By Jeff Clemetson | Editor

Flooding and the SDSU West site were focused discussions of the first meeting of the Navajo Community Planners, Inc. (NCPI) on Jan 9 as the group met to begin setting the year’s priorities.

NCPI board chair David Smith wasted no time in in laying out a priority he will undertake in the coming months — flooding of Alvarado Creek in Grantville. In his opening chair report, Smith pledged to push San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and the city to help fund a project that will alleviate the flooding and open up Grantville to redevelopment.

“There’s a lot of issues that need to be solved and I want everyone on this board to know that I’m going to be taking it upon myself to be very vocal and public with the Grantville community’s dire need for help, especially with regards to its safety of [this flooding],” Smith said.

Vice chair Matt Adams voiced strong support for Smith’s proposal.

“We have a great vision for Grantville but until we get that flooding under control we’re not going to achieve our potential,” Adams said.

In an action item, the NCPI board voted to send a letter to San Diego State University (SDSU) officials stating that it would like to be involved in the SDSU West project. Smith cited the project’s proximity to Grantville and the potential for traffic and other problems being “absorbed” by Navajo communities.

In a statement sent to NCPI, SDSU West representative Rachel Gregg said SDSU is “looking forward to working with all planning groups including Navajo.” The statement also said SDSU plans of starting construction in 2020. The SDSU West statement also invited planners and residents interested in the project to follow its progress online at sdsu.edu/mvnewsletter. Even with SDSU’s outreach, Smith urged the NCPI board to ask for involvement in the project, which is nearing completion of its Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

“I think that is still prudent to let them know that we are eagerly interested in paying close attention and request that they come and make presentations to this board on their findings before submittal [of the EIR],” he said.

Board member Doug Livingston pointed out Navajo neighborhoods’ 11 acres of parkland it has credited should be used to build in the adjacent Mission Valley location.

“We as Navajo have park credits that are allotted to us in the area, so we need to make sure we do have involvement in the say of how those park credits are used for the Mission Valley open space,” he said.

Other board members requested the letter include other areas of interest NCPI has in the project, including infrastructure, traffic in the ingress and egress to and from Mission Valley, and housing issues. The letter will also request that NCPI be notified of the SDSU West timeline of submission of documents for the project.

In addition to taking action on the letter to SDSU, the NCPI board also discussed the upcoming election for new board members being held March 13 and the creation of this year’s Capital Improvements Project (CIP) list — four projects that the board deems the most important for the city to fund.

The next NCPI meeting will be held on Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. Check navajoplanners.org for its location.

—Reach Jeff Clemetson at [email protected].