What's been happening over the last few months in Hillcrest!

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Hillcrest After-Pride Clean Up & Fund Raiser

Join us the morning of Monday, July 21 for a post-Pride clean-up of University Avenue into the heart of Hillcrest. San Diego Pride will donate $10 per volunteer hour to the Hillcrest Town Council, this will be the first fund raiser for the new residents’ group. Please pitch in and help pick up the neighorhood for at least one hour. We will meet at 7am in front of the Egyptian (at the corner of Park & University) and will work our way west, sweeping and cleaning up litter along University Avenue. Look for the orange shirts and jump in anytime! Call (619) 379-3416 for information the day of the event.

>>> An open letter from Hillcrest’s newest business...

Dear neighbors,

We at EnDev would love to meet you and establish open lines of communication by hosting a “good neighbor meeting” on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 from 6-8pm. We are aware of the amazing and vibrant community which we are fortunate to be a part of, and we take seriously our responsibility to help keep it great! This is a casual forum intended to encourage dialog concerning any issues that need to be addressed. We’d also like to share contact information to help keep the communication going.

We hope you can make it and look forward to meeting you and working together to keep Hillcrest an incredible place to work, live and play! Please join the management and staff of Universal Hillcrest, Dish and Ciro’s Pizzeria for refreshments and appetizers from 6-6:30pm. Followed by a meeting from 6:30-8pm to discuss any neighborhood concerns and distribute contact information.

Sincerely,
James W Brennan

New: Hillcrest Development Watch

“Save Hillcrest” Wins Again!

The “Save Hillcrest” group, working with the non-profit organization Friends of San Diego, scored another victory in their year-old lawsuit against the 301 University project.

December 7th, the Superior Court awarded the group 80% of the legal costs incurred from last August’s win when the judge agreed that the project voliated the law in seven ways. Friends president Tom Mullaney said this award was made under California laws which recognize the public benefit received when a citizens’ group sues to uphold state and local laws.

The recent court order requires both the City of San Diego and the applicant to pay legal costs incurred by the group of community activists. However, under the terms of an indemnity agreement, the applicant is required to pay the award to “Friends of San Diego” and also to reimburse the City for their legal costs. “This recent decision by the court is a further victory by Hillcrest citizens and our supporters,” said Mullaney. “The 301 project will have to be redesigned to meet our zoning laws regarding parkland, traffic improvements and community character requirements. The latest ruling by the court will allow will allow Friends of San Diego to get back most of our legal costs so we may continue to protect the rights of residents and local business owners.”

The 148-foot building planned for our two-lane crosstown corridor is coming back. For more info or to help with the next legal challenge, contact “Friends of San Diego” at (619) 795-1753.

Hillcrest Mobility Stategy

Give your input re: the Hillcrest Mobility Plan on Thursday, November 8th from 4:30-7:30pm at the last formal community event.
Saint Paul’s Cathedral, 2750 Fifth Avenue. click for flier

First of seven Hillcrest boundary signs unveiled

Councilmember Toni Atkins and members of the Hillcrest Town Council gathered at Fifth & Upas this morning to unveil the first of seven identification signs marking the entrance to our community and noting Hillcrest’s first 100 years. The other signs were installed before August 2nd, the exact date in 1907 when the “Hillcrest” Company’s office was first opened by William Wesley Whitson in what was then known as University Heights. Free cake was served at Fifth & University near Whitson’s first office site to celebrate the Hillcrest Centennial.

An Update on Two Fifth Avenue Projects

Two proposed developments at Walnut on Fifth provide a vision (or nightmare) of what could be the future of our community since the result of the type and scale of development in question will destroy Hillcrest’s identity and make it a mere extension of downtown. The Hillcrest Town Council voted overwhelmingly to support the proposed interim 65-foot height limitation, which would remain in effect until the Uptown Community Pan (now almost two decades old) is updated.

Thanks to Everyone for Pitching in

Town Council Collects Interim Height Signatures

Want to preserve the character of Hillcrest?

Hillcrest residents speaking up to give a voice to the village. Come to meetings and...watch us grow!

Thanks to all the Hillcrest Centennial Clean-up volunteers

Orange t-shirts were everywhere on the Saturday before the gay pride parade! Twelve teams (including Stephen Whitburn and Todd Gloria who would both like to be Hillcrest’s next city councilmember) and almost 70 volunteers set out from two different locations and cleaned up the sidewalks, alleys and gutter of Hillcrest this morning. Flexcar donated the use of a truck, and the clean teams collected trash from all over the area. A full dumpster of junk was removed. Thanks to everyone for pitching in! Please help keep it this way.

Big thanks to the Hillcrest Centennial, City Councilwoman Toni Atkins, SDG&E, City Deli, Big City Bagel, Flexcar and the Hillcrest Town Council for sponsoring this event to spruce up Hillcrest and to Urban Mo’s for hosting the after party. Here’s a little slideshow.



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