Helping the homeless
Re: Guest editorial by Phyllis Hordin, “In defense of personally helping the homeless” [Volume 7, Issue 24 or bit.ly/1PYT2qV]
Who am I to deny someone’s comfort to ease them in what helps them get by and live. I will continue to give food and money!
—Kimberly via our website
Responding to Benjamin Nicholls
Re: Guest editorial by Benjamin Nicholls, “HBA: yes to National Main Street Program, no to historic district” [Volume 7, Issue 24 or bit.ly/1RjVyHL]
Could not disagree with you more. All sorts of historic districts flourish with imagination and innovation. Take a look at the Gaslamp: Have they been stifled in bringing in boutique hotels and successful businesses? No. Not protecting the past and only being interested in business interests is hollow and shortsighted. Does anyone really travel to the new cookie cutter developments to walk among the buildings and admire the views and the community? Hardly. People travel to see the historic sights and soak up the ambiance of the community. Please stop lobbying those with deep pockets.
—Bill via our website
No to historic districts for Hillcrest or any other neighborhoods shows that your loyalty is NOT to our beloved local communities, and their rich and diverse history. It shows your lack of roots in San Diego, and your love for business and money. It also shows a deep lack of imagination and creativity in working with existing styles of historic and unique architectures.
There are so many possibilities working with the old buildings! Working with the preserved and protected buildings is not a problem when you have talented architects that have no problem with the design challenges. BUT, you have made up your mind to trash them with no consideration, driven by “business” — a world where 100-year-old houses are demolished for paid parking lots. THAT is your vision?! It’s cold and soulless.
Historic buildings give our communities spirit and a sense of identity. And obviously as your editorial highlights, historic districts are VERY necessary because they protect them from people in the community that want to strip it all a way for a buck. Now more than ever these historic districts are VERY needed. Thank you for pointing this out.
—Gregory May via Facebook
Last week I attended the special meeting convened by the Uptown Planners to discuss the update of the Uptown Community Plan.
The executive director of the Hillcrest Business Association [Benjamin Nicholls] was the first to speak about the historic district proposed for Hillcrest. Unfortunately, he made his comments and immediately left the meeting unable (or unwilling) to listen to others who were there to comment.
His remarks reminded me of his recent opinion piece in Uptown News.
Ben says … “This proposed district would put any new development in the heart of downtown Hillcrest in peril by creating a special review process.”
In reality… historic districts provide more certainty to both residents and developers about the historic value of properties.
In a historic district, property has already been separated into “contributing” and “non-contributing” categories. The contributing properties must follow preservation guidelines. The non-contributing properties have very few restrictions.
Historic districts are good for the owners, for developers, and for the community!
—Nancy Moores via our website
Thanks for what you do
Re: “Hillcrest Town Council update” by Benny Cartwright [Volume 7, Issue 24 or bit.ly/1O1mFSl]
Thanks Benny for the update and a big ole sloppy thank you to Uptown News for printing Benny’s updates for the Hillcrest Town Council.
—Luke Terpstra, chair of Hillcrest Town Council via our website
Asking about leash laws
Re: “To leash or not to leash?” [Volume 6, Issue 26 or bit.ly/1ImFfaY]
Do the leash laws pertain to the county of San Diego also? Have a neighbor who continuously takes his dog out for walks without a leash. He allows his dog to defecate on everyone’s yard and does not bother to pick it up.
—Gayle via our website
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