After years of work, the Planning Commission approved the Hillcrest Focused Plan Amendment which adds the potential for 17,000 new housing units over a few blocks in the urban core of Hillcrest. Now, the amendment to the 2016 Uptown Community Plan, which did not include adding any housing in the area, is headed to the City Council’s housing committee this month before going before the full City Council in July.
Meanwhile, the city’s Parks and Recreation Board did not endorse PlanHillcrest over its lack of additional park space for the incoming residents. The plan includes incentives to developers to build promenades, but no large-scale public projects such as a moonshot idea to cover the 163 with a park.
The amendment does not just make way for possible new housing but also includes road conversions to make the area more bike and pedestrian friendly. University and Robinson avenues between First and 10th avenues would become one-way streets. Washington Street would add a bus only lane.
The plan also designates Hillcrest as a special cultural district due to its importance to the LGBTQ+ community. A walk educating visitors about historic sites in the neighborhood and art installations to promote diversity are part of this new district. Legacy LGBTQ+ businesses such as nightclubs will be the first in the city to enjoy long-term tenant protections. The Planning Commission did urge city staff to have a more detailed implementation process for this move before it receives final approval.
The plan allows for buildings as high as 20 stories. If the redevelopment occurs, Uptown’s population could double by 2050 to 100,000 residents.
It’s official: Uptown Planners replaced
In other Hillcrest news, Uptown Planners will soon be no more.
The San Diego City Council voted on May 21, 2024, confirming Uptown’s longtime community planning group, Uptown Planners, will be replaced by a new model put forward by Vibrant Uptown with a stricter structure that ensures each of the five neighborhoods in the city-defined area will have two seats on the board— one for a renter and one for a homeowner.
Councilman Stephen Whitburn, who represents Uptown, voted in favor of the replacement for its organizational structure which he described as more democratic than the current at large model.
Vibrant Uptown held a public election committee meeting on May 29 to hammer out the details of their planned virtual and in-person election for the new Uptown Community Planners Group. Current Uptown Planners board members are allowed to run for the new CPG which has 90 days to hold an election. In the interim, Uptown Planners is still the elected community voice advising the city on issues of development in Hillcrest, Mission Hills, Bankers Hill/Park West, Middletown/Five Points, University Heights, and the Medical Complex area. Members were upset by the council’s decision at the meeting on June 4.
(Top photo by Drew Sitton)
