ECCC Newsletter, December 2010

CONTENTS:

• Holiday Pot-Luck and Get Together
• Jim Westheimer Accepts Invitation to Join the ECCC Board
• Printing of ECCC's Newsletter Starts its Sixth Year!
• Facility Improvements Planned for Mann Middle School and Crawford High School
• Get Regular Announcements for Community Meetings and Events
• Redevelopment "101," The Topic of the ECCC November Meeting
• El Cerrito Neighborhood Patrol
• Sees Candy Drive
  
• Important Mid-City Community Court Changes
• Holiday Home Safety Tips
• It's All About Kids - Toy Drive
• Newsletter Donations

Select the Following Links for
The December 2010 ECCC Community Newsletter
The December 2010 ECCC Community Newsletter: Page 4 with Meeting Flyer

Facility Improvements Planned for Schools in El Cerrito

The San Diego Unified School District is making long range plans to upgrade facilities at Horace Mann Middle School and Crawford High School. Three meetings in November and December gathered community input and presented site layout options for both campuses. These long range plans will help to guide Proposition S bond funding for projects on both campuses over the next 5 years.

Planning for Prop S projects at Crawford and Mann will take place in a series of meetings that begin in January 2011. Times and locations for these meetings will be sent to the ECCC email list when they become available. If you’re not already on the ECCC email list, you can ask to be included by sending a message to ECCC@cox.net.

At the third master planning meeting on December 2, architects presented 4 site layout options based on community input at previous meetings. These options included the possibility of relocating the football and baseball fields. Improvements at the football field include the possibility of installing lights. To view the Master Plan site layout options, visit the School District website at http://www.sandi.net/sandi/site/default.asp and follow the links for "Proposition S" and the “School Facilities Project Map.” From the pages for Mann Middle School or Crawford High School, select the link for the “Master Plan 2010.”

Residents can express their viewpoint about projects at school facilities by attending upcoming meetings and by contacting the San Diego Unified School District.

For more information or to submit comments, contact the Prop. S Communications Office:

Proposition S Communications Office
4100 Normal Street, Room 2153
San Diego, CA 92103

Phone: (619) 725-7252
Fax: (619) 725-7021
Email: PropSInfo@sandi.net

You may also contact the Project Manager, David Grant
Email: dgrant@sandi.net.

Submit comments to School District E Board member, Shelia Jackson

Board of Education Office
San Diego Unified School District
4100 Normal Street, Room 2231
San Diego, CA 92103

Phone: (619) 725-5550
Email: sjackson@sandi.net

The School District and Prop S websites include complete contact information.

The Gift of Crime Prevention from the Mid-City Division

In the spirit of the holiday season, the staff of the Mid-City Division has shared information about staying safe for the holidays and throughout the year.

Holiday Safety Tips
The Holiday Safety Tips flyer includes Home Safety Tips, Shopping Safety Tips, and Online Shopping Safety. It ends with a Police Officer's "Week Before Christmas" Poem. Select the heading of this section to view the flyer.

Graffiti Information
The Graffiti Information flyer includes contact information to report and remove graffiti. Select the heading of this section to view the flyer.

Predatory Towing
The Predatory Towing flyer summarizes laws protecting drivers when their cars are towed from private property. Select the heading of this section to view the flyer.

Special thanks to Kristin Beattie, Mid-City Neighborhood Prosecutor, Jenny Hall, Community Relations Officer for neighborhoods north of El Cajon Boulevard, and Luis Roman, Community Relations Officer for neighborhoods south of El Cajon Boulevard.

El Cerrito Enclave Project Review

CACPB Recommends Denial of Permit
Project Now Goes Before the Planning Commission

At its October 13 meeting, the College Area Community Planning Board (CACPB) recommended that the City of San Diego deny a permit for the El Cerrito Enclave Project. This project (#72057) proposes to demolish the existing single-family home at 5402 Gilbert Drive, subdivide the 0.62 acre lot and build 4 new single-family residences. Reasons for recommending denial include impacts on traffic and parking, large amounts of fill dirt required to level the lot, and a design better suited to mini-dorms or rooming houses than to families. Many residents from the surrounding neighborhood attended the meeting to express their objections.

Community input on the El Cerrito Enclave project includes a letter from the ECCC voicing many of the same objections included in the CACPB recommendation. This letter was approved by a vote of the active membership at the September 16 ECCC community meeting. The project now goes to the San Diego City Planning Commission for consideration.

Whether residents approve of this project, disapprove, or have some other comment, it is important for people to inform government representatives. You can express your position on this project by writing to

The City of San Diego Planning Commission
1222 First Ave, 4th floor
San Diego, CA 92101
Or email planningcommission@sandiego.gov
Subject: El Cerrito Enclave Project #72057

You can contact your City Council Member about this project by writing to

Marti Emerald
7th District City Council Member
City Administration Building
202 C Street, MS #10A
San Diego, CA 92101
Or email martiemerald@sandiego.gov
Subject: El Cerrito Enclave Project #72057

The only way for elected or appointed representatives to know that this project, or any other issue, is important to the community is for residents to contact them.

Neighbors of the El Cerrito Enclave are circulating a petition urging the City to deny the request for a permit for this project. Residents interested in joining this petition drive should call Maurize Rios at (619) 708-1423.

Select the following link to read or download a copy of the
El Cerrito Enclave Petition

Select the following link for
a template for letters and emails
with Complete Contact Information for the Planning Commission
and 7th District Council Member, Marti Emerald

Select the following link to read the
ECCC Letter to the College Area Community Planning Board

Select the following link for access to
El Cerrito Enclave Architectural Plans

ECCC Newsletter, November 2010

CONTENTS:

• Thursday November 18, 2010, ECCC's Meeting: "Redevelopment 101"
• Save Lots of $$$ - Get See's Candy Delivered to Your Door & Help the ECCC Raise Money
• Volunteer(s) Needed - Help!!
• Thursday Devember 17 , 2010 is the ECCC's Holiday Celebration Get-Together & Pot Luck
• October's ECCC Meeting
• El Cerrito Enclave Project Review - CACPB Recommends Denial of Permit - Project Now Goes to the Planning Commission
• ECCC's Thank You Letter to the Mid-City Police Department
• Do You Know a Community Resident Who May Be in Special Need of Assistance with Home Repairs?
• Mid-City Police Department's Phone Number
• Newsletter Donations Needed
• Results of Curb-Side Clean-Up on Redland Place, Redland Drive & 55th Street

Select the following links for
The November 2010 El Cerrito Community Newsletter
The November 2010 El Cerrito Community Newsletter, Pg 4 with Ads

El Cerrito Neighborhood Watch Update

November 10, from Patti Saraniero

Some updates for this week -

• Yesterday [Nov. 9] on Alma (west of 54th off Adams) - an unlocked vehicle was broken into and tools were taken.
  
• Porch lights are a good crime deterrent, particularly now that daylight savings time is over and it is dark early.
  
• The College Area "party car" run by SDPD and SDSU police will be on hiatus until (hopefully) the start of the next semester in January. The department is not sure if the party car can be continued in the budget.
  
• After studying 59th St, the city's traffic engineering department turned down neighbor requests for speed bumps between El Cajon Blvd and Adams. They will reexamine traffic on that street after the Arosa/College Ave traffic light is installed.
• Reminder from Marti Emerald - trash and recycling collection schedule is not changed this week despite the holiday.
  

Community Appreciation for Police Response to Disturbances

At the beginning of the fall semester at San Diego State University, the City of San Diego and SDSU Police Departments made a special effort to respond to intoxication and loud parties that disturb neighbors. This response included the Rush Week Detail, which focused on drunk driving, and the College Area Patrol Car, which responded to disturbance calls in the College Area on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The College Area Patrol Car was jointly staffed by officers from SDPD and the SDSU Police Department. With the last of these special patrols at the end of October, the El Cerrito Community Council and the College Area Community Council wrote to the San Diego Police, Elected Representatives, and SDSU, expressing thanks and urging continued funding.

As part of weekly update email messages from the SDPD Mid-City Division, Lieutenant Charles Kaye has reported the following results for the College Car Patrols:

29 parties shut down as of October 21

For September and October:

115 Administrative Citations
121 Judicial Reviews
17 Arrests
281 Municipal Citations

79 fewer party and noise complaints
13% overall reduction in noise complaints from this year to last

365 alcohol related citations and arrests from September 2 to November 6

Lt. Kaye writes, "We are hoping to field the car again in January prior to the beginning of the spring semester. As you know, the City has yet to identify how it will address the budget issues and we may or may not be able to staff the car."

Select the following link to read the
ECCC letter to SDPD

Select the following link to read the
CACC letter to Elected Representatives and SDSU

Select the following link to read
Best Practice Guidelines for Party Patrols