Group fights for University Heights boundary rights

While it may not matter to those who don't live there, one group is fighting another over the boundaries of University Heights. The University Heights Community Development Corporation (UHCDC) is battling with the University Heights Community Association (UHCA) over this touchy issue.

According to the UHCDC's petition-signing website, if UHCA “wins their battle to exclude everyone on the east side of Texas Street,” those residents/businesses will be “kicked out” of University Heights.

In an October 2013 letter to interim mayor Todd Gloria, UHCDC executive director Christopher Milnes said, “We request that the boundaries be corrected in the updated Greater North Park and Uptown Community Plans.”

UHCDC argues that the original San Diego County assessor's map for University Heights shows I-8 as the northern boundary, Lincoln Avenue on the south, SR-163 on the west, and Boundary Street on the east. Google Maps shows the southern boundary as Lincoln Avenue but displays Texas Street as the eastern boundary.

Judy D. Abercrombie, a UHCA board member and real estate agent, refused to send a statement regarding the University Heights eastern boundary. (UHCA's president was out of town.) Abercrombie insisted on a meeting in order to convey the organization's position. “It is a complex matter,” Abercrombie emailed.

UHCDC's petition posits that exclusion from University Heights would result in “reduced property values for resale and for refinancing (appraisals).” It also explained the area would have “no access to neighborhood grants and funds offered by the City or County for community improvements” and “less of a voice when other policy issues arise.”

Vicki Granowitz, chair of the North Park Planning Committee (NPPC), said that “the NPPC has already taken a unanimous vote in support of the UHCDC position.” Granowitz further explained: “The NPPC, following a great deal of research and public debate, disagrees with UHCA's positions. I personally am just confused by their positions.”

Mayoral spokesman Alex Roth did not respond to email and phone requests for comment from interim mayor Gloria.