Midway Community Planning Group (MCPG) dealt with some weighty issues in June including conformance with climate components in its ongoing community plan update, a proposal to create a new Business Improvement District and a sought-after ballot measure to raise hotel transient occupancy taxes (TOTs) to pay for downtown redevelopment.
In 2015, San Diego City Council adopted an ambitious Climate Action Plan (CAP) requiring cutting carbon emissions in half and ultimately using 100 percent renewable energy over the next 20 years.
City staffer Vickie White walked the advisory group through a preliminary CAP compliance evaluation for the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan Update. The climate “checklist” covered a sweeping array of issues including Midway’s location within a Transit Priority Area (TPA) and its compatibility with the City of Villages strategy.
That strategy seeks to encourage residential and commercial development within centralized areas served by mass transit discouraging commutes and cutting carbon emissions.
MCPG chair Cathy Kenton, pointing out community plan updates typically take three years, noted “We’re at year eight.”
“It would have been easier if there weren’t two (including Old Town) going on at once,” replied White.
Noting the majority of the Midway District is within a TPA, White said the idea is to plan to make non-motorists “feel safer and more comfortable walking and biking in the community.”
White noted CAP incentives are accomplished in numerous ways including enhancing bike lanes and trails and providing wayfinding signage and streetscape, trees and other landscaping improvements.
A final draft of Midway’s Community Plan update is expected to be available by the end of July and in the hands of Midway planners by September, White said. She added the concurrent environmental impact report for the plan update should be out in winter 2017, with final adoption by the City Council anticipated in July 2017.
Elizabeth Studebaker, advocate in the city’s Economic Development Department supporting regional Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and micro-districts, discussed the prospect of re-creating a BID for the Midway District.
Studebaker noted a BID named the North Bay Association previously existed, but has since lapsed.
“There is a total of $142,000 in the account for that district still collecting interest,” Studebaker said noting “That money can’t be used to created a new BID, but those funds could be spent down for eligible projects within the community, or be refunded to current business owners within the district.”
MCPG planner Kurt Sullivan noted 583 surveys were previously mailed out to Midway business owners asking if they would favor BID creation.
“Of those there were only 23 responses, 16 in favor and seven opposed,” he said.
Studebaker agreed to return at MCPG’s July meeting to answer further questions by board members about BID creation.
Public relations consultant Jeff Marston clued MCPG in on the Citizen’s Plan for San Diego. The plan is a proposed November 2016 ballot measure seeking to replace the current random approach to tourism-related facilities and infrastructure with an integrated, incentive-based structure encouraging a private-public partnership encouraging tourism.
Marston noted the Citizen’s Plan is not to be confused with the Chargers plans for a new downtown stadium. In fact, he said the Citizen’s Plan, which advocates increasing local TOT taxes from 10.5 to 15.5 percent to create a pool of money to go toward downtown redevelopment, specifically excludes funding for a Chargers stadium or non-contiguous convention center expansion there.
Details of the Citizen’s Plan are at www.citizensplan.org.
MCPG will next meet Wednesday, July 20 at 3 p.m. at San Diego Community College – West Campus, Room 205, at 3249 Fordham St.