In March, Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group voted 11-0 to support its years-long community plan update, which includes conditional approval of environmental and traffic studies.
The area is park-deficient. Long-term plans call for new rapid bus routes. The central, 44-acre city-owned Valley View Casino Center site, which may or may not be redeveloped, remains a huge question park.
Group chair Cathy Kenton pushed for the plan update motion to include language calling for “creative and thoughtful transportation systems on both a regional and local level.” She asked for policy language to include “flexibility for implementation and innovation in technology.”
Between Old Town and Point Loma, the Midway/Pacific Highway Corridor is comprised of the central Midway area, and the narrow, linear-shaped Pacific Highway Corridor. Central Midway has an urbanized commercial core with numerous shopping centers, institutional facilities and warehousing. The Pacific Highway Corridor between I-5 and Lindbergh Field contains some of the city’s oldest industrial areas. The corridor also has considerable military-owned property and limited residential.
Kenton noted the Midway Community plan update, which community planners and the city have been working on since 2011, has been a “long and arduous process. I don’t agree on everything, but I think it’s a good plan. We’re now in a very different place than were in 2011. I’m personally very excited.”
Colleague Kurt Sullivan concurred.
“The enemy of good is perfect,” Sullivan said. “We’ve worn out our existing plan that precludes developers from coming in and investing in the area. We needed a new arrangement, a shuffling of land uses, and this plan does it.”
Community planner Todd Horvath was worried about continuing problems with homelessness interfering with future development of area parks and green space.
City planner Vickie White, who’s been working with the plan group, referred to the plan update as a “formidable document.” She said its guiding principle is to “establish distinct villages” highlighting different community sub-areas. White said Midway-Pacific Highway is considered a subregional employment area. She added an important piece of the redevelopment puzzle for the area is plans to make it more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly. That is to be accomplished through new parks and green space, street trees and landscaping and improved walking and riding paths.
White said the timetable is for the plan update to go to the city Planning Commission for a public hearing on April 26, then to a City Council subcommittee May 24 before final review by the City Council a month later.
