North Park Main Street

Annual Report

2002-2003

• Awarded a $300,000 grant from Caltrans for planning and analysis of the University Avenue Traffic Calming Conceptual Study, which will be completed in December. This was the maximum allocation awarded for one project and one-tenth of the money available from Caltrans for the entire state.

• Received notice that North Park Main Street will be the recipient of $450,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds from Council District 3 for University Avenue Streetscape Improvements. This will pay for new sidewalks along University Avenue from Idaho Street to Granada Avenue.

• Awarded a $8,802 grant from the Commission for Arts & Culture for the seventh annual North Park Spring Festival on May 18, 2003.

• Awarded a $2,500 grant from the County of San Diego for the seventh annual Spring Festival.

• Organized a meeting for business owners, local employees, and community members about the timelines and next steps for the North Park Theatre and North Park Parking Garage.

• Met with representatives from the City of San Diego Code Compliance, various BIDs, and the news media about encroachment problems with newsracks.

• Participated in a meeting by the Hospitality Resource Panel regarding potential conflicts between residents and business owners in mixed-use districts.

• Began working on a Mixed-Use Ordinance to address potential conflicts with mixed-use developments and noise.

• Hosted a retreat for Spring Festival volunteers to review the 2002 Spring Festival and begin planning the 2003 event.

• Continued working with consultant KTU+A to produce the University Avenue Traffic Calming Conceptual Study.

• Requested street lights for North Park Way near Ray Street so that there would be additional light for Ray At Night, the monthly art walk by merchants on and around Ray Street.

• Sponsored the Summer Concerts in Bird Park hosted by the North Park Community Association.

• Oversaw the completion of streetscape improvements on University Avenue from Bancroft Street to Boundary Avenue.

• Wrote, copied, and distributed North Park Main Street’s quarterly newsletter, The North Park Way.

• Continued working from last year on the Public Right of Way pilot program that would allow outdoor displays of merchandise, sidewalk cafés without railings, and A-frame signs.

• Continued working to update the Mid-City Planned District Ordinance (PDO) to encourage mixed-use development and better-designed buildings.

• Requested street trees for Ray Street through Mayor Dick Murphy’s free street trees program.

• Experienced, on August 29, our best day at the Thursday Night Market since the market began on April 5, 2001.

• Officially supported the building of a parking garage at 29th Street and North Park Way that will house a proposed 400 automobiles.

• Recommended that the City of San Diego ensure the financing of the proposed parking garage no matter what and consider many different sources of revenue, including private developers.

• Researched seismic retrofitting for the BID Council to assist building owners who must seismically strengthen their buildings by 2006.

• Narrowed the proposed alternatives for University Avenue from five to three for the University Avenue Traffic Calming Conceptual Study.

• Presented at the Iowa State Downtown Conference in Mason City, Iowa on Developing Arts District Partnerships.

• Held elections for the Board of Directors of North Park Main Street.

• Selected the preferred alternative for the configuration of University Avenue for the University Avenue Traffic Calming Conceptual Study.

• Distributed to North Park merchants information about the proposed North Park Parking Garage.

• Sponsored a Walk San Diego fund raising event and invited North Park merchants to attend.

• Reviewed the design and made suggestions for the proposed Walgreen’s project at University Avenue and 32nd Street.

• Selected to be a pilot site for the installation of a geographic information system (GIS).

• Linked our North Park business database to GIS so we can produce maps that show business clusters.

• Informed by the City of San Diego that the update of the Mid-City PDO has been halted. In light of this situation, North Park Main Street requested that the City make four critical changes to the PDO as soon as possible.

• Made suggestions to the Office of Small Business to improve the City’s Storefront Improvement Program.

• Organized a meeting with the City’s Development Services Department to provide assistance to UrbanBody North Park, a proposed gym at Iowa and University.

• Entered into an agreement with Katie Shultz and Shannon Brown to assist with sponsorship, advertising, media coordination, graphic design, and site logistics for the Spring Festival.

• Began Thursday Night Out in which North Park businesses are encouraged to stay open until at least 8:00 p.m. every Thursday.

• Secured five interns from SDSU and Hoover High School to assist with economic restructuring and design projects.

• Assisted the City of Chula Vista with how to redesign the downtown commercial corridor and how to involve residents in the planning process.

• Seated the new Board of Directors of North Park Main Street at the annual meeting and selected new officers.

• Hosted the first of three public forums to educate business owners, property owners, and community members about the North Park Parking Garage and obtain support for financing options.

• Spoke to the San Diego City Council in favor of the City of Villages strategy to target growth in existing neighborhoods, as opposed the outskirts of the city.

• Assisted in the formation of the California Main Street Alliance to serve as the state program should budget problems result in the elimination of the California Main Street office.

• Reported to the Metropolitan Transit Development Board missing garbage cans at two bus shelters at Utah and University. By the next day, both bus shelters were repaired.

• Celebrated the selection of three North Park businesses in the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Best of San Diego: Ranchos Cocina, Best Vegetarian Restaurant; Bacchus House, Best Gay/Lesbian Bar; Sabbat (at Shooterz/Club Odyssey), Best Ongoing Event.

• Wrote, copied, and distributed North Park Main Street’s quarterly newsletter, The North Park Way.

• Hosted the second of three public forums to educate business owners, property owners, and community members about the North Park Parking Garage and obtain support for financing options.

• Convened a meeting of 20 people to determine how to streamline the process for new businesses and developments through the City’s Development Services Department.

• Recommended to the City of San Diego four adjustments to existing commercial zones Avenue to improve the design and function of new construction along University in North Park.

• Made a presentation to, and received support from, the North Park Redevelopment Project Area Committee about four recommended changes to the commercial zones along University Avenue.

• Purchased heavy duty and light duty graffiti remover for North Park businesses to borrow free-of-charge upon request.

• Applied for a $11,543 grant application to the California Department of Conservation for the purchase and installation of 27 additional recycling pyramids.

• Featured in a San Diego Union-Tribune article about transportation improvements. Specifically, the article reviewed how the University Avenue Traffic Calming Conceptual Study complements the City of San Diego’s Street Design Manual.

• Re-established the Promotion Committee to assist with the Holiday Party, the Seasonal Lighting and Decoration Contest, North Park Main Street’s entry in the Holiday Parade, and other promotional events in the business district.

• Gave a presentation on Business Recruitment for Neighborhood Business Districts at a national conference in Los Angeles.

• Hosted the third in a series of three public forums about the North Park Parking Garage.

• Received the final University Avenue Traffic Calming Conceptual Study by consultants KTU+A.

• Supported, in concept, the writing of an application by North Park Main Street to be a Pilot Village for the City of San Diego’s “City of Villages” program.

• Provided assistance to the City of San Diego and their consultant Gensler with an inventory of historic resources in North Park.

• Participated in the North Park Lions Holiday Parade with people dressed in boxes representing different businesses and events to show that North Park Main Street is “thinking outside the box.”

• Held a successful annual Holiday Party hosted by Roy Sumner Johnson of Sumner & Dene and Gail Rossi of Cat Alley.

• Hosted the annual Seasonal Lighting and Decoration Contest. Winners this year were Ranchos Cocina for Best Interior Display, Shooterz for Best Exterior Display, and R.C. Awards/ROK Enterprises for Best Window Display.

• Co-sponsored an event by Walk San Diego to raise funds for a collaborative pedestrian planning effort, “Making Strides Toward a More Walkable North Park.”

• Spoke before the Land Use and Housing Committee of the San Diego City Council in favor of a Dining & Entertainment (Sound) Ordinance to address issues with mixed-use development.

• Assisted the BID Council with research to help property owners comply with required seismic restrofitting of their unreinforced masonry buildings.

• Elected Ruth Watson, L.Ac. to a vacant position on the Board of Directors.

• Renewed the contract with the City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency for North Park Main Street to provide the following services: (1) market and demographic information, (2) historic building inventory, (3) ordinance review, (4) business and technical assistance, and (5) facilitation assistance for public projects.

• Spoke before the San Diego City Council in favor of the financing plan for the North Park Theatre.

• Provided assistance to property owners with seismic retrofit needs.

• Featured Super Bowl Banners on the lamp posts in North Park

• Participated as a panelist for SDSU’s Community Economic Development department on “Investing in People and Their Communities.”

• Began the third phase of the North Park Street Gallery in which artists paint utility boxes

• Presented the University Avenue Traffic Calming Conceptual Study to the Transportation Subcommittee of the Greater North Park Community Planning Committee.

• Wrote, copied, and distributed North Park Main Street’s quarterly newsletter, The North Park Way.

• Helped organize a press conference on the renovation of the North Park Theatre.

• Featured on a cover article in the Gay & Lesbian Times.

• Featured on the front page of the Sunday “Arts” section in the San Diego Union-Tribune on the renovation of the North Park Theatre.

• Featured in the San Diego Union-Tribune on the proposed construction of the North Park Parking Garage.

• Participated in a community workshop to help determine possible sites for a new North Park Library.

• Voted in the North Park Redevelopment Project Area Committee elections.

• Applied for a Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $100,000 through Council District 3 for pedestrian crossing improvements along University Avenue.

• Applied for a Festivals and Celebrations grant from the City of San Diego Commission of Arts & Culture in the amount of $12,546 for the 2004 Spring Festival.

• Applied for a Community Enhancement grant from the County of San Diego in the amount of $8,800 for the 2004 Spring Festival.

• Met with State Assemblymember Christine Kehoe with other business leaders about the need to retain all of the State programs that assist small businesses.

• Assisted in trying to save the California Main Street program – housed in the California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency – from budget cuts due to the State budget crisis.

• Testified to the Governor’s State Small Business Task Force about the importance of saving the California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency including California Main Street and Small Business Development Centers.

• Testified at a Business & Community Outreach Meeting about the need to rectify the problems that business and property owners regularly encounter with the Development Services Department.

• Extended our agreement with the Stein Education Center to clean sidewalks at 30th & University, and expanded the service area on University Avenue to the alleys east and west of 30th Street.

• Attended a meeting to learn about alternative technologies for seismic retrofitting that could minimize expenses for building owners.

• Celebrated the recognition of North Park in the San Diego Reader’s “Best of” edition: Ray At Night, Best Artsy Evening; Dietsch’s Hearing Aid Center, Best Ear Plugs For Your Next Concert; The Cabernet, Best Wine Meet & Greet.

• Began working on re-energizing the Thursday Night Out promotion in which businesses stay open late on Thursdays evenings.

• Featured on a KSDS radio show about arts and culture in North Park. Topics included the North Park Theatre, Ray At Night, streetscaping, the utility box art project, the North Park Spring Festival, and the North Park Thursday Night Market.

• Attended a California Main Street Network Meeting in Sacramento.

• Sent news releases to over 40 news agencies about the plight of the California Main Street program due to the State budget crisis.

• Offered space at the Thursday Night Market for the Lyric Opera San Diego to display information about the North Park Theatre.

• Featured in the National Main Street News as one of five case studies on “Raising Program Visibility: Educating Public Officials About Main Street.”

• Submitted an application – in partnership with the North Park Community Association – to be a Pilot Village within the City of Villages program.

• Interviewed business owners about their level of satisfaction with the Development Services Department of the City of San Diego.

• Passed a resolution “that North Park Main Street demands that the Director of the Development Services Department and appropriate staff… meet with small business representatives until new procedures and systems and a cultural change within the Department that address the needs of small businesses are agreed upon and implemented.”

• Featured in a San Diego Union-Tribune article about the difficulties in dealing with the Development Services Department.

• Sought permanent “No Parking” signs for the two blocks of the North Park Thursday Night Market.

• Requested that the BID Council assist us in getting 25 free trees for Ray Street through Mayor Dick Murphy’s Free Tree Program.

• Began developing a Scope of Work for the $300,000 Caltrans grant.

• Continued to support the restoration, installation, and operation of historic streetcars on fixed rails using University Avenue and Park Boulevard to connect North Park with downtown.

• Requested that the dedicated transit lane envisioned in the University Avenue Traffic Calming Conceptual Study be adapted to accommodate historic streetcars and regular buses pending further analysis.

• Received 60 entries for a “Name That Event Contest” to select a new name for Thursday Night Out.

• Assisted in selecting three final sites from seven proposed locations for the proposed North Park Library to be constructed in 2008.

• Reviewed the preliminary plans for the North Park Condominiums proposed for 30th Street just north of University Avenue.

• Selected by the Office of Small Business to take the lead in developing a Sound Ordinance for the City of San Diego.

• Wrote, copied, and distributed North Park Main Street’s quarterly newsletter, The North Park Way.

• Provided information to Walk San Diego and the North Park Community Association in preparation for three walking tours in North Park called “Making Strides.”

• Selected Businesses Open Late Thursdays or BOLT as the new name for Thursday Night Out.

• Entered into an additional agreement with Stein Education Center to clean sidewalks once a week. The new area to be cleaned includes both sides of University Avenue between Grim Avenue and Illinois/31st streets.

• Hosted a very successful seventh annual North Park Spring Festival, which attracted 35,000 people to the neighborhood.

• Invited representatives of the Segway Human Transporter to demonstrate this transportation device to the Board of Directors to determine if it is appropriate for public sidewalks.

• Attended a press conference as one of seven finalists for Pilot Village program for the City of Villages.

• Received a proclamation from Mayor Dick Murphy naming May 18, 2003 “North Park Spring Festival Day” in the City of San Diego.

• Selected to be the pilot program for the Development Services Department to develop in-house information on buildings before someone leases the building.

• Presented to 100 members of the American Institute of Architects about developments in North Park.

• Met in the North Park Main Street office with six representatives from the African nation of Senegal to provide information abut economic development and how the organization works.

• Selected as one of two pilot neighborhoods for “Business Fundamentals,” a pilot program to offer hands-on assistance to businesses.

• Formed a subcommittee which then met and created a list of design principles for the proposed parking garage based upon North Park Main Street’s Development Criteria, Design Guidelines, and other references.

• Recommended that the City of San Diego make two small changes to the present zoning: (1) permitting the transfer of Floor Area Ratios across alleys, and (2) eliminating the required 20-foot setback on University Avenue west of 28th Street.

• Provided information about the proposed historic streetcar line to a consultant hired by the City of San Diego to study transportation in Balboa Park.

• Testified before the San Diego City Council regarding the need to streamline and reform services by the Development Services Department.

• Spoke before the Planning Commission on behalf of the Public Right of Way Enhancement/Use Program, resulting in a positive vote in favor of the program. This pilot program will allow outdoor displays of merchandise, sidewalk cafés without railings, and A-frame signs.

• Provided feedback to the San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture regarding proposed changes to the Festivals and Celebrations grant application.

• Began working on the second submittal requirements due October 31 for the North Park Pilot Village (City of Villages) application.

• Featured on the San Diego Go There web site at www.gothere.com, including a business directory, extensive photographs and a link to the North Park Main Street web site.

• Finalized the program budget for Fiscal Year 2003-2004.

• Presented at a Night Club & Bar Convention about owning and operating a business in a mixed-use district.

• Featured on KPBS’s nightly program Full Focus about the problems resulting from “big box” development.

• Assisted businesses in finding available spaces in the North Park commercial district.

• Assisted property owners in finding appropriate businesses for their available spaces.

• Assisted business owners and property owners as needed with permitting problems and issues.

• Organized the weekly Thursday Night Market where one can buy the freshest fruits, vegetables, flowers, and food, as well as arts & crafts.

• Conducted the “First Thursday Giveaway” at the farmers market, in which fruits and vegetables, flowers, gift certificates, merchandise, and other items are given away at 6:00 p.m. in a free drawing on the first Thursday of every month.

• Supported merchants with the promotion of “Ray At Night,” a monthly art walk and open house on Ray Street and surrounding blocks.

• Continued developing an Historic Building Inventory to identify significant commercial buildings.

• Continued our Memorandum of Understanding with the Stein Education Center to work together to reduce graffiti and litter from the 30th & University intersection.

• Continued working on the North Park Street Gallery, in which artists paint utility boxes along University Avenue, 30th Street, North Park Way, and Lincoln Avenue.