Editorial: “If it ain’t broke, …”

By Annie Eichman

Assembly Bill No. 504, introduced by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, seeks to undermine the policies and practices that have made Downtown a national model for urban renewal.

We are the only Community in the region that has embraced every tenant of “smart growth” from mixed-use projects in walkable neighborhoods to dense housing and the resources it saves.

In the past 15 years, developers have been attracted to Downtown in large part due to the planning and approval process under Civic San Diego, the City’s non-profit arm, controlled by the City of San Diego.

AB 504, if signed into law by Governor Brown, will be the death knell for the Downtown development as we know it.

It will transfer the success of our City to Sacramento. With all due respect to our Leaders, there is no sound rationale for a state legislator to craft land use policy and, in the process, drive Developers away and undo what we have worked so hard as a City to accomplish.

We urge the residents, business owners and developers of Downtown San Diego to respectfully request Governor Brown veto AB 504.

Please let him know, “Downtown San Diego doesn’t need fixing.”

Write to him at: State Capitol Suite 1173, Sacramento, CA 95814 or go on line to send you comments.

A sample letter to the governor:

The Honorable Edmund G. Brown
Governor
State Capitol Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814

Re: Opposition to AB 504 (Gonzales)

Dear Governor Brown:

As a resident of Downtown San Diego, I’m writing to voice opposition to Assembly Bill 504 and ask that you veto this legislation when it reaches your desk.

By upending the model for Downtown development that built our community — and has worked well for more than two decades — this bill threatens our quality of life by driving off investment into our neighborhood.

With all due respect to our leaders in Sacramento, it makes no sense for a state legislator to craft local land use policy; this is clearly the responsibility of city governments to establish and enforce.

Our city leaders support the planning model currently in place — and if they did not, they have the authority to change it at any time. They support the current process because it is efficient, transparent and effective.

Assemblywoman Gonzales is seeking, via state legislation, to impose on an Diego policy changes we have made clear we do not want. This has left the Downtown community — the people actually affected by the bill — with no voice whatsoever in this process.

City leaders, the Downtown San Diego community and our local businesses all oppose this state interference in our local government. We hop you’ll hear our voice and veto this ill-conceived piece of legislation.

Thank you for consideration of this important matter.

—Annie Eichman is the president of the Little Italy Residents Association.

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