Quit Expecting Planning Group Members To Vote The Will Of The Community
Believe it or not, there is nothing in the city council’s planning group rules that require planning group members to vote the will of the community. They are merely to be a composite of, as diverse as possible, a representative swath of the community’s residents and businesses.
Each sitting planning group member has their own agenda, just as each of us have our own opinion. Some serve on the voluntary boards out of dedication to their community, true public servants.
But seats on planning groups are notorious as opportunity for members of the professional planning services, such as architects, former city planners, entitlement consultants, etc., to display their expertise to their current or future employers.
That is not a reason to demonize them. On the contrary, they can bring special expertise to the table that the community lacks. Most recuse themselves from votes on projects that they knowingly will benefit directly or indirectly from.
Trying to determine a member’s motive is a waste of time. Trying to convince a member against their will, is fruitless.
Some recent seat appointments of YIMBYs in some of San Diego’s Community Planning Groups (GPGs) were an organized effort to take control of planning group decisions. That is an unfortunate, but rule-allowing practice.
Community members must speak for themselves at the Planning Group Meetings if they want to be heard. So, determining the will of the community is not a process of influencing individual planning group members to vote our way. It is more about the community coming out in numbers to the planning groups to voice their own opinions.
Hopefully, the true public servants will relinquish their personal will to what they believe the majority of voices want. Without the community there to speak, how will these membersjustify their votes?
The Land Use (Density and Height) portions of the Morena Plan were discussed at Monday’s meeting of the Clairemont Community Plan Update. Only a handful of community members were present. Consequently, some planning group members unabashedlyvoted in favor of increasing density and busting the 30 Ft height limit.
Fortunately, that meeting had to be continued because of time constraints and there will be another meeting of the Land Use Committee to finalize height limits and density in the update of the Clairemont Community Plan within 10 days.
We will send out an email alert to you once we have the date and location confirmed.
We need to gather every friend and neighbor to come to the meeting, so that we can protect the 30ft height limit until the city council provides (in writing) the guarantees that the infrastructure upgrading and added city services will be provided at the time any project is approved by city planning, before any new additional density is accepted by us.
Please come stand up and be counted at that meeting. |