By David Garrick | [email protected] | The San Diego Union-Tribune
The price tag has jumped more than 50 percent -- from $17.8 million to $26.8 million -- for a long-awaited promenade in Hillcrest that city officials call a model for future neighborhood parks in San Diego.
The City Council unanimously agreed Monday to pay the higher cost, calling the Normal Street Promenade a transformative project that will give park-deprived Hillcrest a safe and badly needed community gathering space.
Council members said the steep price increase is understandable based on nationwide inflation and some new features added by the city, but some said San Diego needs to be wary of possible price gouging.
The project would be a tough one for the council to suddenly derail. That's because it will be the first promenade built since city officials began touting such linear parks as a clever way to create gathering spaces amid the high-rise and mid-rise buildings they say are needed to solve the housing crisis.
The council in July approved a new growth blueprint for Hillcrest that could double the neighborhood's population over the next 30 years.
Several other promenades are planned in San Diego neighborhoods slated for significant growth, including one slated for Executive Drive in University City and another on Montezuma Road in the College Area.
Critics say promenades are a poor excuse for actual community parks with room for playgrounds and ballfields, which they say are needed when the city approves new zoning that is likely to bring many thousands of new residents.
The promenade will be created by shrinking unusually wide Normal Street between University Avenue and Lincoln Street and expanding nearby Pride Plaza. The block will continue to host the Hillcrest Farmers Market and San Diego Pride Festival.
"This project will significantly improve safety and infrastructure in Hillcrest, including traffic-calming measures, high-visibility crosswalks and curb extensions," said Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, whose district includes Hillcrest. "The Normal Street Promenade also is a significant milestone for our LGBTQ community, establishing a vibrant space that celebrates diversity and inclusion."
Ben Nicholls, leader of a merchant group called the Hillcrest Business Association, said it's time for the city to break ground on the long-anticipated promenade.
"This project has been dreamed about, worked on and advocated for years," he said. "This space is already our gathering space, and we have outgrown what already exists now."
The cost increase will be covered by parking meter revenue from the area, neighborhood developer fees and a special active transportation fund that shifts developer fees from suburban areas to urban ones where there's a better chance to get people to drive less.
Matt Wahlstrom, a longtime critic of city plans to add many high-rise housing projects to Hillcrest, urged the council not to approve the higher price tag.
"It's outrageous that you're being asked to underwrite yet another cost overrun on this boondoggle," he said.
Councilmember Marni von Wilpert said the increase is roughly in line with what other government agencies are seeing when they put contracts out to bid lately.
"This is quite a bit, but I do understand," she said. "This is not out of line at all with what we're seeing across the country."
Council President Sean Elo-Rivera mostly agreed but said he worried some contractors might be exploiting the situation for financial gain.
"I think there's a responsibility that we have to ensure that within that context of increases across the board and across the country, that there aren't people taking advantage of that environment, and therefore taking advantage of the city," Elo-Rivera said.
The promenade will be built by the county's regional planning agency, the San Diego Association of Governments, along with a surrounding network of cycling paths.
City officials said they expect ground to be broken by this winter. No estimated date for completion has been provided.