Midway planners in January heard from the city on the status of Sports Arena leases and nixed a proposed medical marijuana dispensary, as well as hearing from the Navy about the Point Loma-Miramar pipeline project and from Veterans Village of San Diego (VVSD) about a permanent winter homeless shelter.
The Midway Community Planning Group, which makes land-use recommendations to the city, also welcomed a new board member, Dave Siegler of VVSD.
“We provide year-round services for homeless vets,” said Siegler, noting the VVSD’s main facility on Pacific Highway for years has also operated a 150-bed winter homeless tent shelter.
Group chair Melanie Nickel noted the advisory group represents both businesses and residents.
“We would very much like to get a resident on the board,” Nickel said, adding, “No one on the board at this time lives here.” Marijuana dispensaries
Largely a commercial and industrial area with pockets of residential, Midway’s zoning can accommodate medical marijuana dispensaries, which are required to be distanced from youth-oriented facilities like schools, churches and parks, as well as one another.
Due to terms of the city’s new medical marijuana dispensary ordinance passed last year, a dozen or more dispensaries have been lining up to apply to be one of four total allowed in District 2, some or all of which could be sited in the Midway area.
The latest dispensary proposal was for a corner location at 2501 Kettner Blvd. and 930 W. Laurel St.
“We are not decision makers, we are advisory,” pointed out Nickel, noting the group only makes recommendations — not final decisions — on whether proposed dispensaries meet the city’s qualifications.
Dispensary applicants noted their project would occupy one of seven buildings on the proposed site, which is currently zoned commercial and, if approved, would be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. They said all dispensary areas would have video surveillance and bulletproof walls and glass and be ADA-compliant.
Representatives from Alladin Airport Parking, located near the proposed dispensary, argued against it, noting, “Our customers trust us to protect them.” They added the dispensary and its potentially troublesome clientele could threat their businesses’ security.
Midway planner Cathy Denton questioned the dispensary, saying, “it’s inappropriate to have a facility of this nature next to existing residential,” adding, “Parking is completely inadequate.”
The board vote was 4-3-1 against the dispensary.
Fuel pipeline
Naval Base Point Loma Capt. Howard Warner made his pitch for the 17.3-mile fuel pipeline, a 3.5-mile section of which is proposed to be realigned away from the coast to Rosecrans Street.
“The pipeline was built in 1954 and was designed to last 30 years,” said Warner, noting it’s been determined that corrosion and metal loss within the Point Loma section of the pipeline has led the Navy to “take proactive measures to replace and improve it by making it seismically safer.
“We’ve got a great team of professionals and they’re motivated to do the right thing,” said Warner, noting, if all goes well, that construction on pipeline realignment could begin in December this year and be done in January 2017. Property appraisals
Patti Phillips from the city’s Real Estate Assets Department told planners the city is “in the process of updating our appraisals” of property valuations in and around the Sports Arena.
“In the next three to five months, we’re working to adjust all these leases,” she said.
Midway planners pointed out several Sports Arena businesses have been on “month-to-month leases for years,” adding that’s continuing to cause the area to “become blighted.”
“We (city) are actively renegotiating long-term leases at market rates,” Phillips said.