Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Rocky road: Civita residents to push back plan

Proposed thoroughfare imperils "safe, walkable dense urban village"

Civita is one of the largest master-planned communities in recent San Diego history.
Civita is one of the largest master-planned communities in recent San Diego history.

On Thursday, August 24, San Diego's planning commissioners will consider a proposal to build a freeway connector from Mission Valley through the heart of one of San Diego's largest master-planned communities and into Serra Mesa.

The road, which would run from Friars Road in Mission Valley to Phyllis Place in Serra Mesa, has been on the city's drawing board for a number of years. However, planners and developers shelved the plan in 2008 when developer Sudberry Properties announced plans to build a 230-acre, two-billion-dollar mixed-use development named Civita.

In order to push the project through, Sudberry touted Civita as the future of Mission Valley development, a transit- and pedestrian-oriented community. City officials praised the plan as fitting perfectly into its "City of Villages" planning strategy, aimed at taking people out of their cars and onto sidewalks and bike lanes.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In April 2016, the city announced its plans to build the freeway connector straight through the community. Residents were stunned.

They formed a group, Save Civita, to oppose the project. Their efforts soon gained traction. The group says they conducted surveys and found more than 400 homeowners in Civita oppose the connector road.

Since 2016, community planning groups in Mission Valley and Serra Mesa recommended the city not proceed with construction. They say the road does not provide a quicker route to Interstate 805 and instead will turn the walkable, transit-friendly community into a pedestrian death trap, with more than 34,000 cars running through Civita.

In May of this year, after hearing complaints from Mission Valley and Serra Mesa residents, North Park's planning group decided to remain neutral.

"Civita is a thriving, growing neighborhood with residents bicycling, exercising, walking with toddlers and pets, and pushing baby strollers," reads a report from Civita residents that will be presented at Thursday's hearing.

"This community cannot successfully serve two diametrically opposed purposes. It cannot be a safe, walkable dense urban village, designed in the mode of a self-contained live, work play environment, and be a conduit for freeway traffic at the same time."

Adds the report, "Civita should be a neighborhood and a destination, not a short-cut directed by GPS."

The planning commission meets at 9 a.m. in city hall.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tijuana sewage infects air in South Bay

By September, Imperial Beach’s beach closure broke 1000 consecutive days
Next Article

Morricone Youth, Berkley Hart, Dark Entities, Black Heart Procession, Monsters Of Hip-Hop

Live movie soundtracks, birthdays and more in Balboa Park, Grantville, Oceanside, Little Italy
Civita is one of the largest master-planned communities in recent San Diego history.
Civita is one of the largest master-planned communities in recent San Diego history.

On Thursday, August 24, San Diego's planning commissioners will consider a proposal to build a freeway connector from Mission Valley through the heart of one of San Diego's largest master-planned communities and into Serra Mesa.

The road, which would run from Friars Road in Mission Valley to Phyllis Place in Serra Mesa, has been on the city's drawing board for a number of years. However, planners and developers shelved the plan in 2008 when developer Sudberry Properties announced plans to build a 230-acre, two-billion-dollar mixed-use development named Civita.

In order to push the project through, Sudberry touted Civita as the future of Mission Valley development, a transit- and pedestrian-oriented community. City officials praised the plan as fitting perfectly into its "City of Villages" planning strategy, aimed at taking people out of their cars and onto sidewalks and bike lanes.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In April 2016, the city announced its plans to build the freeway connector straight through the community. Residents were stunned.

They formed a group, Save Civita, to oppose the project. Their efforts soon gained traction. The group says they conducted surveys and found more than 400 homeowners in Civita oppose the connector road.

Since 2016, community planning groups in Mission Valley and Serra Mesa recommended the city not proceed with construction. They say the road does not provide a quicker route to Interstate 805 and instead will turn the walkable, transit-friendly community into a pedestrian death trap, with more than 34,000 cars running through Civita.

In May of this year, after hearing complaints from Mission Valley and Serra Mesa residents, North Park's planning group decided to remain neutral.

"Civita is a thriving, growing neighborhood with residents bicycling, exercising, walking with toddlers and pets, and pushing baby strollers," reads a report from Civita residents that will be presented at Thursday's hearing.

"This community cannot successfully serve two diametrically opposed purposes. It cannot be a safe, walkable dense urban village, designed in the mode of a self-contained live, work play environment, and be a conduit for freeway traffic at the same time."

Adds the report, "Civita should be a neighborhood and a destination, not a short-cut directed by GPS."

The planning commission meets at 9 a.m. in city hall.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Jayson Napolitano’s Scarlet Moon releases third Halloween album

Latest effort has the most local vibe
Next Article

WAV College Church reminds kids that time is short

College is a formational time for decisions about belief
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader