San Diego State University (SDSU) is proposing a huge student housing project, which has the potential to impact the surrounding community, not just the campus.
SDSU’s Evolve Student Housing Project (Evolve) is slated to add 5,220 student beds in high-rises at two locations.
About 40 community members attended an in-person meeting in Aztec Hall on Jan. 27 to learn more about the project. The “Peninsula Component” of Evolve, is to be located at the northern terminus of 55th Street.
The project calls for demolition of 13 existing apartment buildings to make way for approximately 4,500 new student beds during phased construction between 2025 and 2030. It would consist of (1) 9-story building and (5) up to 13-story high-rises, including dining and auxiliary uses. This area is currently zoned for multi-family buildings with a 60’ height limit, which is considerably less than what is being proposed.
Evolve also includes the “University Towers East Component” which is planned to replace the parking lot immediately east of the existing University Towers building at Montezuma Road and 55th Street. It would provide an additional 720 beds.
Kara Peterson, director of Planning for San Diego State University, gave an overview of project alternatives as presented in the Draft Environmental Impact Report. A document required as part of the California Environmental Quality Act when a project could significantly impact wildlife, air quality, natural resources, traffic, and cultural heritage.
According to Peterson, “We study the project’s impacts, determine their significance and propose mitigations for impacts that were identified as significant or potentially significant.”
While the community supports more student housing on campus, there are concerns that this level of density, especially on 55th Street, is problematic, if not dangerous. There are also some in the community wanting this level of dense housing to be built at SDSU’s Mission Valley campus.
After the formal presentation, community members had the chance to meet with project consultants to learn about various aspects of the project. Nearly ALL attendees sat at a table to further discuss “Emergency Preparedness and Wildfires.”
Residents were clearly aware that the proposed site of the Peninsula Component is located in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ), deemed high-risk for wildfires due to factors such as vegetation, fuel load, slope, fire weather and other conditions. They expressed their concerns, and fears and asked what the SPECIFIC plans are for emergency preparedness and response (e.g., medical, fire, earthquake, and even an active shooter, as was the case during the Montezuma Fire).
There were also questions about the infrastructure for firefighting and evacuation routes for the 8,000 people who would live in the proposed and existing dorms, as well as residents living in adjacent neighborhoods.
This past Halloween, many of these same residents evacuated from their homes in Talmadge, Alvarado Estates, College View Estates, and other parts of College Area, due to the 40-acre Montezuma Fire. This resulted in hours spent in traffic trying to evacuate the area, many people reportedly inching their way along an evacuation route through the campus. Residents want to make sure that experience is not repeated and are questioning why SDSU wants to build high-density development in a severe fire zone.
Jean Hoeger, who has lived in neighboring College View Estates since 1986, said, “You just needed to see the news coverage showing people abandoning their cars and running for their lives during the Palisades Fire, to get that our own failed evacuation could have been so much worse. Everyone knows we completely lucked out with no wind and no competing fires, but it might not be that way the next time. It’s critical that the Evolve Project isn’t rubber-stamped.”
At the end of the presentation, Peterson stated, “We have to consider all written comments in our analysis of the project, so any comments that are submitted by Feb. 17 will also be included in the Final EIR for this project.”
Public comments will be accepted in writing until 5 p.m. on Feb. 17, and can be sent via email to: [email protected] or via U.S. mail to Kara Peterson, Director of Planning, SDSU Planning Design and Construction, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA. 92182.
For more information:
https://bfa.sdsu.edu/campus/facilities/planning/evolve-student-housing-project-draft-eir-appendices
https://bfa.sdsu.edu/campus/facilities/planning/docs/app_j_2_sdsu_evolve_wes_acc.pdf
Karen Austin is a leader of the Alvarado Estates Fire Safe Council and represents her neighborhood on the College Area Community Council. The one house lost during the Montezuma Fire and evacuation was in this neighborhood at a major gateway to SDSU.
TOP CAPTION: College Area residents attended a recent on-campus meeting to learn about SDSU’s plans for a proposed 4,500 bed housing development in six high-rises (up to 13-stories) in a severe fire zone below their homes. Following the devastating LA fires and their own mandatory evacuation during the Montezuma Fire last October, “Emergency Preparedness and Wildfire” issues are top of mind. Public comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Feb. 17.
