Segments of trunk sewer may slowly leave Rose Canyon, furthering the city’s mission to protect sensitive habitat and gain better access for repairs.
The Metropolitan Wastewater Department plans to relocate three segments of the Old Rose Canyon trunk sewer from Rose Canyon to Santa Fe Street once funding is available, which may not be until 2008. The report was presented to the University Community Planning Group (UCPG) on April 11.
Three trunk sewers currently run through Rose Canyon: Old Rose Canyon, built in 1956; parallel Rose Canyon, constructed in 1989; and new Rose Canyon, installed in 1992.
Completely or partially redirecting all three trunk sewers out of the canyon is not economically feasible, but pulling out segments of Old Rose Canyon will actually save the city money. The 50-year-old trunk sewer needs repair anyway, and accessing it from the road is more cost-effective.
Pulling out the first segment of Old Rose Canyon and accessing it from the road will cost the city $600,000 to maintain, for example, as opposed to $2.6 million to maintain it in the canyon, according to the Middle and Lower Rose Canyon report. Sewage will continue to flow by gravity along the street, keeping costs low.
“It turned out to be a win-win situation for these three segments, because it wouldn’t cost as much; it would get the trunk sewer out of environmentally sensitive lands; and it’s easier to maintain,” said Michelle Abella-Shon, an associate planner for the project. Leaving the trunk sewer in Rose Creek also corrodes the pipe more quickly, she added.
Even as the city studied the possibility of pulling out all trunk sewers, and city policy mandates that sewage be redirected away from the canyons, the impact of the pipe on the canyon is minimal, according to Abella-Shon.
Most of the access paths already exist naturally; employees only need to check the manholes every six months and a sewer spill has not occurred during the past year, Abella-Shon said. The manholes surrounded by sensitive areas with native plants don’t have access paths, she added.
“We’re trying to be environmentally conscious without compromising the ability to properly maintain the manholes,” Abella-Shon said.
Canyon activists may differ with Abella-Shon’s assertion, however. Sub-contractors don’t always follow the access paths, said Debbie Knight, president of Friends of Rose Canyon.
“Two weeks ago I saw some [workers] just driving off across the canyon, taking two vehicles through unnecessary areas,” Knight said. “They don’t monitor the contractors who go in there.”
Furthermore, 150 manholes run throughout the canyon, so there’s definite potential that the corresponding access paths have a significant impact, Knight said.
“The important issue is that they work with people who care about the canyon, like the planning group and others, to collaboratively come up with a plan that has the least impact,” Knight said. “That’s why there was a high level of concern at the planning group to make sure this plan was worked on with the community.”
The city has determined that completely, or even partially, pulling all three trunk sewers out of Rose Canyon is not an option. Complete redirection would cost $191 million, while partial redirection would cost $94 million. The city set its financial limit at 35 percent above the cost of leaving the sewer pipes in the canyon, which will cost approximately $68 million. These costs include replacing the pipe, which lasts for 50 to 75 years, and maintenance fees.
Completely relocating the pipe would exceed 182 percent of the cost of leaving it in the canyon and partial redirection would equal 39 percent, just 4 percent above the financial threshold.
One community member called the analysis shortsighted, saying that the money the city saves from not having to access the manholes in the canyon should be a factor.
“You have to balance the cost of what you’re really trying to do,” the audience member said. “Thirty-nine percent isn’t that much more than 35 percent.”
UCPG hesitated to approve the recommendations and voted instead to form a subcommittee to study the Middle/Lower Rose Canyon biology report.
Despite the vote, the three-segment proposal will not likely be heard before 2008. The wastewater department is currently seeking grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency; otherwise sewer fees will foot the bill.
In other business:
“¢ Three towers may mark the eastern gateway into North University City as UCPG approved the La Jolla Commons project, which includes a 350-foot hotel tower, a 348-foot condo tower and a 220-foot office tower, plus a scientific research center and eight-level parking structure.
Approximately 10,000 people will commute to the site daily, which is parallel to Interstate 805 between La Jolla Village Drive and Eastgate Mall. Decreasing the size of the office tower has slashed 1,000 trips from the original projections.
In addition to paying Facilities Benefit Assessment (FBA) fees for infrastructure, developer Makar Properties will also complete Judicial Drive, adding another connection to the I-805 to help alleviate on-ramp traffic.
City council approved the project in 2000, but Makar Properties amended the project to increase the hotel tower by 17 feet to add 112 condos, and reduced the office tower by five stories.
As a final recommendation, UCPG asked that developers build all 27 affordable housing units, instead of including only nine and paying in-lieu fees for the remainder. Trustees also urged Makar Properties to retain the original architecture, which is more interesting than the proposed design.
Developers expect to begin construction on the office and hotel in late October, which likely will take almost three years to build.
“¢ UCPG retracted its support for the clubhouse and tournament support building proposed for Torrey Pines Golf Course, after feeling misinformed by a city presentation in December that did not represent resident golfers’ fierce opposition to the $7 million clubhouse.
In a new spin, the San Diego Municipal Golfers Alliance (SDMGA) spoke out against the tournament support building, stating that the city is giving away public land to a private entity by allowing the Century Club to build the tournament support building, SDMGA co-founder Paul Spiegelman said.
The Century Club will not pay rent to the city until it has paid off construction costs, essentially free rent that SDMGA opposes, according to Spiegelman.
The Century Club was not available for comment.
The Century Club will pay $3.2 million to build the tournament support building that includes offices for the Century Club, as well as a new locker room for tournaments, a board room for the men’s and women’s golf clubs, a pavilion to host tournament events, offices for the Junior Golf Association, a learning center for children, a teaching facility for professionals and a storage area.
UCPG will invite the city and Century Club to present the projects again. The clubhouse may become an obsolete item, however, since the mayor proposes to eliminate it from the plan, although building permits will go through should the city decide to construct it after the 2008 U.S. Open.
“¢ UCPG trustees re-elected Linda Colley as chair; Petr Krysl as vice president and Milt Phegley as membership secretary.
UCPG’s next meeting is on Tuesday, May 16, 6 p.m., at the forum hall above Wells Fargo Bank, 4545 La Jolla Village Drive. Though the group normally meets on the second Tuesday of each month, the one-week delay is due to the San Diego City Council’s May 9 meeting on the Hillel plan for Site 653, which will be held at 6 p.m. at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 700 Prospect St.