The 1965 Mid-City Community Development Plan suggested removing billboards and undergrounding power lines.

The Mid-City Community Plan is the guide book for future planning in Normal Heights, Kensington, Talmage, City Heights, and Eastern Area. The plan sets the long term vision for housing, transportation, parks, libraries, public safety, and more. The City will refer to this plan when deciding what projects to fund. Our current Community Plan was updated in 1998, before we had WiFi or camera phones so we are looking forward to this overdue refresh.

The Community Plan is an excellent opportunity to include the principles of Smart Growth. 

1. Mix Land Uses — Combine residential, commercial, and recreational spaces in close proximity to reduce the need for car travel and create vibrant, walkable communities.
2. Take Advantage of Compact Building Design — Encourage denser development to use land more efficiently, reduce sprawl, and make communities more walkable.
3. Create a Range of Housing Opportunities and Choices — Provide housing for people of all income levels, ages, and family types within the same community.
4. Create Walkable Neighborhoods — Design streets and neighborhoods so that walking is safe, convenient, and attractive for everyday activities.
5. Foster Distinctive, Attractive Communities with a Strong Sense of Place — Preserve and build upon the unique character, history, and culture of each community.
6. Preserve Open Space, Farmland, Natural Beauty, and Critical Environmental Areas— Protect green spaces and natural resources from development to maintain ecological health and community well-being.
7. Strengthen and Direct Development Towards Existing Communities — Prioritize reinvestment in existing urban areas over expanding into undeveloped land, reducing sprawl.
8. Provide a Variety of Transportation Choices — Offer multiple ways to get around, including walking, cycling, public transit, and driving, so people are not solely dependent on cars.
9. Make Development Decisions Predictable, Fair, and Cost-Effective — Streamline the development process with clear, consistent regulations that are equitable and fiscally responsible.
10. Encourage Community and Stakeholder Collaboration in Development Decisions — Involve residents, businesses, and other stakeholders in planning processes to ensure development reflects community values and needs.

The current version of the new proposed Mid-City Community Plan is a 62 page PowerPoint and was presented to the Planning Commission and Parks & Rec Commission on March 19th. After the presentation, the planning commission listened to public comment including Community Planning Committee Chair, Victoria LaBruzzo who raised concerns about the process leading to the current plan version.

“This structure effectively reduces the role of [Community Planning Groups] CPGs by placing them in a limited position relative to a city appointed group raising concerns about consistency with the City’s own policies. In prior community updates advisory committees were structured under and through the recognized CPC itself. The approach used here differs in that it places the CPGs in a secondary role within a separately appointed body. This distinction is important as it shifts the balance away from the community based democratically selected structure toward one that is not directly accountable to the communities it represents.” - Community Planning Committee Chair, Victoria LaBruzzo

The Planning Commission were thoughtful in their discussion and the presiding chair, Kenneth Malbrough, acknowledged the imbalance in Planning Group representation as well as raising the question why only one business representative was involved in the process thus far.  

Normal Heights for Smart Growth fully supports reforming the current Mid-City Community Plan Update process to engage our communities in an equitable manner as per City policy, recent plan updates and six decades of historical precedent. We are currently working with the Mid-Cities Community Planning Groups and will have more updates as our work continues.

We expect to see the first formal draft of the new proposed Mid-City Community Plan released in the coming month. This draft will be circulated for input before a second draft is produced to start applying technical details. The city hopes to have a final plan ready to present to the City Council in December of 2026 and we hope to encourage a plan that adheres to Smart Growth principles. 

The Normal Heights Community Garden is getting water in April thanks to the generous donation and loan from The Selby Team!

The garden site on 40th street was the location of two houses many decades ago but the passage of time has left the water lines unusable. The City has agreed to run a new water line from Ward Canyon to the garden. The installation will cost the community garden $25,000 for the work to install the line. Once installed though, the garden will only need to pay for the water used and not the other delivery fees normally found on a water bill. The more funds we can raise, the lower the membership fees will be so give generously!

The Normal Heights Community Garden Garden Board and Normal Heights for Smart Growth are actively pursuing grants from AARP and the County of San Diego as well. We should have word back on those grants by May.

Meanwhile there is much work to be done for soil prep and we hope to have a Right of Entry permit in the next 30 days so we can hold more work parties like the one held in February.

SD Master Gardener Margaret Camposanto and Normal Heights Community Garden grant writer Brenda Forsse rock out at the garden.

One of the 387 locations logged by the NHCPG

Normal Heights is known for its music scene but a cracked sidewalk can lead to a bad trip and the Normal Heights Community Planning Group has been working to catalog every sidewalk location in need of repair and seek out solutions based on severity and clustering. 

The worst spots are being submitted to the city for temporary fixes which involve ramping or grinding while those in front of commercial properties will have the management companies notified. For homeowners, the group is looking into getting group discounts or financial assistance. Per California Streets and Highways Code Sections 5610-5629, property owners are responsible for the repair of sidewalks in front of their property, even though it is within City right-of-way. For more information regarding sidewalk repair from the City go to https://www.sandiego.gov/street-div/services/roadways/sidewalk

An interactive map of the locations can be viewed here.