![\"20160323_150740web\"](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/20160323_150740web.jpg\")
<\/a>Jeff Murphy, planning director for the city of San Diego, told the North Park Planning Committee that the Planning Department expected to present the update to the City Council by year\u2019s end for a final vote of approval.<\/p>\n
The update includes specific goals and recommendations regarding the use and development of land, and it addresses mobility, economic prosperity, public facilities, conservation, open space and recreation, according to the document. The plan also envisions a sustainable community that preserves historic resources and North Park\u2019s unique and aesthetic character.<\/p>\n
At the March 22 meeting, the committee held informational discussions on \u201cInterim Regulation of Potential Historic Districts\u201d and the \u201cProposed Implementation Program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senior planner Kelly Stanco gave a PowerPoint presentation about potential historic districts. She said consultants had identified six potential historic districts in the North Park area:<\/p>\n
- \n
- 28th Street residential south of Upas Street<\/li>\n
- 30th and University commercial<\/li>\n
- Kalmia Place<\/li>\n
- Park Boulevard Apartment (East)<\/li>\n
- Shirley Ann Place Expansion<\/li>\n
- Spalding Place<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Steve Hon, president of the North Park Historical Association, said his group recommended designating Park Boulevard Apartment (East) and the 30th and University commercial corridor as historical districts.<\/p>\n
Local resident Richard Walter urged planners to consider adding a bungalow community on Lincoln Avenue between Alabama and Florida streets, and several board members agreed with him that this type of housing should be protected from the wrecking ball.<\/p>\n
Board member Lucky Morrison said his neighborhood along Ray Street should get consideration as well.<\/p>\n
City planner Lara Gates, who is assigned to assist with the North Park update plan, gave a presentation on zoning implementation. She said the city\u2019s goal is to transition North Park from an auto-oriented community into a pedestrian-friendly, multimodal-oriented neighborhood where residents can live, work and play without having to depend on driving somewhere.<\/p>\n
Gates used neighborhood maps to show how the update would affect residents. As San Diego Uptown News has reported during years of coverage of the update process, North Park will be embracing transit-oriented development and density along the major transportation corridors: Park Boulevard, El Cajon Boulevard, and 30th Street, from Adams Avenue to Upas Street.<\/p>\n
For the most part, the North Park Planning Committee has avoided public controversy over density, unlike the Uptown Planners, where the issue is heated, especially among Hillcrest residents.<\/p>\n
But as the years have passed and the update plans have come into focus, it is clear that both Uptown and North Park planners have arrived at a consensus that density will be allowed along Park Boulevard (the west side is governed by Uptown and the east side by North Park) where SANDAG is planning to place a trolley line originating Downtown. That trolley line \u2014 which would hook right on El Cajon Boulevard and go east to San Diego State University \u2014 will replace the Mid-City Rapid Bus.<\/p>\n
Talk of 100-foot building heights hardly raises eyebrows in North Park, and indeed it wasn\u2019t an issue at the March 22 meeting. What had some folks riled up was a Nextdoor.com dialogue suggesting that some residents were trying to prevent North Park \u2014 the quasi capital of craft beer in San Diego \u2014 from allowing more craft beer pubs to open.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\")
<\/a>The iconic North Park sign on University Avenue, seen at dusk (Photo by Ken Williams)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n In actuality, local and city planners are creating San Diego Municipal Code policy that will govern \u201cartisan food and beverage producers\u201d \u2014 businesses that were hardly on the radar in the 1980s when the last update was being worked upon. Businesses affected by the new policy will include microbreweries, coffee roasters, ice cream, baked goods, confectioneries, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and other foodstuff.<\/p>\n
Artisan food and beverage producers would need a Limited Use or a Neighborhood Use permit to operate. The policy states:<\/p>\n
(a) These uses shall be limited to 10,000 square feet of ground floor area.<\/p>\n
(b) All storage must be within an enclosed building or screened from the public right-of-way by fences or walls and landscaping. Stored items shall not be stacked to a height that exceeds the height of the screening.<\/p>\n
(c) Hours of operation shall be limited to 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. so that neighboring residential development is not disturbed by noise and lights.<\/p>\n
(d) Distribution facilities are not permitted adjacent to residentially zoned property.<\/p>\n
Planners are also putting into the update a recommendation to allow Type 47 liquor licenses for restaurants along the main transit corridors so that they can serve spirits along with craft beer and wine. Almost a dozen restaurateurs \u2014 representing Urban Solace, Ritual Tavern, the Smoking Goat and other locations \u2014 spoke in support of this proposition, most saying that their profit margin is so tight that it often comes down to alcohol sales for their businesses to thrive or die.<\/p>\n
The California Department of Alcoholic Beverages defines a Type 47 license as \u201con-sale general for bona fide public eating place,\u201d and those licenses are considered extremely valuable for resale.<\/p>\n
Matt Gordon, owner of Urban Solace, said a Type 47 license would help him economically.<\/p>\n
Fred Piehl, chef and owner of the Smoking Goat, said having a Type 47 license would allow him to offer diners \u201cthe full experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two residents warned of the consequences of allowing Type 47 licenses. One man said a noisy local bar kept him awake at nights, not his young daughter. Kathy Morrison, wife of board member Lucky Morrison, complained about the noises from dining and drinking establishments that had outdoor patios and rollup windows.<\/p>\n
Planners said time limits are already set on restaurants that get Type 47 licenses, and that seemed to appease the critics.<\/p>\n
Visit the city\u2019s Great North Park website at bit.ly\/1SidSA9<\/a> to read the Community Plan update, minutes from meetings, agendas and more.<\/p>\n
\u2014Ken Williams is editor of Uptown News and Mission Valley News and can be reached at\u00a0ken@sdcnn.com<\/span><\/a>\u00a0o al 619-961-1952. S\u00edguelo en Twitter en\u00a0KenSanDiego<\/span><\/a>, cuenta de Instagram en\u00a0KenSD<\/span><\/a>\u00a0o Facebook en\u00a0KenWilliamsSanDiego<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Ken Williams | Editor After more than six years of diligent and time-consuming work, the North Park Planning Committee finally got to see a hard copy of their labor of love: the March draft of the Community Plan update. That means the difficult work is almost over and there is light at the end […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":846,"featured_media":250011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"North Park Community Plan update nears finish line","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-250010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250010","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\/846"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}