The Little Spot

The Little Spot is a small parcel of CalTrans land at the SW corner of University and SR163 that the community has wanted to be a small public space for many years. The HBA has recently worked with Studio Varone to develop a concept for what the Little Spot could become. The first step to a project like this is to create a vision for the space.

AT&T Mural Project

Success! The mural has been installed and looks beautiful

Recently, AT&T has agreed to partner with the HBA to further develop concepts for the mural. Artist Sarah Stieber has been hired to develop a concept. If accepted, the mural will be installed in 2021.

HBA has been in contact with AT&T concerning beautifying their building by adding murals to the wall of their property along University Avenue and Sixth Avenue. HBA has polled the community concerning themes for the murals. A voting poll was created and released on various social media platforms. The most voted themes were LGBT related, Peace & Love, Abstract, and Nature/Floral. The HBA’s Beautification Committee implements projects to beautify Hillcrest. The AT&T mural is one such project.

Normal Street DMV

Success! The DMV placed their plans for unsightly renovation on indefinite hold!

Many folks will agree that the State of California DMV facility on Normal Street is in sore need of repair.  Over the last decade there have been a variety of proposals that describe how the state will renovate its old facility.  One popular, but now defunct plan, was to create a large mixed use building on the site with parking below and a new DMV facility on the ground floor.

In recent months, the State has proposed a renovation of the facility and has abandoned the idea of mixed use facility. Their plans can be found at www.normalstreetdmv.com. The plans have proved to be pretty unpopular with the neighborhood and a variety of community leaders and organizations have weighed in. Council member Chris Ward weighed in.  The HBA objected to the proposed six foot fence around the site that would negatively impact the Hillcrest Farmers Market and the Normal Street Promenade.  Assembly Member, Todd Gloria requested the DMV re-examine their plans.

City of San Diego and SANDAG Bikeway Projects

SANDAG (the San Diego Association of Governments) is San Diego County’s regional transportation planning authority.  They are empowered by the state of California to plan regional transportation efforts.  Their bike lane efforts focus on constructing “protected bike lanes” throughout Hillcrest.  Their plans and information are here. Protected bike lanes take up a lot of space and often require the removal of parking spaces due to the requirement that adequate sight lines be maintained relative to the bike lanes.  When SANDAG first proposed their bike lanes, their proposal included almost 191 lost parking spaces throughout Hillcrest.

University Ave. between First and Tenth:  

Success! SANDAG’s planned protected bikeway was replaced by a City bike lane that removed no parking spaces!

In 2015, the HBA, local property owners, and our partners at the California Restaurant Association hired a lobbying firm to negotiate a compromise to make sure that certain parts of the bike lane be curtailed along University Ave.  in order to reduce parking losses.  With help from then City Council Member Todd Gloria, the section of SANDAG’s project between First Ave. and Tenth Ave. on University was removed from the project.

Fourth and Fifth Ave. between Bankers Hill and Hillcrest: 

Success! SANDAG’s by negotiating with the City and SANDAG, the protected bikeway began construction in 2021 and will result in the loss of only four parking spaces!

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) is proposing a bike lane from Downtown to Hillcrest and while the HBA generally supports bike lanes, there are a number of challenges. The HBA has successfully reduced the number of losses on this section of the bike way to 12.

The City of San Diego has a bike master plan that seeks to create a bike network connecting neighborhoods.  Their bikeway consists of painted bike lanes throughout the city.  They are currently deploying their bike network as streets are repaved and repainted.  In Hillcrest their bike lanes are being added as various pipeline replacement projects are completed.

Pride Plaza and the Normal Street Promenade

For ten years now, the Hillcrest community has been putting together plans and dreams, designs and ideas for Pride Plaza and the Normal Street Promenade. This fully-funded project would create a permanent home for the Hillcrest Farmers Market and a gathering space for the neighborhood all within the current footprint of the Farmers Market. However, at every step of the way, a local strip mall owner (NW corner of Normal and University) has been fighting and delaying the project (he also has been trying to move the Farmers Market).

Community members are reaching out to the San Diego City Council to finally get this project completed.

The Normal Street Promenade is part of SANDAG’s Easter Bikeway Project and the City of San Diego’s Uptown Community Parking District. Learn more about the project here. The Normal Street Promenade was approved by the City Council and SANDAG in 2018 and was slated to begin construction in 2020.

The final design for the Promenade is below. The project will add a net of 25 parking spaces in the neighborhood (3 private). It will create a beautiful gathering space for the community at the base of the Pride Flag.

Normal Street DMV Redevelopment

There have been many plans to redevelop the DMV on Normal Street and a resent Assembly Bill (AB1635) is a new effort to make it happen. The Hillcrest Business Association wrote a letter of support for this project.

If the renovation happens, the new development will include new housing (below and at market), a street wall and public space to support the proposed Normal Street Promenade, and a newly renovated DMV facility.

Greater Hillcrest Maintenance Assessment District formation

Success! In Summer of 2024, property overs voted to create the Greater Hillcrest Maintenance Assessment District by a margin of 61%. The district has since begun providing services.

Hillcrest has been growing for years and the level of maintenance expected by businesses has not kept up with reality.  The primary way that neighborhoods receive services, beyond what the city provides, is to form Community Benefit Districts (commonly called Maintenance Assessment Districts or Property Based BIDs). CBDs are an assessment on property owners that pays for enhanced services such as cleaning and security.

Over the last several years, the Hillcrest Business Association (HBA) has taken steps to begin this process. This included:

• The management plan for the GHCBD has been submitted to the City of San Diego for review (October 2021).

• The GHCBD committee recently passed a resolution to have the HBA be the contracting entity to manage the district once formed (June 2021).

• Creating a proposed Map for the Greater Hillcrest MAD (March 2021).

• Creating the draft GHCBD Management Plan (March 2021).

• Hiring a contractor to create the assessment model and management plan for the district. The contractor will also shepherd the project through the City approval process (December 2020).

• Forming an organizing group and began meeting regularly.

• Conducting a preliminary survey (2020 & 2017).  The survey has had a 30.06% response rate (324 responsive parcels). This is a particularly high response rate considering that a typical response rate for a direct mail campaign is often less than 2%. Of property owners who were petitioned 27.09% (292 parcels) answered yes to the question as to whether they would like to move forward with the process of expanding the MAD.

• The HBA also presented the findings of the earlier survey to the Uptown Community Planners Committee in March of 2016.

Assisting businesses during Covid 19

Success! All restrictions related to the Covid 19 Pandemic have been lifted and businesses can return to normal opperations!

The HBA is working on variety of efforts during 2020 and 2021 to assist businesses during the Covid 19 outbreak. The HBA was at the forefront, with other business districts, arguing that businesses should be able to expand their patios into the parking lane and on sidewalks. Where some had argued for full street closures, the HBA knew that this one-size-fits-all approach wouldn’t work for Hillcrest. The HBA ensured that the City stuck to their original their permitting timeline rather than letting it slip as they’d proposed. The HBA provided outreach, paperwork assistance, and even equipment to our businesses to help with this difficult time.

Documents concerning the State’s Regional Stay at Home Order.
HBA’s letter 12/15/20
Little Italy Association’s position statement
Midway Venture LLC vs. County of San Diego court ruling
Letter supporting AB61