr, Ph?°?»?ng Nguy?»…n, Nick Rossi, Evihn Vasily and Jim Varnadore were absent.

 

2 - There were no corrections made to the minutes of January 2, 2023.

 

3 – The Chair made a motion to approve the agenda as well as AB361, a continuation to hold electronic meetings. The motion passed without objection.

 

4 – Chair Russ discussed the sign-in sheet for those wishing to run for a seat on the committee. He also spoke on the DSD hiring consultants to help with the permitting backlog, and the changes to future meetings from online back to in person unless something changes on the state level.

 

5 – Marta Zapata from council office for D9 spoke about housing policy, the state of the district address, and accomplishments from 2022. Lucero Maganda with the mayor’s office spoke to the 3^rd party contractor being hired to support DSD permitting backlog efforts. She also spoke of the housing action package workshop coming up.

 

6 – Becky Rapp spoke on concerns around changes to the municipal code for marijuana outlets and the homeless crisis. Maria Cortez spoke on the Teralta Park Mural celebration coming up soon. David Bowen asked about project status’ spoken on in past CHAPC meetings without giving any specifics examples.

 

7.1 Filling of Committee Vacancies:

 

7.1.1 – Appointment to fill District 3-24 seat (ACTION):

Patty Vaccariello asked to be nominated. David Nelson made a motion to nominate Patty, seconded by Maria Cortez. 14-0-0 with the chair not voting and the motion passed. Patty was seated at this time.

 

7.2 – (Action) Request for honorary rename of a street in honor of William (Bill) Tall. Marta Zapata from council office for D9 spoke about this request from the wider community clarifying that no name changes were being made to any existing signs, only an honorary designation was being requested at the intersection of Home Ave and Euclid Ave. After several questions from board members were answered a motion was made by Patty to approve a letter of support for honorary renaming of west side of Euclid Ave for “Farmer Bill Tall”. Brian seconded. Vote was 14-1-0 with the chair not voting and the motion passed.

 

7.3 – (Action) Mid City CAN Youth Council presentation - Urban Village Revitalization. Presentation was given by Victor Ponce and Gabrielle Gist who are part of the youth council about the specific upgrades to the park including budget breakouts. This has been a collaborative effort by the youth council with the help of the City Parks and Recreation department. Both the community and board members gave input on the presentation as well as questions to the presenters. Randy made a motion for a letter support on behalf of the Youth Council recommendations for improvements to Jeremy Henwood Park. Brian seconded. Vote was 15-0-0 with the chair not voting and the motion passed.

 

7.4 – The 2023 Election Subcommittee (Maria, Edwin and Denisse) gave an update on their outreach with election materials. They spoke about the coming deadlines to apply and named current board member seats that are up for election. They also spoke about the need for translators and volunteers the day of the election. Dan volunteered.

 

8 – Committee Member comments from David, Russ and Laura (interpreter)

9 – The meeting was adjourned at 7:52 PM to reconvene at 6:30PM on Monday, March 6, 2023.