Morning Report: Zoning Mistakes in Barrio Logan
EM - News Moderator 
Barrio Logan community members learned late last year that the state auctioned off a plot of land meant for a future park to a car wash company.
“We’re like, ‘This is not right,’” said Julie Corrales, chair of the Barrio Logan Community Planning Group. “The community plan clearly says it’s park [use].”
What happened? Our City Hall reporter learned the city’s Planning Department staff made two mistakes, including one that affected a property on Boston Avenue and Chicano Park. The two sites are currently zoned as commercial use instead of park use. Soapy Joe’s Car Wash is in the process of purchasing the property on Boston Avenue.
City staff want to fix the errors ASAP. The City Council is set to vote on the changes Tuesday. Meanwhile, a city officials is asking the state to deny the sale to Soapy Joe’s.
“…it would result in the transfer of publicly-owned land to a private entity for a use that was never intended under the adopted community plan, permanently foreclosing an opportunity to provide much-needed park space in Barrio Logan,” wrote a planning department official.
But as Mariana Martínez Barba reports, the errors have deepened the community’s mistrust in government and could kick off a fight with Soapy Joe’s Car Wash.
Politics Report: It’s All in the Question
The Politics Report is available to members only, but here’s a sneak peek.
San Diego conservatives are pushing ballot measures to repeal the city’s trash fee and paid parking in Balboa Park. These efforts are getting lots of traction.
Yes, but … do they really stand a chance? Scott Lewis and Will Huntsberry write that it’s impossible to know – at least right now. That’s because the way the city attorney describes them on the ballot could play a huge role.
Our editors explain why that matters in the latest Politics Report. Read more here.
VOSD Podcast: Fake Charity Guys Pocketed $2 Million
Two years after we revealed a scam involving a nonprofit running concessions at Petco Park, the two men at the center of the scandal have pleaded guilty to fraud.
Will Huntsberry reports that Martin Rebollo and Noly Ilarde admitted that a fake softball league they ran brought in about $3.75 million. ICYMI: You can read the story here.
Huntsberry joins our VOSD Podcast hosts this week to discuss the latest.
Listen to the VOSD Podcast here. We are also on YouTube, if that’s your thing.
Speaking of baseball: The Union-Tribune reports that groups interested in purchasing the Padres were invited to spend time at the team’s spring training complex.
Work from Beach?
More than 100 people took their lattes and laptops to Pacific Beach on Friday to work from the beach.
“We’ve got business up top, fun on the bottom,” one person told NBC 7. Some people wore swim trucks and dress shirts. “So if we want to, we have the ability to work and then pop in the water for a little surf sesh.”
Some people set up desks with decorations on the beach. Fox 5 has some hilarious photos.
Related: The National Weather Service warned that San Diego County will experience a record-setting heat wave. Maybe the work from the beach people are on to something?
In Other News
- Opinion: A New Path Executive Director Gretchen Bergman makes the case for why despite an ongoing scandal with a county contractor, San Diego can’t lose sight of the vital role of harm reduction services. Read the op-ed here.
- The Postal Service launched a stamp collection honoring Chicano lowrider culture at Logan Heights Library on Friday, which San Diego city leaders dubbed “Lowrider Day.” (Axios San Diego)
- San Diego’s pension board just approved its biggest annual pension payment ever. The payment comes at a whopping $563.2 million, which is $30 million higher than last year’s payout due to increased employee wages. (Union-Tribune)
- A huge Navy warship that used to be homeported in San Diego will transport about 2,500 Marines to the Middle East to bolster American forces in the U.S.-Israel war against Iran. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Mariana Martínez Barba and Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.
The post Morning Report: Zoning Mistakes in Barrio Logan appeared first on Voice of San Diego.
