It\u2019s not every day that a nun walks up to a microphone and says, \u201cPlease don\u2019t boo me.\u201d But that\u2019s what happened at the Aug. 8 La Mesa City Council meeting, during public comments before the council voted on the proposed Little Flower Haven housing project.<\/p>\n
The contentious meeting \u2014 which had a City Council member chastise the opponents of the project for booing those in favor of it \u2014 ended with a tie vote; meaning the proposal to replace a former home for the elderly with a low-income housing development, would not be approved. Run by the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus, the Little Flower Haven facility at 8585 La Mesa Blvd. had operated from 1938 until June 2015.<\/p>\n
The decision also brought a threat of lawsuit by the developers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Silvergate Development group\u2019s proposed plan is to build 130 units in several new three-story buildings while keeping the existing frontage building.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really felt that the architecture of the existing tower, entry and chapel was so significant that even though it wasn\u2019t to be designated historic, we really loved the street scene, loved the building and wanted to retain that,\u201d Silvergate principal Ian Gill said.<\/p>\n The project would be a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments and feature upgraded landscaping, a pool area, bike storage, a new bus stop and a parking lot.<\/p>\n Although the property currently has no parking, it was the number of parking spaces the developers had put in the plans that had residents from the neighborhood speaking up in opposition.<\/p>\n Because Silvergate is taking advantage of a state program to encourage low-income housing, the Little Flower Haven development can get a waiver that allows for less parking spaces than the city normally requires. The city rule is two spaces for every unit, or 260 for Little Flower Haven\u2019s 130 units. However, because the project will dedicate 10 percent of the units to low-income residents, it is only required to have one per bedroom, or 186. The Silvergate plan has 193 parking spaces, 67 less than what the neighboring residents want<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNow that the property is for sale and redevelopment is inevitable, the proposed 130-unit complex, while keeping only a fraction of the historic fa\u00e7ade \u2013 the bell tower and original chapel \u2014 will have an impact on the neighborhood,\u201d resident Susan Wayne said. \u201cWe want to be clear. We are not opposed to a residential development, but to the parking variance that deviates from the La Mesa municipal code.\u201d<\/p>\n Wayne was followed by many other neighbors who echoed her opposition to what they deemed as inadequate parking that would force guests and some residents of the development to park on already crowded and narrow streets. And those who parked north of the development in the Porter Hill area would also be tempted to jaywalk across La Mesa Boulevard, since there are no crosswalks in front of Little Flower Haven. Another argument was that Silvergate wasn\u2019t interested in providing low-income housing and was only offering it to side-step the city\u2019s parking requirements. One woman even equated the developers to \u201ccarpetbaggers,\u201d which drew cheers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Although outnumbered, a few residents spoke in favor of the development. La Mesa Chamber of Commerce president Mary England pointed to the positive impact on local businesses of having more residents located next to the downtown village and nearby Grossmont Mall.<\/p>\n Christine La Marca, homeless veteran advocate and president of the San Diego County Apartment Association, originally wanted to see Little Flower Haven turned into a homeless shelter for veterans, but after talking with Gill she changed her mind and decided to support the project.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more I listened to his proposal, the more I understood the need for housing our families and our working population. It\u2019s extremely critical,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have gotten to the point where we need so many more housing units developed that this is the better and higher use for that property.\u201d<\/p>\n La Marca drew boos and jeers when she urged the council to not \u201cmake feel-good decisions\u201d and \u201cdo what is fiscally responsible,\u201d despite the protests of \u201ca small fraction\u201d of residents.<\/p>\n Sister Mary Joseph of the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus followed La Marca, asking not be booed. She urged people to accept the project because her order can no longer afford to keep the building open or make the necessary repairs, and said that a development there is \u201cinevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n She also said the parking situation would be improved by the development.<\/p>\n \u201cThis question about parking spaces \u2014 it has none right now. There\u2019s zero parking spaces,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been caring for 60 residents, 27 employees, eight to 10 sisters with zero parking spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Following public comments, the council deliberated the project and voted on the two resolutions needed to approve the project.<\/p>\n Councilmember Guy McWhirter said that he expected the meeting to be \u201cpitchforks and torches\u201d and chastised the booing and applauding during the meeting as \u201crude.\u201d<\/p>\n McWhirter voted to approve the project, saying that this was the best option for the site, given the state laws that govern development of low-income housing.<\/p>\n Councilmember Bill Baber, taking issue with the Design Advisory Board\u2019s vote because part of the board is made up of city employees, said he felt there was a conflict of interest and voted against the project.<\/p>\n While Vice Mayor Kristine Alessio lamented the state\u2019s authority to override the city\u2019s parking codes, she said all she could do was apply \u201cfact to law\u201d and voted to approve the project.<\/p>\n Mayor Mark Arapostathis voted against the project.<\/p>\n \u201cI will say this, and no disrespect to the developer, I was not in favor of this because I think it does impact the neighborhood and so I\u2019m being honest, that\u2019s how I feel,\u201d Arapostathis said.<\/p>\n Councilmember Colin Parent recused himself from the vote because he lives in the neighborhood that would be impacted by the project. During the discussion of an earlier item in the meeting, Parent and Alessio introduced a proposal asking the city to consider developing parking districts, where residents would have permits to park in their neighborhood and police could then ticket or tow cars belonging to non-residents that were parked there.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Because the project needed a majority to get approval, the council\u2019s 2-2 vote means the Little Flower Haven project is a no go \u2014 for now.<\/p>\n But following the Aug. 8 City Council meeting, Silvergate sent a letter to the city expressing their intention to bring the matter to court. In response, the City Council held a special closed-session meeting with City Attorney Glenn Sabine, to discuss options and any legal grounds the council has to uphold its decision, Councilmember McWhirter said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result of that meeting, we will be reconvening that hearing [on Little Flower Haven] on the Sept. 12, our first council meeting in September,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n At that meeting, the council will, once again, vote on the proposed development.<\/p>\n \u2014Comun\u00edquese con Jeff Clemetson en jeff@sdcnn.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Por Jeff Clemetson | Editor<\/p>","protected":false},"author":778,"featured_media":224525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11548","_seopress_titles_title":"City Council rejects Little Flower Haven","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11548,11551,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-mesa-courier","category-news","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/778"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"City](\"https:\/\/lamesacourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/web-MAIN-Little_Flower_site_plan_t670-copy.jpg\")
<\/a>The project\u2019s details<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The opposition<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The supporters<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/a>The council vote<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\u00bfQue sigue?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/a>