The controversy over Prince Recycling Center at Stump’s Family Marketplace took a new twist as the center’s owner and supporters, attending Peninsula Community Planning Board’s March meeting, defended themselves claiming community bias against them.
Peninsulans also turned out en masse at the March 15 planning board meeting to protest proposed redevelopment of Liberty Station’s historic North Chapel into a restaurant.
On Feb. 10, a community rally was held at Prince Recycling Center adjoining Stump’s Family Marketplace in Point Loma. Some Peninsulans were advocating that the center be moved, claiming it is a homeless magnet and poses a crime and safety problem, while threatening the neighborhood’s quality of life.
Prince was reportedly served with an eviction notice following the rally.
“All I’m doing is recycling,” said Prince at PCPB, noting homelessness is a social issue “not a recycling problem.” He added, “California law says any person who comes to me with a recyclable, I have to redeem it.”
During Prince’s remarks, audience dialogue became heated, causing group chair Jon Linney, and police community liaison officer David Surwilo, to caution the audience to be civil, or else the meeting would be shut down.
Continuing, Prince added, “What we do is a very good service, especially since there are no other recycling centers nearby.”
Prince also disputed that his center is a homeless haunt. “Only a small percentage of my business is with the homeless,” he said. “My customers are families, moms and dads. It’s a whole gamut. Recycling is good for everybody.”
Prince employee Barbie noted, “We go to great strides to make sure it’s clean, friendly and efficiently run, and that people are not hanging out in our lot, and that there is no drug use going on, vagrancy or loitering.”
“This board has never heard or taken a position on this recycling issue,” said board member Jim Hare.
PCPB member David Dick said he was ambivalent as to whether Prince Recyling was in the right place. “The courts will have to decide that,” he said adding, “We’ve done what we set out to do — offer the community a forum.”
Nathan Cadieux representing Liberty Station developer Corky McMillin Cos., spoke briefly about proposed redevelopment of North Chapel, before answering questions.
The [chapel] building is being underutilized,” Cadieux said, adding any redevelopment would be performed under the guidelines of NTC’s reuse plan with care to “preserve and honor” the historicity of the North Chapel building.
“It’s absolutely a moral outrage to gut that chapel,” responded one audience member.
“How can you have a restaurant with a bunch of pews?,” asked another.
A letter from historic architect Milford Wayne Donaldson was circulated which states, “The master developer of NTC (now Liberty Station) has explored leasing the historic North Chapel for a restaurant or event space requiring extensive food and alcoholic beverage services inconsistent with the original intent during the base reuse. .. Many of our sailors attended their last church service before going off to defend our country in World War II, Korean and Vietnam. … It is critical to retain the chapel for its intended uses as well as public uses without major alterations to the chapel’s spectacular interior.”
An online petition drive has been started to preserve the historic North Chapel at https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/preserve-a-historic-san-diego-site-north-chapel.
In other action:
Five candidates were elected March 15 to PCPB in the group’s annual election. New members, in descending order in the vote tally, were: Robert Tripp Jackson, Mark Krencik (incumbent), Sarah Moga Alemany, Scott Deschenes and Mick Moore. All were elected to three-year terms.
