UPDATE: The draft Montezuma Neighborhood Park GDP Amendment will go before the Parks & Recreation Board during the PRB meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2 p.m.

The only dedicated park in the College Area is receiving much needed attention as part of the City’s draft General Development Plan (GDP) Amendment for Montezuma Neighborhood Park.

Located at 4943 Catoctin Drive, the park was built in 1974 and is documented as being 1.6 acres of open space. It has no amenities common to most neighborhood parks, such as play equipment for children and sport courts.

That should change with proposed upgrades to include separate playgrounds for children 2-5 and 5-12 years of age and off-leash dog enclosures for small and large dogs. Following some initial controversy, these and other design elements were recently approved at the local level and will be reviewed for approval by the City of San Diego Parks & Recreation Board (PRB) during one of its public meetings in early 2023.

With the College Area currently in the process of drafting an update to its 1989 Community Plan, local park space has been a key topic of land use discussion and planning for some time. Especially so, because according to Martin Flores, a Parks Planner for the City’s Planning Department, the College Area has just 6.6% of the parks and amenities it currently deserves. With greater housing density being planned in the College Area through 2050, the demand for meaningful parks space will only grow.

To start addressing the parks deficit, the City contracted with Schmidt Design Group for assistance. Specializing in landscape design, they produced two Montezuma Park design concepts which aimed to better meet the recreational needs of current and future College Area residents.

Understandably, it was a major surprise for the College Area Community Planning Board (CACPB) and members of its Plan Update Committee to learn that the future of their only community park was being discussed without their review or input. Troy Murphree, who is a College Area resident and member of the planning board believes, “it’s really important that the people who the park is supposed to benefit are involved in making decisions about what they want.”

Park GDPs are supposed to be discussed on the local level by Community Recreation Groups (CRG), which serve in an advisory capacity to City recreation centers and the City’s Parks & Recreation Department. Although eligible with a population of 25, 000 people, the College Area doesn’t have its own recreation center, so Montezuma Neighborhood Park is under the purview of neighboring Colina Del Sol Recreation Center and its CRG.

The two designs were initially presented to the volunteer board of the Colina Del Sol CRG on July 20, 2022. According to Juliana Grotzinger, the City’s project manager assigned to the Montezuma Park GDP, some 20 people attended, including board members and interested others.

It was noted during the meeting that no one from the College Area was on the CRG board and, in fact, no College Area residents appeared to be present for the discussion. With no representation and no input by actual College Area residents, City staff and Schmidt Design Group consultants agreed to better inform and involve locals in the future of their only park before the CRG would make recommendations.

As per City Council Policy 600-33, which establishes guidelines to assure the public has adequate advance notification and opportunity to participate in the input process of projects, the July 20th presentation was repeated during the November 9th in-person meeting of the CACPB.

Cursory poll asked meeting attendees three questions

Kevin Oliver, a project officer with the City’s Engineering and Capital Projects Department, Division of Architectural Engineering and Parks, presented the same two design alternatives to the Planning Board members and others who were present. A cursory poll asked the approximately 20 attendees to raise their hands in response to the following three questions: How often do you visit the park (daily, weekly, few times a month, few times a year, never)? How do you get to the park (walk, bike, drive)? What is your preference for playground equipment (traditional, natural elements like boulders and logs, inclusive components for all abilities)?

The ensuing discussion of the design alternatives focused on issues like the size and location of areas allotted for children and dogs. Safety concerns were brought up about co-locating these distinctly different uses in close proximity to each other, with specific attention to whether pathways could be provided separately for people and dogs. In a show of hands, the board was split about 50-50 on whether to forgo the dog parks and stick to kids and open space.

Daniele Laman, vice-chair of the CRG, was present and shared that Clay Neighborhood Park, just south of El Cajon Boulevard, is slated to get a dog park.

For more than 20 years Laman has served on both the Chollas Lake and Colina Del Sol CRGs and has been on the board of the Chollas Lake Little League since 1998. Laman believes her experience and decades-long commitment to local parks planning and programming makes her an ideal candidate to serve on the Citywide PRB. When asked about this opportunity she said, “I’d like to serve on the Parks & Rec Board because there hasn’t been any 9th District (City Council) representation for the 10 years it’s (the district) been in existence.”

Other points of discussion during the CACPB meeting included the number of trees expected to be lost to construction, specific landscape details including seating, picnic tables and shade structures, the need for a bathroom, need for safety measures along the street, and how to incorporate the drainage swale at the back of the park into a usable space.

Ultimately, the Planning Board voted not to support either of the two alternatives. Instead, the board requested that feedback given during the CACPB meeting be factored into a revised design concept to be presented at the CRG’s hybrid in-person/Zoom meeting on Nov. 16. The CACPB also voted to request member Troy Murphree represent them on the Colina Del Sol CRG, given concerns that College Area representation was non-existent.

Residents within 300 feet of Montezuma Park were notified of this scheduled meeting and were informed that the CRG would once again discuss the future of the park. It should be noted that the City’s General Plan Recreation Element, defines “neighborhood parks” as intending to serve 5,000 residents and ideally, should have 3 to 13 usable acres with play areas, multi-purpose fields, multi-purpose courts, and other amenities. With only one very small designated City park to serve a College Area population of 25,000 people, only those within 300 feet were informed of the opportunity to discuss park improvements. Most of the residents within the entire service area of 1,970 acres have not been made aware of the proceedings.

Revised design concept presented based on community feedback

Jeff Justus, head of production for Schmidt Design Group, was the lead presenter during the Nov. 16, 2022 CRG meeting. He presented a revised design concept based on feedback from the approximately 20 people who attended the CACPB meeting. The new design incorporated suggestions to blend traditional play structures and natural elements, maintain some turf area, add fencing to keep kids and play toys from going into the street, as well as lattice structures for shade, picnic tables, new lighting, and a gender-neutral bathroom facility.

Click here to review the presentation slides and conceptual designs, including layout, plant materials and other features.

In response to previously discussed risks associated with young children and dogs playing in the same area, Justus stated, “It’s a small park, so we really weren’t able to put two different walkways in two different locations. We didn’t feel it was appropriate to create a caged-in walkway just for the dogs to get to the back portion of the play area . . .” No separate walkways were incorporated into to new design.

Sue Richardson is a College Area resident who, along with Murphree, will help represent the College Area community on the CRG. She was appointed on Nov. 16, after attending three consecutive meetings. Reflecting on the presentation she heard that night, she stated, “I appreciate that the City took the input given during the CACPB meeting into consideration and it was reflected in the new draft concept. The Montezuma Park renovation will be a great asset for the community, but the College Area still needs more usable parks to reduce our significant parks deficit.”

At the end of the discussion that evening, Chairperson Sidney Michael moved that the design proposal be adopted as presented. According to Lacy Bradshaw, director of the Colina Del Sol Recreation Center, the motion passed. At some point, 21 participants were noted on Zoom. According to Bradshaw, “Records show ten people signed into the meeting (in person). There are 13 board members, 7 of them were in attendance and 6 of them voted yes and the 7th (the chairperson) does not get a vote.”

In terms of next steps, Grotzinger said, “We are working to present to PRB in early 2023, aiming for February or March. Upon approval from the board, it will depend on the asset owner, Parks & Recreation Department, to allocate enough funds to continue the design from 30% (funding) to final CDs (conceptual designs) and to award a construction contract.”

Residents who want to take part in the City’s public hearing about Montezuma Park will be able to find PRB meeting agendas, parks information and documents at: sandiego.gov/parks-and-recreation.

College Area residents are welcome to attend Colina Del Sol CRG meetings, which are held every other month (the odd numbered months), on the third Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The next meeting will be on Jan. 18, 2023. The in-person location is 5319 Orange Avenue. To attend by Zoom contact Lacy Bradshaw at [email protected]

For information and the meeting schedule of the CACPB go to: sandiego.gov/planning/community-plans/college-area/planning-group.

For the College Area Community Plan Update Committee go to: plancollegearea.org.

Karen Austin is a College Area resident and member of the College Area Community Council.