Navajo Community Planners, Inc. (NCPI) held their first meeting of the year at Tifereth Israel Synagogue on Jan. 8.
The main topic of the meeting was a presentation on the SDSU West project by SDSU’s Laura V. Shinn, director of planning for their facilities, planning and construction department and a slide show on the project by Glen Schmidt, president of Schmidt Design Group.
A hotel, student housing, a 35,00-seat stadium, parks, six multi-purpose fields, parks, retail, campus, and more are incorporated into the master plan.
The current timeline on SDSU-Mission Valley’s progress according to Shinn is:
Presentation to the California State University’s Board of Trustees – Jan. 28-29, 2020 in Long Beach
- Final EIR and Campus Master Plan
- Purchase and sale agreement
- Acquisition and site development financing
- Presented to the San Diego city council: Feb. 2020
- Close of Escrow: March 27, 2020 (estimated)
- Groundbreaking: April 2020
- Stadium completion: Aug. 2022
- River Park Completion: Aug. 2023
Of note was a letter sent to Shinn on Oct. 1, 2019 with concerns NCPI had on the draft environmental impact report (EIR) targeting traffic mitigation, Navajo community access, and construction of a community recreation facility.
One resident acted as a voice for her neighbors on traffic mitigation issues.
“It’s a general concern of the neighborhood because of the traffic corridors that are already clogged,” said Allied Garden resident Barbara Price.
The full response to the board’s concerns was not available at the meeting. According to Shinn, a final response to their draft EIR will be posted on SDSU’s website on Jan. 18 — 10 days before the trustee’s meeting in Long Beach. Shinn said a draft was available already online.
“Why on earth aren’t the trustees coming here to address these issues?” questioned board member Shain Haug, who represents Allied Gardens. Haug plans to issue letters to the media asking why the meeting is not in this region.
After the meeting, board member Terry Cords questioned how the scheduling and prices to use the sporting fields in the new park will play out with local youth teams.
Several board members noted they were very happy with the presentation — one of which was the chair.
“Very well done,” said NCPI chair Dan Smith.
To find out more about the updates on designs, addressing the 100-year floodplain and flooding issues, lighting of multi-purpose fields, housing, metered or non-metered parking, drop off points for the sporting fields, retail such as a grocery store, proposed 4,600 student rental units, and to read the final EIR visit: sdsu.edu/missionvalley.
— Rebecca J. Williamson is a San Diego-based freelance writer.
