SAN DIEGO [KGTV] — The city of San Diego's proposed plans to add thousands of homes to Hillcrest and University City are moving forward, doubling the populations in these areas.
The planning commission voted in favor of both plans following public comment during a meeting on Thursday.
The city said the proposals are part of its long-term plan to address the high demand for housing and better serve the employment bases in those areas.
"These updated plans have been prepared based on lengthy community engagement processes. They provide a guide for growth that aligns with the City’s climate, housing, and equity goals. Change will not occur overnight, with the results and impact coming steadily due to the long-term nature of the plans," the city said in a statement to ABC 10News.
The Hillcrest plan would add 17,200 homes to the area.
The Uptown community, which includes Hillcrest, Mission Hills, and University Heights, is expected to have a future population of over 109,000 residents.
That's a huge growth compared to the population of 39,000 reported in the 2020 census.
The plan also promotes the preservation of the LGBTQ+ community, which garnered support from many residents.
However, Tom Mullaney, the Executive Director of the Uptown United community group, said the plan needs to be scaled back.
"What the city is proposing to add is equivalent to two downtowns. They want to add two downtowns into our little community of Uptown," Mullaney said.
As for the University City plan, the development would add just over 30,000 housing units and create 72,000 jobs.
Some people expressed opposition to both plans and said they're concerned about gentrification, losing affordable housing, and congestion.
Others praised the plans and talked about the need for more housing in the areas.
Wesley Morgan spoke out in support of both plans.
He said his daughters are looking for healthcare jobs in University City. One of them relies on public transit.
"Currently, a lot of nurses live in Temecula and commute to the San Diego area. She does not want to do that," Morgan said.
Andrew Wiese is a member of the University Community Planning Group, which helps gather public feedback on the plan.
Wiese said the group has not taken a stance on the plan yet.
Still, he said he likes that the plan includes affordable housing regulations for future development. But, they're concerned about current residents being pushed out.
"We think that the city should have included greater protections to the existing tenants in those sites so that they can continue to live in University City and send their kids to University City schools," Wiese said.
The plans will now go before the Land Use and Housing Committee.
The city's full statement:
The City of San Diego is divided into 52 community planning areas (including Uptown and University Community Planning Areas) which each have their own Community Plan. While the General Plan provides broad land use policies that apply to the City as a whole, community plans provide more detailed guidance for how individual communities will be planned over the next 30 years. Community plan updates, including the Uptown and University Community Plans, in coordination with the General Plan, achieve both citywide and community-level goals. Since 2014, the City has updated 15 community plans throughout San Diego.
The updated plans serve as one of the ways for the City to achieve community sustainability goals such as smart growth, a shift towards the use of walking, biking, and transit; and allowing for the development of new homes and businesses near that transit. Adopted community plans are also one of the ways in which the City is working to address goals and policies in the recently updated Climate Action Plan.
These updated plans have been prepared based on lengthy community engagement processes. They provide a guide for growth that aligns with the City’s climate, housing, and equity goals. Change will not occur overnight, with the results and impact coming steadily due to the long-term nature of the plans. They address the need for more housing, particularly in high-resource areas with high-quality schools and good-paying jobs while providing greater access to regional transit. Those opportunities directly support long-term growth and economic vitality within San Diego.
