Uptown Community Plan Update

The Uptown Community Plan serves as a blueprint for development in our community.  It was last updated in 1988 and is several years overdue for update.  In July 2008, the City Planning Department first announced that the update of the Uptown Community Plan would begin that fall.  However, the official kick-off meeting did not begin until January 28, 2009.  At that time, the procedures for the update were first announced, including the formation of a stakeholders’ advisory committee and a process including public meetings, workshops and charettes. (A charrette is an open and interactive meeting format where the public works with the team of City staff and consultants to develop concepts for the Update.)  After delays in hiring consultants and forming the stakeholders committee, the first meeting of the advisory committee took place in October 2009.  From that point, the process has moved forward slowly.

Mission Hills Heritage continues to represent the interests of Mission Hills, as well as Uptown in general, in the City of San Diego’s Uptown Community Plan Update process. The City posts information on this process at:

http://www.sandiego.gov/planning/community/profiles/uptown/

In March Mission Hills Heritage participated in the City’s two public meetings as City staff began to evaluate the concepts that had been generated in the public charrettes and Community Plan Update Advisory Committee meetings.

The first meeting, March 19, was a Historic Resources Survey and Conservation Areas Open House to communicate the City staff’s analyses and responses to recommendations related to historic preservation. This included many of the recommendations that Mission Hills Heritage presented at the August 5 Community meeting and gathered hundreds of residents’ signatures to support. Unfortunately, the City response was supportive on very few of the items. We are now working with consultants to identify our next steps in working with the City on these recommendations.

In addition the City discussed the historic survey update and possible approaches to conservation areas. City presentations from the meeting, which do not include the responses to the recommendations, can be seen at:

• Historic Survey Update (PDF)
• Conservation Areas Presentation (PDF)
• Uptown sample conservation area design guidelines (PDF)

The second meeting in March was the 7th Community Plan Update Advisory Committee meeting. A preliminary height analysis was formulated by the City in order to see if existing community plan densities could be achieved with alternative maximum building height limits, including limits proposed by Mission Hills Heritage.  This information is preliminary and the City states that it welcomes any input from the pubic as well as the architecture and developer community, on how to refine the assumptions and methodology used. More information can be seen at:

• Height Analysis Presentation (PDF)
• Preliminary Height Analysis (PDF)
• Click here for an expanded map of our land use and zoning recommendations 289.96 Kb (PDF)

Future meetings, which the City has not yet scheduled, will add more information about their density and land-use analyses, which are critical to Mission Hills. We strongly encourage our residents to participate actively in these important public meetings. We will send notice of the meetings to our members and e-mail list when we receive the information from the City.

Also covered at the meeting were conceptual ideas for the Normal Street Median in Hillcrest, which can be found at the following link.  These images represent a potential vision and are not plans for construction. 

• Normal Street Design Concepts (PDF)

Mission Hills Heritage gave a joint presentation with the Mission Hills Town Council at the town hall meeting on April 14, 2011 concerning the status of the community plan update and preservation issues.  The following is a slideshow of that presentation:

• Uptown CPU at MHTC Town Hall 4-14-11  3.77 Mb

Previous News:

Over 100 neighbors attended our Community Meeting Concerning the Uptown Community Plan Update on Thursday, August 5, 2010.  Mission Hills Heritage presented a powerpoint presentation discussing what the Uptown Community Plan Update actually is and how it will effect the residents of Mission Hills for generations to come. During this meeting, we described our draft input to the plan update and asked for your comments.  Below are related documents from the meeting that you can download.

Click here for a letter summarizing our recommendations to the City 8.51 Mb

Click here for the powerpoint presentation from the meeting in pdf format. 19.45 Mb

Click here for the Mission Hills boundary map 80.77 Kb

Click here for the Petition we are getting signed in support of our input to the plan. 29.34 Kb

Click here for the meeting flyer. 142.55 Kb

The Uptown Community Plan, which serves as a blueprint for development in our community, was last updated in 1988.  Community plans establish long-range land use policy, including specifying dwelling densities, differentiating between residential, commercial and mixed use areas, and include recommendations for public facilities, parks and recreation, transportation and parking infrastructure.  Zoning designations and other regulations implement the community plan.

In the summer of 2008 the City announced that the overdue update to the community plan would begin shortly; however, delays in hiring consultants and changes in the update committee structure stalled the process for almost 18 months.  In October 2009 the City convened the update committee, known as the Community Plan Update Advisory Committee (“CPUAC”), which is composed of the Uptown Planners and various other community stakeholders. 

We are pleased to announce that Mission Hills Heritage was chosen to be a member of the CPUAC, and we are participating in meetings to provide input on the plan update.  Monthly meetings are scheduled through 2010, with the approval process slated to begin in 2011.  What remains to be seen is whether the hard-fought Interim Height Ordinance will “sunset” before the new community plan is approved.   We will strive to have the ordinance extended so that it does not expire before the new plan is approved.

The community plan update process is of great importance to our community.  The plan update represents an opportunity to improve our community and resolve longstanding problems, but a danger exists that the plan update could bring unwelcome changes as well.  Mission Hills Heritage is focusing its involvement on ensuring that the character and historic nature of Mission Hills is protected and enhanced in the plan update.  Some areas of our concern include:

• Preserving existing single family areas that are designated for higher density.
• Adjusting potential densities in certain areas to acceptable levels.
• Permanently establishing height limits in commercial and mixed use areas.
• Preserving neighborhood character by implementing a “conservation area.”
• Promoting historic preservation by establishing new and expanding existing historical districts.

To that end, Mission Hills Heritage is working on plans for specific input to the City.  We will hold a community meeting and workshop this summer to review our plans and gather community comments.