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

Growing pains in the South Bay

Chula Vista's storm drains, fire trucks, and parks need financial attention

Eric Crockett, Chula Vista's director of economic development
Eric Crockett, Chula Vista's director of economic development

The City of Chula Vista needs $600 million for infrastructure repairs, according to a report presented by a city employee to the Growth Management Oversight Commission on February 18th inside City Hall.

Amanda Mills, the performance and organizational development manager for the city, explained that Chula Vista’s storm drains are over 50 years old, many of their fire trucks are over 30 years old, and parks have become worn, among other problems.

An Asset Management Program Advisory Committee worked with about 40 community groups to identify problems and solutions to Chula Vista’s infrastructure needs. The committee also created surveys that showed the largest concern among residents are the dilapidated conditions of streets that, if not replaced or repaired, may cause sinkholes, flooding, property damage, or injuries.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The city’s growth-management commission was requested to provide feedback. Created in 1987 to measure the city’s quality of life, the commission’s nine members represent the city’s four regions (northeast, northwest, southeast, northwest) and several areas of expertise (business, education, development, environment, and a representative from the planning commission). They meet from September to May and have already heard presentations about Chula Vista’s schools, libraries, air quality and police, among others. Each May they present an extensive report to the city council outlining the city’s needs.

At the February 18th meeting, Mills said the city was considering a November ballot measure of either a half-cent sales tax, which would bring in about $15 million per year, or a $200 million bond.

“With the bond measure, you could do a lot of the work up front,” Mills explained.

Bond money would come from property taxes. The half-cent sales tax, on the other hand, would be paid at the time of the sale of goods and would not apply to certain items, such as groceries and prescription medicines. According to a survey (done in English and Spanish, with about 880 participants), there was more support for the sales tax.

Chairwoman Amida Torres asked, “I’m a little confused as to how a sales-tax measure would really help because it’s $15 million a year on a $600 million problem.”

Torres then asked if the sales tax could be placed on the November ballot along with the bond measure. Mills said, “It’s hard. People are going to see it as a competing, not a companion measure.”

Torres commented, “What I’m hearing out in the community is that the city is crumbling around us. The streets specifically are what people see more than anything else. And, 'Why are you allowing more growth,' if we can’t maintain what we already have?”

Thereafter, Eric Crockett, director of economic development for the city, provided a presentation of the upcoming growth in eastern Chula Vista, which will include a new university, new retail centers, up to three hotels, and 350,000 square feet of office space.

Eastern Chula Vista, he explained, could become a strategic mega-region due to its location only four miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. “Of the housing, you’re seeing about 1000 units,” Crockett said.

The city is still asking for public input through an online survey.

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

Croome Brothers Trio, Jack Tempchin, Ricky, Swami & the Bed Of Nails, Kahlil Nash

Acoustic and electric in Del Mar, La Jolla, Little Italy, and City Heights
Eric Crockett, Chula Vista's director of economic development
Eric Crockett, Chula Vista's director of economic development

The City of Chula Vista needs $600 million for infrastructure repairs, according to a report presented by a city employee to the Growth Management Oversight Commission on February 18th inside City Hall.

Amanda Mills, the performance and organizational development manager for the city, explained that Chula Vista’s storm drains are over 50 years old, many of their fire trucks are over 30 years old, and parks have become worn, among other problems.

An Asset Management Program Advisory Committee worked with about 40 community groups to identify problems and solutions to Chula Vista’s infrastructure needs. The committee also created surveys that showed the largest concern among residents are the dilapidated conditions of streets that, if not replaced or repaired, may cause sinkholes, flooding, property damage, or injuries.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The city’s growth-management commission was requested to provide feedback. Created in 1987 to measure the city’s quality of life, the commission’s nine members represent the city’s four regions (northeast, northwest, southeast, northwest) and several areas of expertise (business, education, development, environment, and a representative from the planning commission). They meet from September to May and have already heard presentations about Chula Vista’s schools, libraries, air quality and police, among others. Each May they present an extensive report to the city council outlining the city’s needs.

At the February 18th meeting, Mills said the city was considering a November ballot measure of either a half-cent sales tax, which would bring in about $15 million per year, or a $200 million bond.

“With the bond measure, you could do a lot of the work up front,” Mills explained.

Bond money would come from property taxes. The half-cent sales tax, on the other hand, would be paid at the time of the sale of goods and would not apply to certain items, such as groceries and prescription medicines. According to a survey (done in English and Spanish, with about 880 participants), there was more support for the sales tax.

Chairwoman Amida Torres asked, “I’m a little confused as to how a sales-tax measure would really help because it’s $15 million a year on a $600 million problem.”

Torres then asked if the sales tax could be placed on the November ballot along with the bond measure. Mills said, “It’s hard. People are going to see it as a competing, not a companion measure.”

Torres commented, “What I’m hearing out in the community is that the city is crumbling around us. The streets specifically are what people see more than anything else. And, 'Why are you allowing more growth,' if we can’t maintain what we already have?”

Thereafter, Eric Crockett, director of economic development for the city, provided a presentation of the upcoming growth in eastern Chula Vista, which will include a new university, new retail centers, up to three hotels, and 350,000 square feet of office space.

Eastern Chula Vista, he explained, could become a strategic mega-region due to its location only four miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. “Of the housing, you’re seeing about 1000 units,” Crockett said.

The city is still asking for public input through an online survey.

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

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much
Next Article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
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.