SAN DIEGO–The San Diego City Council Monday approved an updated Old Town Community Plan which provides a framework of land use and urban design policies to guide in the development of the community during the next 20 to 30 years.
“As we rebuild our city for the future, we want to make sure that historic neighborhoods like Old Town retain their community character while also allowing for future growth that meets our housing needs and protects our environment,” said Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who has led a renewed effort to update community plans citywide. “This updated plan is a big step in the right direction and I want to thank the many community leaders and residents for working collaboratively to get this across the finish line.”
With many of the City’s community plans woefully outdated when he first took office, Mayor Faulconer has led a renewed effort through the Planning Department to update those plans to chart future growth throughout the city.
Since 2014, the City has updated 10 community plans with Old Town marking the 11th to be completed under his watch. In the previous decade, only one community plan was completed. Five more community plan updates are currently underway.
The nearly 180-page document is divided into several areas: historic preservation, land use, mobility, urban design, economic prosperity, public safety, recreation, conservation and noise. The plan was developed in collaboration with Old Town stakeholders and City staff and incorporates changes to meet the goals of the City’s Climate Action Plan.
Some of the changes in the proposed Community Plan update are highlighting Old Town as more of a residential community, improving pedestrian and bicycle connections to key community destinations and looking for more opportunities for visitor-oriented parking.
The updated Community Plan includes measures to increase use of transit, improve commuter walking and biking opportunities and targets transit-oriented development within transit priority areas.
“Old Town is unique to San Diego, serving as both a major historical destination and a residential community. I’m pleased that the updates included in this community plan will add much needed density to our housing stock and strengthen walking and biking connections between this community, the adjacent Midway community, and San Diego River Park,” said City Councilmember Chris Ward.
Old Town is a historic and cultural destination for visitors and contains several historically designated landmarks including Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, Heritage County Park and Presidio Regional Park.
The plan was last updated in the late 1980s.
