In virtually every residential neighborhood in the city, homes and businesses – particularly industrial facilities that produce noise and pollution – are kept separate.
Most residents wouldn’t consider that separation a luxury, they’d consider it a basic necessity.
But that’s not the reality in Barrio Logan, where residents and activists have fought to carve out some distance between homes and the welding shops and processing plants that also exist there. (Kevin Faulconer, you might remember, promised to solve this problem when he was running for mayor in … 2014. Readers, the problem is not solved.)
In a new story, MacKenzie Elmer examines where things stand. Many of the main stakeholder groups last year signed on to an agreement that created four new areas so homes and heavy industry all had their designated place in a way everyone could live with.
But there are several potential wrenches that could disrupt the agreement. One of them, for example, is the Environmental Health Coalition’s request for the new community plan to require 30 percent of all new housing built in Barrio Logan be affordable (affordable here means set aside for people who make less than 60 percent of the area median income, which was $27,130). The Council member who represents the area, Vivian Moreno, wouldn’t answer questions about whether she’d support such a mandate.
Gloria Wants Kinder, Gentler Homeless Camp Clean-Ups
Mayor Todd Gloria is sticking with the regular clean-ups of homeless encampments that have long upset homeless residents and disrupted their lives when they’re forced to move on short notice or when they can’t access confiscated belongings. But, he announced Monday some changes aimed at making the clean-ups are a bit more consistent and compassionate.
Lisa Halverstadt explains what’s changing, and how it fits in with what Gloria has said about his long-term strategy to address homelessness.
She also has some new stats that could offer a window into how efforts to address homelessness might be changing under Gloria: “Police reported writing 26 tickets for encroachment from March 1 through March 15, essentially blocking a city sidewalk. Police reported writing 50 such tickets during the first two weeks of January and 64 the first two weeks of February.” Weather might have also factored into that drop.
The Real Qualcomm Stadium Was in Our Hearts All Along
The stadium formerly known as Qualcomm is gone … OR IS IT?
In this week’s Environment Report, MacKenzie Elmer details the ways in which the debris from the stadium destruction will take on new life as the Mission Valley space is redeveloped.
“Some big slabs of concrete will be used to create flagstone-like pads along the new river park being built as part of the massive development. In essence, you’ll someday be able to take your lunch on a picnic bench, resting your feet on the remains of the Chargers stadium,” Elmer writes. “The asphalt from the huge old parking lot is being reused for the new stadium and park as well.”
In Other News
- The county is opening three new vaccination sites in the next week, in Escondido, southeastern San Diego and Sherman Heights. (City News Service)
- At least 33 of the migrant girls arriving at the Convention Center shelter have tested positive for COVID-19. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said they’re being kept separated from others. (NBC San Diego)
- Clarification: We updated the Politics Report to more accurately describe the position Mickey Kasparian had at the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council.
The Morning Report was written by Sara Libby, and edited by Scott Lewis.