The Palomar Beautification Project-a SANDAG Grant

This entire project is an example of total lack of regard for community input and government patronization at its worst, and why did the city hire a landscape architecture firm from San Diego? We have landscape architects in Chula Vista.

The city applied for the grant early in 2006 and received it the same year, but a meeting was not held in the community to discuss it until 11/7/07 after it was too late to change anything because the money had to be spent by 6/08 and project started by 1/08. This whole project is extremely disappointing because it could go anywhere. There is absolutely no reflection of the rich history of this area or the cultural diversity.

Certainly anything new would be an improvement, and we don't want them to give back the 2 million dollars, but what we will end up with will not express anything about the community just be another public works project. It has been mentioned in conjunction with other projects in the area that there was a grant and the street would be much improved, but apparently it never occurred to staff that pretending to believe that the residents might have valuable input might be a good way to improve relations with the community. The architect confirmed this lack of concern for public input or opinion. Movie clip one.

They walked along the streets but never talked to anyone who lived in the area. This is their analysis of the way things are now. Clip 2.

This is a description of what their vision for Palomar is. The trees sound nice, but I am not so sure about the 50-foot poles with blue lights. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to spend the money on a cut in the median so that the families living on Trenton would be able to make left turns instead of having to go down to Bay Blvd. and make a U turn? Clip 3.

These pictures show Jacarandas planned for median on Industrial. Industrial is to have a median and a bike lane and parking on the west side. There will also me a round about at Ada and Industrial. There are a few more pictures of Palomar at night and during the day. It is unfortunate that the new sidewalks will only go from 200 feet north on Industrial to Ada. There is a real need for sidewalks on both sides at least to Anita. A lot of people walk along Industrial to and from the trolley. The whole point of the median (only between Palomar and Ada) and the roundabout is to slow down traffic. I wonder if an ordinary traffic light would not do the same for less money so that they could extend the sidewalks? The engineer's comments about the problem of maintenance of this project are interesting too. Clip 4.

Mr. Quinones died just south of Ada on Industrial because when the city paved Ada and when sidewalks were put in for condo project no one put in a curb cut for wheelchairs at the corner of Ada and Industrial. It turns out that in order to put in this roundabout they need to take the corner of Ada. Is this why the sidewalk stops in the middle of the corner property? Is this why no one finished the corner with a pedestrian ramp? This roundabout is on the map in the plan drawn by the planner hired by the developer of Bay Vista Walk, so it was known when the city applied for and got this grant in early 2006 that there would be a roundabout. It appears in the Conceptual Plan for Palomar Gateway at Dorothy but the developer J. Sanchez told me he was going to have to put it in at Ada when he built the project he is planning on the southeast corner of Ada and Industrial. This would mean that this had been decided before the city actually got the grant and may be the reason the curb cut was not put in. Poor Mr. Quinones's widow was bullied by the city into dropping her suit and settling for barely enough to pay the medical bills.