Growing increasingly disenchanted with the City’s land-use policies and restrictions on how advisory group’s review development projects, Peninsula Community Planning Board rejected two map waiver requests in September. The two map waiver requests were for proposed condo projects, one 15 units and the other eight, on Jarvis and Garrison streets, respectively.
At the Sept. 20 PCPB meeting, board members also supported a proposed new ordinance banning styrofoam products and limiting plastic straws in restaurants. Project Review Subcommittee chair Mark Krencik presented on the subcommittee’s endorsement of both map waiver requests: for 15 units within a 26,611-square-foot, three-story structure on Jarvis Street; and eight units within a 9,120-square-foot, three-story structure at 3104-3112 Garrison St.
Pointing out such map waiver requests are proliferating, some PCPB board members expressed frustration with the public-review process on them.
“We don’t always have to agree with these map waiver requests,” said Margaret Virissimo, objecting to the larger project’s scale. “Seventy percent of these projects are grandfathered in. We have to stick together and say no, we don’t support these. Enough is enough.”
Colleague Jerry Lohla agreed.
“Developers are playing this game to keep densifying our community,” he said. “They get the map waiver request, without us being able to see the plans first. The cart is before the horse.”
Jim Hare concurred. “Unless the process for reviewing map waivers is changed, these are the projects we’re going to get, and this is what they look like,” he said.
After the PCBP meeting, chair Robert Goldyn, commented: “The major issue we have is that these projects only come before us to get the map waiver, and not during design and construction, so we do not have a chance to really review the project and offer comment. It’s the process we have issue with.”
Audience member Lucky Morrison also called out the group on its policy of holding Project Review Subcommittee meetings at 1:30 p.m., contending that favors developers while discriminating against working residents.
Karim Bouris, of nonprofit Business For Good San Diego promoting wise small-business practices, presented on the styrofoam ban being proposed by City Council members Barbara Bry and Chris Ward. Bouris noted that styrofoam (polystrene) a plastic derivative, is non-biodegradable, cannot be efficiently recycled and breaks down into ever-smaller pieces in time finding its way into polluting the ocean and the food chain, ultimately being consumed by marine life and humans.
Bouris was accompanied by two local merchants, Sandy Hanshaw of The Wine Pub and Jordan Brownwood of Royale restaurant, both of whom don’t use styrofoam because of its negative environmental impacts.
Said PCPB board member Joe Holasek, “This is an environmental issue. We need to change our behavior and have a clean world.”
PCPB voted to support the styrofoam ban.
