Hello Members, Friends and Neighbors,
With my first year as President behind me, I would like to express my sincere
appreciation to our members and gratitude to the Board of Directors for their
personal commitment and exceptional support in time and talent in promoting
our mission and in combating actions that threaten the historic resources and
character of our community and its neighborhoods. My heartfelt “thank you” to
all.
Exciting news
I am pleased to announce that we are planning several new Events
for 2023 and a return to in-house tours of several of our historic residences.
MHH will be getting back into Events in 2023 that will include… – – Education,
– Fundraising for our historic preservation activities,
– In-house tours of historic homes, and
– Members only coffees.
Our focus for 2023 will be architect and developer WTJ (William Templeton
Johnson). First up will be a Spring event at the home of David and Tina Swim,
4520 Trias. This is the same home that hosted the Annual Meeting last October.
The focus for this Event will include the following…
– A lecture by Dr. Gordon Hunt educating us on several of the residences in
Mission Hills associated with WTJ.
– An inside home tour of the Swim’s residence.
– A special VIP tour of the residence which includes the Main floor and the
upstairs conducted by the homeowners (David and Tina) themselves.
This tour will be limited to only 30 people, so register early if you want to take
advantage of the VIP tour.
– A wine and cheese social.
– There will be tabletops of vendors specializing in historic restorations and
businesses supporting Mission Hills Heritage and our neighborhood.
– This is a fundraiser in support of our preservation mission and as such we
will be requesting minimum Donations of $60 (more about the funding
needs later in the newsletter).
Another event we are planning is a members only coffee on Saturday, May 20 th .
Stay tuned for the location and details.
Finally, in the Fall we will be conducting an in-house tour of several residences
associated with William Templeton Johnson. We expect to have at least 3 of the
WTJ homes for this tour. We are planning this event for either Saturday, October
28 th or Saturday, November 4 th . More details to follow as we finalize the homes
participating in the event. This event will also be a fundraiser supporting our
preservation mission.
Preserving our neighborhood character, charm and historic resources
I’m sure many of you are familiar with the various state and local laws, ordinances
and codes that impact our neighborhoods. These include….
– TPAs (Transportation Priority Areas),
– SDAs (Sustainable Development Areas),
– Lot splitting,
– 1700 square foot ADUs and junior ADUs,
– Density bonuses,
– Large apartment buildings with little or no parking,
– The list goes on-and-on.
Most of these programs are out of our control as state and local agendas are
being prioritized without considering feedback received from residents and
voters. Because of these things that are occurring at the state and local level, the
Board of Directors believes that our best opportunity to accomplish our
preservation mission is by designating historic districts at the National level.
Currently, there are 13 historic districts and potential historic districts in Mission
Hills identified in the 2016 Uptown Community Plan listed as follows:
- Mission Hills Historic District: (locally designated) 75 homes
- Fort Stockton Line Historic District (locally designated) 107 homes
- Mission Hills Historic District Extension (locally designated) 99 homes
- Inspiration Heights Historic District (National designation) 99 homes
- Northwest Mission Hills (potential historic district) 301 homes
- Allen Terrace (potential historic district) 35 homes
- Mission Hills Expansion (potential historic district) 257 homes
- North Florence Heights (potential historic district) 96 homes
- Arnold and Choate’s (potential historic district) 313 homes
- Avalon Heights (potential historic district) 53 homes
- Marine View (potential historic district) 340 homes
- Inspiration View (potential historic district) 24 homes
- Dove Street (potential historic district) 31 homes
So, here’s the challenge.
The total cost to process these potential historic districts
is estimated to be between $240K – $300K which will need to be raised over a
four or five year period. Thus, we will be seeking donations at many of our events
going forward in support of our fundraising efforts for processing these future
historic districts.
In addition, we will continue the legislative advocacy for or against legislation,
local codes and ordnances that are not supportive of our stated mission. The
MHH Board of Directors and our many volunteers will be working on the events
planned for 2023 and we request your continued support to protect our special
neighborhood for the benefit of future generations of Mission Hills residents and
all San Diegans.
Take care, stay safe and God Bless! See you around the neighborhood.
Kirk Burgamy
