Nine candidates are running for five open seats on the Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB) with elections slated for Thursday, March 19. Seated board members will have an opportunity to influence the land-use and planning decisions involving Point Loma over their 3-year tenures. Board members also have a chance to influence the community’s development plan. The plan provides community development guidelines for issues such as character, size and scope of individual projects. Polling for the March 19 election runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Hervey/Point Loma Branch Library, 3701 Voltaire St. A library auditorium full of Point Loma residents and voters met with eight of the nine hopefuls during a candidate forum March 5 to discuss important topics relevant to the community. All but one candidate, former PCPB board chair Geoff Page, was able to attend the forum. Each candidate discussed community issues in a question-and-answer format. Lengthy discussion topics included the San Diego International Airport development at Lindbergh Field, possible imminent water shortages, individual property rights and their relationship to the community’s desires and possible changes to the community plan regarding population and business density. Here are some of the primary topics and candidate responses: • Individual property rights vs. community guidelines As an advisory board to the city, the PCPB often decides to provide municipal code deviations to individual owners for a special purpose. For example, the board can recommend that the city allow a developer to change the number of parking spaces along a street. Decisions often impact neighbors. And with views of impressive cityscapes and majestic horizons threatened by taller buildings, city departments look to the PCPB to settle gray areas that often pit neighbor against neighbor over property development. While no candidate argued against individual property rights, candidates gave insight as to how they might vote on some projects. Chris Veum is an architect and Point Loma resident with experience in city planning. He said community rights act as an “umbrella” and that individual property rights are the “granular” aspects of a project. It’s the board’s role to decide how the details of a project fit with the city’s general plan, he said. “I believe those are the things that actually allow a board like [PCPB] to weigh in on whatever is appropriate for the health and safety of the individual property should they impose or impede on adjacent property owners,” Veum said. Helen Kinnaird, an incumbent board member, is a longtime Peninsula resident and community volunteer for several Point Loma community organizations. She said she believes in individual property rights. “You should be able to build what you want and you have to be really careful when stepping over [a neighbor’s] boundaries,” Kinnaird said. • Potential water shortage impacts on construction/development City planners face potential water shortages because of ongoing drought conditions and recent legal decisions aimed at preserving the environment as water sources. Career community planner and new candidate, Nancy Graham, said she knows how to analyze environmental impact reports (EIR) accompanying large developments such as a stadium or the airport. She said she would ask two questions while analyzing an EIR: “Is the [EIR] doing a good job disclosing what they’re saying this project would do? (and) “Is it a project that this board should support based on the mitigations proposed?” While candidates like Graham have the expertise in larger developments, other candidates said they can bring a common-sense approach. Matthew Sanicki, a local chiropractor and resident of Liberty Station, said suggesting small adjustments to smaller projects can help with water conservation. “This is something that the board can directly affect,” Sanicki said. “[The board] is designed to make suggestions to people that are doing projects. And this is one area where we can suggest doing things to conserve water.” • Population, business density With the city currently in the process of updating its general plan, community plans throughout the city are also being revamped. PCBP members can make suggestions to change zoning regulations and potentially influence the height, façade design or parking requirements of a project. Mary Gmitruk, an electrical engineer and resident, said nothing will change without community involvement. “We need input from the community,” Gmitruk said. “We have adequate business spaces here. I don’t see any requirement to increase spaces. We need critical input from the community and the board needs to look at the drawbacks and the benefits of these multi-family dwelling units.” Population density also affects a growing business. Doug Cohen, a resident with more than 20 years of real estate and finance development, said “the board has to have communication skills so that it can not only reach out to the community of people who live here but also to people who are investing here.” • The San Diego International Airport at Lindbergh Field The PCPB holds “community outreach” meetings to answer questions from residents about the San Diego International Airport. Peninsula residents deal daily with the noise from planes overhead. The San Diego International Airport Authority has been installing thicker windows in homes to lower the noise in some neighborhood homes that qualify. Residents walking and talking on mobile phones or in offices have accustomed themselves to the so-called “Point Loma Pause,” a momentary pause in conversation while planes fly noisily overhead, Sanicki said. However, some candidates are thinking big on the issue. Steven Lombardi said his biggest dream would be to turn the airport into a park while moving the current airport somewhere farther away. Lombardi, a local architect, teaches a class downtown. One of his students’ projects projected Ocean Beach decades from now as a pedestrian community, free of cars several days out of the week. He said the Peninsula community should “think big” for the long-term vision of Peninsula residents 50 to 75 years from now. “I’m not supporting the airport expansion,” Lombardi said. “If you want think big, we’ve got to [move] the airport. If you want to think the same [status quo], don’t vote for me.” While it seems most candidates view the airport expansion as a development to be managed, board member and former deputy district attorney Cal Jones said he’s spoken to many community members about the airport. “I can’t find one person [on the Peninsula] that supports the airport expansion,” Jones said. He added that the “community should be heard and we (the board) should listen” to community concerns about every important topic. Peninsula residents can download candidate contact information by visiting www.pcpb.net.