Council holds hearing on Navy Broadway project

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published September 20, 2006 at 7:49 AM PDT

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

San Diego City Council held a public hearing yesterday to get input on the ambitious development plans for the Navy Broadway Project. The waterfront site is considered a lynch pin connecting downtown

San Diego City Council held a public hearing yesterday to get input on the ambitious development plans for the Navy Broadway Project. The waterfront site is considered a lynch pin connecting downtown with San Diego Bay.

The city council did not vote on this crucial project. In 1992, the council entered an agreement with the Navy, and now the redevelopment agency, CCDC, only has the power to decide if the plans conform to that agreement.

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Developer Doug Manchester's plans include a new headquarters for the Navy, high rise hotels, offices, restaurants, and five acres of open space.

Charles Kaminstky is one citizen who believes the plan misses an opportunity to create an iconic public space. He says the 1992 agreement is outdated.

Kaministky: "In 20 years people have died, children have grown, some of us have lost our hair, I believe it is on your watch. I believe you should tell the staff to go and renegotiate and come up with something for the citizens of San Diego."

But most councilmembers implied it would be wiser to go with the agreement than risk handing the property back to the federal government. The CCDC votes on the proposal next week. Alison St John, KPBS News.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.