By Shain Haug | Allied Gardens Grantville Community Council
Town hall meetings
Our thanks to San Diego City Councilmember Scott Sherman for his presentation at our July 24 town hall meeting. His candid explanation of what the city did and what it did not do when it established the rules for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs, commonly known as “granny flats”) was the beginning of our understanding of this complex matter.
As he described the process, the city spent a lot of time on the question, but the discussion barely reached the community residents most affected. If we are to protect the character of our neighborhood, it is up to us to take to the powers that be the problems of owner residence, placement of the units on the residential lots, parking, and other related issues. We should begin with the Navajo Community Planners, Inc. (NCPI), the formal representative of our community in matters of land use, planning and development. The governing board of that organization next meets on Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the Tifereth Israel Synagogue, 6660 Cowles Mountain Blvd.
The Allied Gardens Grantville Community Council (AGGCC) has made a formal request for time on the Sept. 12 agenda to express our need for NCPI action. As brief as this presentation may be, it is your attendance that will give it meaning.
By the end of the year, 84 homeless veterans will leave the streets to begin residence in studio apartments at the converted Motel 6 on Alvarado Canyon Road. Our September article in the Mission Times Courier will offer some background information, and our town hall meeting on Sept. 25 will be devoted to this matter.
Beautification Committee report
It has been inspiring to see the progress the committee and the community have made so far! Not only because of the dozens of shade trees that we planted with the city of San Diego and the Urban Forestry Program along Zion Avenue, but by the “village” of neighbors who are stepping up to water, fertilize, and care for them.
The Zion Avenue tree project “village” is made up of neighbors who live along Zion Avenue and its adjoining streets and those who live blocks away who are finding creative ways to transport water to a tree each week. Some members of the Zion Avenue tree project even live in neighboring communities, but drive up and down Zion Avenue regularly and take pleasure in seeing the trees thrive.
We hope that our Zion Avenue tree project will inspire others to plant new trees in front of their homes or to care for the trees that are already there. As a homeowner, you can sign a tree permit and the city of San Diego will plant trees in front of your home — all you need is to agree to water them until they become established.
Some may even be inspired to start their own street tree project by rallying neighbors to help transform a street in our community by adding shade trees in the parkways. Please contact the Allied Gardens Community Council Beautification Committee for more details at [email protected]. We will be there to give you whatever guidance and help you need.
Thank you for beautifying our community — it takes a village to do so!
—Sophia Frost and Jessica Read
Board of directors meeting
The AGGCC board of directors meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at Benjamin Library, at the corner of Zion Avenue and Glenroy Street. Our next board meeting will be on Tuesday, Sept. 4.
— Shain Haug is the president of the Allied Gardens Grantville Community Council. Reach him at [email protected], or visit aggccouncil.org.
