What's been happening over the last few months in Hillcrest!
 Clean-up puts a shine on Hillcrest
The Hillcrest Town Council’s
Neighborhood Improvement Committee (NIC) spearheaded a community pre-Mardi
Gras cleanup throughout the neighborhood on Saturday, February 13, 2010. Several
Hillcresters showed up at 8:45am under the Hillcrest sign to enjoy
coffee donated by Peet’s
and City Deli cookies (thanks, Mike) before grabbing their brooms, bags and
trash cans and setting off throughout the neighborhood to pick up trash.
Dozens
of bags packed full of litter were collected as well as discarded mattresses,
furniture and larger items which had been left in alleys. Some of the worst
areas were the alley just off University
between Third & Fourth avenues (come on American Apparel, help us out)
and event promoters whose crew discarded thousands (yes, thousands)
of postcards promoting locatl club events. The group received news coverage
on CW-Channel 6 news at 10pm. Free orange t-shirts were given to all volunteers
as well as gift certificates donated by Baja Betty’s and Urban Mo’s.
Thanks to all the volunteers for pitching in to make Hillcrest look even better
by putting the shine on the neighborhood just in time for Fat Tuesday.
The Hillcrest
Clean T.E.A.M. was formed in November 2005 to clean the sidewalks and
gutters of Hillcrest. These valiant volunteers sweep at least once every quarter
being led by the Neighborhood Improvement Committee (NIC) of the Hillcrest
Town Council. For
more information contact Tim Gahagan at (619) 260-1322.
Time to revisit Uptown’s Community Plan
Interested
in representing the Hillcrest Town Council during the 2-3 yearlong process
to update the Uptown Community Plan? Fill out the form below and send
it to John Taylor at 3823 Third Avenue, San Diego, CA 92103 or email to jtlimo@cox.net.
(The deadline for submitting an application was Monday, October 26, 2010,
but we’re still interested in your opinion. Join the HTC’s development committee.)
Hillcrest After-Halloween Clean-Up
Join us the on Sunday, November 1 from 9am-noon for a post-Halloween
clean-up of University Avenue. Meet at University & Centre Street. Tools,
bags, water and gloves will be provided. Look for the
orange shirts and jump in anytime! Call (619) 379-3416 for information
the day of the event.
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The San Diego Food Bank, Community Cares Project has established
a new collaboration with The LGBT Center. This project was established with
the encouragement of the city of San Diego The program is once a month for
ninety minutes and began last month. The Center is one of nine distribution
sites city-wide. Food distribution for individuals and families takes place
the first Tuesday every month, 9am-10:30am and includes access to community
services e.g., the ability to sign up for food stamps, low-cost utility programs,
employment programs, etc. If last month is any indicator, the majority of the
recipients are families in need. For more information visit the Food
Bank’s website.
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Plans are underway for a boutique hotel that will be managed by Joie de Vivre
hotel management company. Michael McPhee, a partner of La Jolla Pacific Development,
unveiled the latest proposal for 301 University at the Novemember 2008 HTC
meeting. The proposed building is planned for 72 feet with an architectural
element at 80 feet. The hotel will have 180 rooms, a spa, lap pool, banquet
rooms and a roof top bar, 170 parking spaces and employ 100-130 people. Some
parking may be available to the public depending on occupancy however, McPhee
said that Kimpton provides incentives to employees who take public transportation
or give stipends to cover the cost of paid parking.
The developer said that the Interim Height Ordinance does not govern the height
because it is grandfathered under the old 301 University filing with the city.
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Press conference Sunday re: two new towers for Hillcrest
City Council candidate Stephen
Whitburn who is advocating for open government
in San Diego will be holding a 1pm press conference on Sunday afternoon, September
7 in the strip mall at the corner of University & Fourth avenues to discuss
this new project which is moving through the city process with no community
input. “Too many people have lost faith in government because of backroom
deals for special interests at City Hall. We need a government that is working
for the people, not the developers.”
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301 University is back...but it’s transformed into Vista Verde and Vista
Azul
The next development planned along University Avenue between Third & Fourth
is taller than its 148-foot predecessor which was nicknamed “the monster”
building (neighboring structures are only 1-3 stories). Now moving through
the city (without any community input) are two towers — one 175 feet
and the other 190 feet. Come to the next Hillcrest
Town Council on Tuesday, September 9th to learn more. Or
voice your opinions here.
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Hillcrest After-Pride Clean Up & Fund Raiser
On Monday,
July 21 the community pitching in for a post-Pride clean-up of University Avenue
into the heart of Hillcrest.
San Diego Pride donated $10 per volunteer hour to
the Hillcrest Town Council (via the Hillcrest
History Guild), for this first
fund raiser for the new residents’ group. Thanks to
your efforts, the HTC received $900.
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>>> 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
Three dozen volunteers joined the Hillcrest
Town Council and Hillcrest
Clean T.E.A.M. from as far away as Chula Vista’s Hilltop High School
to sweep both sides of over 30 blocks and alleys throughout the east side of
Hillcrest on Earth Day. What a difference a couple of hours make. Please don’t
litter...and pick up others’ trash to make Hillcrest look better! Cigarette
butts are especially nasty! Our next cleanup is scheduled for Saturday morning,
October 13th.
Town Council Collects Interim Height Signatures
Community members of the Hillcrest Town Council collected signatures outside
Ralphs grocery today for the proposed Interim
Height Ordinance (IHO) after the HTC overwhelming voted to support
this ordinance, and some residents helped to gather signatures from other
Hillcresters.
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.
Contact us for more info >
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