City to Hold Elections for North Bay Redevelopment Project Area Committee

SAN DIEGO – On Tuesday, October 26, 2004, the 26-member North Bay Redevelopment Project Area Committee (PAC) will hold its annual election at the Peninsula Community Service Center at 3740 Sports Arena Boulevard.  There will be a candidate forum from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The election will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.  Interested members of the community are urged to participate as voters and as candidates.

The PAC is the official community organization that provides community input and recommendations on proposed redevelopment projects in the North Bay Area.  The PAC is structured to have equal representatives from local renters, home owners, businesses, property owners, and community organizations.

Candidates and voters must be at least 18 years of age and meet at least one of the four following requirements: live in the North Bay Redevelopment Project Area, or own a business or property located in the Project Area, or be the designated representative for a Social Service Organization or a Civic/Cultural Organization serving within the Project Area, or be the designated representative for a community planning group serving within the Project Area.

Ten seats are open for election.  One residential owner-occupant, one residential tenant, four business/property owners (one each from Peninsula, Mission Valley, Uptown, and Clairemont Mesa) and four community organizations (two “at-large” social service/civic cultural organizations, one from the Midway/Pacific Highway Community Planning Board, one from Uptown Planners, and one from the Mission Valley Unified Planning Organization).

To register as an eligible candidate, you must be 18 years of age, complete a Candidate Registration Form and submit it to the Redevelopment Agency (by mail, FAX, or in person) with proof of your eligibility to the City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency, 600 B Street, Fourth Floor, San Diego, CA 92101 or FAX 619-533-5250 by Friday, October 22 at 5 p.m.   To register as an eligible voter, come to the Peninsula Community Service Center on the day of the election with proof of your eligibility.   Registration and other election forms are available at the City’s website at http://www.sandiego.gov/redevelopment-agency/northbay.shtml.

The North Bay Redevelopment Plan was approved by the San Diego City Council in May 1998, encompasses almost 1,400 acres and seven community planning areas including: Midway/ Pacific Highway, Peninsula, Old Town, Linda Vista, Uptown, Clairemont Mesa and Mission Valley.

Under California Law, the Redevelopment Agency has the responsibility to eliminate blight, revitalize older neighborhoods and create attractive areas for additional investors.  Blight consists of the variety of social, physical environmental and economic conditions within an area that cause a reduction of, or lack of proper utilization of that area, which act as barriers to new investments by private enterprise.

As offices, industries, services and shops leave deteriorated areas, the jobs and dollars that would have been spent there are lost.  Through redevelopment, a project area receives focused attention and financial investment to reverse deteriorating trends, create jobs, revitalize the business climate, rehabilitate and add to the housing stock, as well as gain active participation and investment by residents.  The following are some projects currently underway in the North Bay Redevelopment Project Area:

The Vietnam Veterans of San Diego, a proven social services provider for homeless Veterans, is in the process of building a campus environment of supportive services for their clients located at 4141 Pacific Highway.  This small campus will be home to their corporate office, a counseling center, an employment and educational center, a kitchen, dining area and a multipurpose area.  It will also provide a 224-bed rehabilitation facility with an additional 24 three-bedroom apartments for program graduates.

The Morena Vista mixed-use project is a $32 million development being developed by City Link Investments.  It consists of 161 residential units including 16 affordable housing units (80% Annual Median Income), 18 lofts, 18,500 square feet of retail space, and additional parking to support the Trolley Line.

The Voltaire Street mixed-use project proposed by PacWest Enterprises, LLC is scheduled to start construction in April 2005. It is located at the corner of Voltaire Street and San Clemente Street.  It will provide a proposed 23 residential units including three affordable housing units, 4,750 square feet of retail, underground parking, landscaping and other site improvements.  Two other in-fill projects are being considered on the same block of Voltaire.

The Old Town Transit Center Queue Jump Project is designed to improve the intersection of Rosecrans Street and Pacific Highway which is frequently blocked by arriving and departing Trolley, Coaster, and Amtrak Trains.  This project will reduce traffic congestion by allowing the existing bus service to run more efficiently, reduce the back up of vehicular traffic on Rosecrans Street and improve the general purpose and transit flow through the intersection.  This project is the first of a series of traffic improvement projects that the Agency will be facilitating for the Midway District.

For questions about the North Bay Redevelopment Project Area please call the Redevelopment Agency at (619) 533-4233 or visit the City’s web site at www.sandiego.gov and type “North Bay” as the search term.   For more information on the election, please contact Alex Greenwood at (619) 533-5458.

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The City of San Diego Redevelopment Agencyeliminates blight from designated areas, as well as achieves the goals of development, reconstruction and rehabilitation of residential, commercial, industrial, and retail districts. Redevelopment is one of the most effective ways to breathe new life into deteriorated areas plagued by social, physical, environmental or economic conditions that act as a barrier to new investment by private enterprise. The City of San Diego Redevelopment Agencyconsists of three divisions: the City Redevelopment Division (housed in the City of San Diego Communityand Economic Development Department), the Centre City Development Corporation and the Southeastern Economic Development Corporation.