University Community Planning Group (UCPG) board members sat frustrated during their monthly meeting Tuesday as they discovered that, after a year of work on the area’s financial account for council approval, the City of San Diego committed what president Linda Colley called an “end run” in the amount of $7 million.
“I feel railroaded,” said UCPG board member Lorraine Stein.
“Do you feel the railroad coming down the tracks?” said UCPG board member George Lattimer.
After voting against Westfield’s expansion of the UTC mall, which included a proposal to build a large transit hub, the group learned city officials melded their Facilities Benefit Assessment (FBA) account with the Westfield proposal, and that both were making their way toward the San Diego City Council for approval. Cheryl Robinson, city facilities financing project manager, then told UCPG group members that officials changed portions of their FBA account relating to the UTC project.
Instead of funding the transit hub, Westfield will loan University City $7 million, which the community will pay back over time using the FBA account, Robinson told group members Tuesday.
“My understanding from facilities financing is that Westfield Inc. is putting in all of the land and then half of the construction costs of the new bus transit center, and then the FBA is putting in the other half,” said Bill Anderson, director of City Planning and Community Investment, adding that transportation analysts decided the hub would serve not only Westfield and the shopping center but all the surrounding community.
“I find this part troubling because Westfield said, ‘We’re taking a good deal of what we’re going to contribute back out,'” Lattimer said.
UC has one of the county’s wealthiest community funds, paid into by developers for future parks and roads.
In addition to $7 million added to the FBA account, Colley said she was upset that officials cut the group from the process.
“I’m still confused why this is going to the city council, and it’s not on my agenda, and I can’t take action,” Colley said.
Still other UCPG members said they were upset that the group’s FBA council approval process became interwoven with Westfield’s UTC project. According to Anderson, officials melded UC’s account with Westfield because of the project’s enormous influence on the account.
Officials set a tentative date of July 29 for a hearing at city council.
“We’re talking about that,” Anderson said. “There’s a process for review. It goes to planning group, then city council.”
Anderson said city officials are deciding whether to include the FBA account with Westfield’s UTC project ¦ because the FBA is significantly affected by UTC and fees are reduced by UTC’s expansion, and so that is one of the factors that council would want to consider.”
UCPG board members made a motion to write the city council a letter, addressing each concern.
“My recommended action would be to write the city to address our concerns,” Stein said. “They cut out the planning group.”
“We put in nine months or one year of effort and this opens the door to other developers, saying, ‘Let the FBA pay for the Super Loop,'” Lattimer said.
“I sat on the FBA committee for months and none of us wanted to be there, so to have all that thrown out the window undermines all the credibility in the mayor’s office,” UCPG member Debbie Knight said.
For information, go to uc-planning-group.com. For San Diego City Council agenda, dates and times, visit www.sandiego.gov.