As many as seven community plans — which deal with zoning, design and density guidelines in specific San Diego neighborhoods — could come before the City Council for adoption over the next year or so, Planning Department officials said Wednesday.
Because San Diego is so spread out, and so diverse in population and geography, the city not only has a general plan for land use issues but also around 50 community plans. City officials and neighborhood advocates have complained for years that the community plans have become obsolete.
In a presentation Wednesday before the City Council's Smart Growth and Land Use Committee, Nancy Bragado of the Planning Department said her staff has more resources now to help them finish the documents.
Bragado said updates to 10 community plans are in the works and seven are close to completion, in Grantville, Southeast San Diego, Encanto, San Ysidro, Uptown, North Park and Golden Hill. The Grantville document should go before the City Council this month, and the rest by the end of the upcoming fiscal year, according to her presentation.
Work is also ongoing on plans for Old Town, Midway-Pacific Highway, and Mission Valley.
Comprehensive updates to the plans can take three years to complete, Bragado said. She said plans that need lesser changes, like cleaning up language or updating maps, can happen in two years or less.
"I'm just glad that we're doing more and more of these," Councilman David Alvarez said. "I'm thrilled with the progress on your front."
The lack of updates played a key role in the controversy over the proposed One Paseo project in Carmel Valley.
Opponents say the high-density, mixed-use development doesn't fit with the current community plan. Proponents, however, contend that the plan — at four decades old — is out of date.
The City Council approved One Paseo earlier this year, but opponents collected enough petition signatures to force the City Council to rescind their vote or place the issue before voters. That decision is scheduled to be made Monday.
Bragado told the committee members that Carmel Valley's community plan has been amended numerous times, and her staff hopes to begin the process to update the document soon.
