When peering out of the back sliding doors of the College-Rolando Library, the view of the parking lot is marked by a sign that reads, “do not enter” and a chain-link fence rising behind the horizon of parked cars.
This fence was constructed on the adjacent property (previously the College Lutheran Church) when it was sold to a private developer in 2016. Amid local dissent about the land falling into private hands, the city struck a joint-use agreement with the developer, but according to the Friends of the College-Rolando Library, it’s not enough.
In 2017, the fence jutted into the parking lot and blocked the driveway entrance on Montezuma Road into the library, further complicating the tenuous relationship between the developer, 52 Blue Falcon LLC, and the Friends of the College-Rolando Library. According to a representative from Atlantis, a land use and strategic planning consulting firm representing 52 Blue Falcon LLC, the fence was already built by the previous owners (the church) and they just made updates/reinforced the fence.
Previously, the library goers were allowed access to the College Lutheran Church’s parking lot. Under the new joint-use agreement with the developer, the conditions changed.
The City of San Diego offered a statement on the joint-use agreement via email.
“This agreement allows library patrons use of 25 parking spaces in the property’s parking lot for access to the library. We are not aware of any current plans to redevelop the site and will continue to work with the property owner under the conditions of the joint use agreement.”
Jan Hintzman (pictured above), president of the Friends of the College-Rolando Library, attended meetings at the College-area and Rolando-area councils and spoke about the predicament to city council member Sean Elo-Rivera.
“The existing politicians did not cause this problem, but we’re keeping them on the hook to fix it,” said Hintzman.
As of right now, the library has 28 parking spots on the city-owned property. However, once construction is completed, the driveway entrance from Montezuma Road may be altered and Hintzman is concerned the 25 joint-use parking spots within the private property will not meet the demands of the new residents and library goers.
“We see it as an equity problem,” said Hintzman. “Equity is stated as a major concern of our current politicians. In 2016 despite pleas from the community, they looked the other way, and let the library’s driveway and most of its parking slip into private hands. We’ve been asking the city to regain control of this property ever since.”
The topic was brought up by Misty Jones, the San Diego Public Library director, on May 5 at the City of San Diego budget review committee meeting.
“We did hear from the Friends of the Library at the commission meeting yesterday and we’re paying very close attention to that issue and [we] understand the parking,” said Jones. “We will be looking at how the new plan that he’s [the developer] bringing forward to do multi-family housing will affect that joint-use and potentially go back and renegotiate with that.”
Hintzman advocated that the city can find solutions to the parking issue through a variety of actions imposed on the developer including benefit assessments and prescriptive easements.
The city has not indicated they will include these in their agreement with the developer. Jones said any alternations to the current joint-use agreement will be based on the developer’s final plan which is not solidified yet. The College Times Courier contacted Atlantis for a statement but they did not respond.
For the immediate future, residents can expect the fence and “do not enter” sign to remain; however, the Montezuma Road entrance and driveway parking are still accessible to the public.
– Elaine Alfaro is a journalism student at Point Loma Nazarene University and a former intern for the La Mesa Courier.
