| CHULA VISTA – After nearly four years of planning, hours of testimony and several delays, the city's general plan update is scheduled to face a council vote Tuesday. The GPU, as it is called, is a 500-page document that details the city's goals and policies for land use and growth through 2030. Thousands of community activists, environmentalists, business owners and developers have fought to modify the plan to fit their needs."It's a major document," Mayor Steve Padilla said. "It's taken a long time."Each city in California is required to have a general plan.
Chula Vista's last general plan was created in 1989, when the emphasis was developing open space on the east side. A GPU tells developers "that if you want to develop property, you'll have to develop it in the way we're calling it out," Planning Director Jim Sandoval said. "Landowners can try to amend the general plan four times each year, but that's the exception, not the rule."Tuesday, the council will vote on the plan's environmental impact report followed immediately by a vote on the plan itself.
The general plan calls for broad changes citywide. In the east, it focuses on allowing more housing and building an "Eastern Urban Center" with an educational campus, high-end retail stores and a technology park.In the southwest, the plan outlines the creation of a town center near Orange and Third avenues. The most heated debate over the general plan has involved its guideline for the northwest, which focuses on downtown redevelopment and high-rise zoning near the H Street and E Street trolley stations.
An earlier version of the plan also allowed for high-rises at Third Avenue and H Street, near the city's old downtown. With a mix of housing and businesses – and the approval of high-rise construction – the City Council believed it could attract upscale shops and restaurants. The catalyst for this revitalization was to be Españada, two 15-story luxury condominium towers on H Street. Local developer Jim Pieri was on track for city approval one year ago, but the council opted to wait until after the GPU was finished.During that time, community groups rallied and pushed for a change to the general plan that called for midrise zoning of up to seven stories on the location. In October, Padilla, who once favored high-rise construction there, changed his mind in favor of midrise zoning."It was becoming a three-ring circus," the mayor said. "We had to move forward with the general plan." Pieri has declined several calls seeking comment.
Earl Jentz, who led the fight against Españada, said he approves of the general plan, but remains wary of its underdeveloped housing element and the possibility of displaced residents. The city has agreed to analyze the displacement."It's a good first step," Jentz said. While the plan does not include zoning along the bay front, a future bay-front blueprint – expected to include hotels, large parks, high-rises and pathways to the bay – will be folded into the general plan later.
Once the GPU is approved, the city will proceed with its Urban Core Specific Plan, which will detail zoning and design standards for downtown."We need to get to the specific plan to get the nuts and bolts of redevelopment happening for us," said Jack Blakely, executive director of the Chula Vista Downtown Business Association. Of the council's vote on Tuesday, Blakely said, "I think they're on the right track. I think they have finally satisfied most of the community."
Environmentalists have hailed the GPU as an example of environmentally sensitive city planning. "We're very pleased," said Laura Hunter, a spokeswoman for the Environmental Health Coalition. With the GPU, the city is "saying they're going to ensure equitable treatment of all populations including low-income communities and communities of color that have historically been the dumping ground for toxic-emitting industries or environmentally hazardous projects." Sandoval, the planning director, said he sees the GPU as a step toward completing the city's development."Twenty years ago, a plan like this one would have given direction on where to go," he said. "This plan will be finished when the city is built out. It will tell you where we end up as well." |
Shannon McMahon: (619) 498-6634; shannon.mcmahon@uniontrib.com