(A Part of) Nimitz Boulevard Gets Buffered Bike Lanes
Thanks to the efforts of our board member, Nicole Burgess, a small part of Nimitz Boulevard is now a bit more pleasant to ride now than before.Over the weekend, new buffered bike lanes were striped along Nimitz Boulevard. The section of Nimitz that now has a buffered zone stretches from Oliphant Street down to the Evergreen Street. The painted buffer now gives riders a little bit more breathing room while traversing this major corridor in Ocean Beach.
As the head of the new multi-modal program, Brian Genovese, mentioned last month, the policy of coordinating bike infrastructure improvements with the City's resurfacing and repaving schedule is finally starting to make some headway in the city.
The discussion about improving Nimitz Boulevard is on our goal list for our first year as it is a key north south corridor in Ocean Beach. One of our strategies for effective advocacy is to initiate a riding tour with the appropriate and relevant elected representatives so that they can experience in a visceral way the conditions that their constituents face on a daily basis. The effort to improve Nimitz for all its users has been spearheaded by Burgess who brought her concerns to Councilmember Faulconer a few months ago by organizing a bicycle ride through Ocean Beach. After organizing the ride with our help, Burgess continued to follow up with key decision makers including SANDAG bike planners, the City's bike coordinator, Tom Landre, Genovese, the new Congressional representative for her district, Scott Peters and her City Council representative, Kevin Faulconer. Burgess was honest about her lack of experience in understanding the processes involved that would ultimately result in a safer corridor along Nimitz Boulevard. In an email sent to all the decision makers on November 9th Burgess urged action,
As key players to people able to make things happen in transportation as well as bike/ped facilities, I would just like to have a good sense of where we are going with Nimitz Blvd.
A few things to note -
I don't know all the legal processes or all the funding opportunities and I don't know how well the City of San Diego and Sandag can work together.
But I do think it is important to collaborate with all so that we can have a first class facility completed as quickly and efficiently as possible.
My understanding is that there is an I-8 corridor study in the works. I think the transportation committee should be collaborating with the City, and the bike people on the I-8/Sunset Cliffs area. Bike People would include District 2 Bike/Ped Advisory Committee and other local advocacy groups.
Nimitz is scheduled for repavement next November. If we have to wait until next November for the basic improvements, then let's have a real plan - cycle tracks, road diets, restriping, colored asphalt, whatever it takes to make it safer now rather than 10 years down the road.
How can Sandag and the City of San Diego come together to provide a safe facility for all users within a reasonable time.
If there's anything I can do to facilitate this process, please let me know.
Thank you for your time on this important corridor treatment.
Despite the email, the city originally repaved Nimitz with no additional improvements for riders in November. Burgess feared that the old sub-par bike lane would either be restriped as before and wanted to influence the restriping and thereby reduce the width of the vehicular travel lane to make it safer for all its users.
On November 28th, Burgess noticed that Nimitz had been repaved and sent out another email:
Subject: Please have the city postpone re-striping on the south end of Nimitz.
An area of Nimitz has been repaved and before it is done to previous standards, we (all stakeholders) should be able to use paint in a better way to provide safety for all users of the road.Sandag has visions of providing cycle tracks or safe facilities for cyclists in the next several years. Let's work together and begin this gradual process now. We need to start it here and now - with simple paint.Please help me do something.Wishing for the best.
Genovese responded promptly with the following email on November 28th(at 10:05 pm):
We have postponed the striping and developed a plan to add buffered bike lanes. Our plan is being reviewed by the contractor for implementation. I can give you more details tomorrow in between my time conducting interviews.
As a follow-up to my email last night, I wanted everyone to know that the proposed changes will occur where the street overlay was recently completed. The remainder of Nimitz will be re-striped in conjunction with upcoming overlay projects but this change will set the tone for what we want along the corridor. As I mentioned before, and which seems very obvious, the idea is to get out in front of the overlay program to see if there are opportunities for improving the bicycling experience. As the newly formed Multi-Modal Section gets situated, we hope to do a lot more for San Diego’s bicycle facilities. Thank you for keeping us alerted to needed improvements.
Over the weekend, BikeSD member, Kelly Cummings carefully documented the new restriping and the buffered bike lanes that were striped for a slightly more pleasant riding experience on Nimitz Boulevard.
Cummings rode out to check out the new painted buffered bike lanes and made meticulous measurements of the area.
The southbound main traffic lane on the right measured 120 inches (10 feet exactly) from inside yellow stripe to inside white lane line. The bike lane measured 78 inches (6'6") from inside stripe to inside stripe. The right turn lane on the left measured 134 inches (11' 2") from inside stripe to edge of concrete gutter. (The concrete gutter adds another 21 inches to the width. The yellow stripes are 4 inches wide, the white dashed lane dividers are 4 inches wide and the sold white lines are 6 inches wide.) As you look up Nimitz, the bike lane along the edge of the sidewalk measured 59-60 inches (5 feet) from edge of gutter to inside white line. The gutter is also 21 inches wide at this point.
But as Tom Fudge noted last month, "paint is great but paint doesn’t stop cars." This was evidenced by the two vehicles that were seen driving right over the painted buffer.
The new buffered zones is certainly a vast improvement over what existed before on the pothole filled Nimitz. We're thankful to all the stakeholders who worked with us and Burgess to ensure that the bike lanes would have some additional breathing room for our riders.
However, this is a nice Christmas present. And we encourage you to send your thank yous and other love notes to the following individuals who have gotten us to this point:
District 2 Councilman Kevin Faulconer, (kevinfaulconer@sandiego.gov)
City Council representative for Councilman Kevin Faulconer, Michael Patton (mpatton@sandiego.gov)
Head of the new Multi-Modal Program, Brian Genovese (BGenovese@sandiego.gov)
City Bike Coordinator, Thomas Landre (TLandre@sandiego.gov)
Jake Aquino with the City Bicycle Program (jaquino@sandiego.gov)
As for the next step, the city needs to step up its game if it is serious about providing safety improvements for her residents. And you can rest assured that this is precisely what we'll be advocating for.
Have you had a chance to ride on the new buffered bike lanes on Nimitz? What is the experience like? Share them in the comments below.
Councilmember Kevin Faulconer Rides to Learn About District Two Bike Issues
This past Thursday, Councilmember Kevin Faulconer and his Ocean Beach representative, Michael Patton, joined District Two residents on a bicycle ride from Dana Middle School into the heart of Ocean Beach to learn more about the issues that Obecians face while riding in their neighborhood.
The ride began at 1pm and the adults were joined by what photographer Old Knotty Buoy (OKB) calls a "whole gaggle of young, enthusiastic bikers on a ride from Dana Middle School" that rode into Ocean Beach after school let out. According to OKB,
this was an opportunity to discuss Safe Routes to Schools and Nicole's wishes to improve the local infrastructure for the safety and well being of the kids who ride in her Bike Train and for all the other riders as well.
The ride began and the adults navigated their way from the school alongside vehicles traveling at 30 mph or higher
Both Faulconer and Patton got to experience both the possibilities that OB had and the bottlenecks and solvable problems that were highlighted throughout the ride.
Some kids feel safer on the sidewalk instead of riding on a street with fast moving traffic that has no bike infrastructure.
The group rode on Voltaire and learned how this two lane road had ample room for a safe place to ride on, if the decision makers had the courage to ensure that the curbside parking was removed in the interest of safety of its future.
Both Nicole and others were very appreciative of the Councilmember and Michael Patton taking the time out of their busy schedule to explore their district in a fun way to learn more about the potential that OB had. Nicole stated that the ride was a perfect opportunity for the Councilmember to learn about the issues faced by riders who ride on Voltaire and Nimitz - two main thoroughfares in Ocean Beach.
Nicole Burgess - A Truly Extraordinary Mom
For the past two years an Ocean Beach mom, Nicole Burgess, has single handedly started a bike train and then founded and led the District 2 bicycle/pedestrian working group. All of this is was with the goal of making District 2, and specifically Ocean Beach more bike friendly. I recently rode over to Ocean Beach to experience a day in the life of a bicycling mom. I experienced what it was like to ride with about a dozen (extremely energetic) kids to school and then sat down with Burgess to learn more about her and her advocacy. I hope you find Burgess as inspiring as I have.
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Q: How did you get into biking? Was there a break between you riding as a kid and as an adult?
A: There was a break between me riding as a kid and as an adult. When I was a kid I did bike and then I went to college in Chico, CA – a bike friendly city. When I came back I was definitely in the car mode. After having kids I was definitely the car mode. It was when the kids were old enough to get on a bike and get out of the stroller that I began riding regularly as an adult. I was pushing three kids on a stroller to school. It was crazy. So once I got on a bike, I got them going. I think when I was 37 when I said, “we’re going to start bike tradition!” I told my kids “you’re going to bike your age!” I got the idea about biking with the kids from a friend, but he claims he didn’t give it to me. So I don’t know where the idea came from.
I started biking the kids to school. The bike train to Dana [Middle School] started because my oldest began going to Dana. Before Dana, we always walked to OB Elementary which is our neighborhood school. Dana is too far to walk to so we got some friends to ride with their kids to school.
Q: How many adults ride with the kids to school?
A: There are a couple of adults that sometimes ride with us. When I first started it, I was the only adult and I wondered how do I get all these kids and their backpacks to school. But I got a baby carrier in which I carry the backpacks. When I had the help of another mom we had two carriers – two moms. But now that the kids are older they need to carry their own backpacks. I can’t carry them. A couple of the kids have panniers [pdf].
Do you often ride with the kids by yourself?
Most of the time I do. In the first year, I had one mom helping me with backpacks, on occasion. Her son and my daughter have gone to Correia Middle School which is within walking distance. So they’ve chosen to walk. Her youngest is still at OB Elementary so this last year she helps on occasion. The challenge is different schedules between the elementary school children and the middle school children. How do you get the little ones to go on the same commute especially when there are hills? From what I gather from the parents who are signing up their kids for next year’s [bike train], they can’t help out because they have young kids at home.
Q: How old was your youngest when you started?
A: The three kids are all two years apart – the youngest was in first grade when I first started. So I had another mom watching my youngest when I picked up the Dana kids. I think for parents with kids in first through second grade it is really hard. They want to get their kids riding to school, the kids can’t ride to school, it’s unsafe to ride to school, how do you ride with them on the sidewalk? For those parents I recommend a tandem bike. To get a child to and from school and not worry about the kids having to know the rules of the road, I'd recommend a tandem bike or an xtracycle, if I were a parent again, I’d have an xtracycle and I'd just putting a seat either in the front or on the back rack. My nine year old – I still pick her up and have her sit on the back rack as she still doesn’t’ have her bike yet so this option works for older kids too. The simple act of getting your child on a bicycle is a good avenue for the young moms still figuring things out.
Q: Have you had comments from parents about the cost of investing in a bike.
A: Most people in OB/Point Loma have a bike. Most people have a bike in the garage that is not being used. If there is a parent that doesn’t have a bike, I will find some way of getting them a bike.
Q: So what is the biggest objection from parents in getting their kids to ride to school?
Safety. Safety is the #1 concern.
Q: What do you mean by safety being the big concern?
There is too much (auto) traffic. It is unsafe.
Q: How do you deal with parents’ concerns on that?
I just have to accept it. That they’re not going to put their kids on a bike and get out there. I don’t push the issue. I just work on the kids that do want to ride to school. I have this one friend whose kids are very active but he won’t allows his kids to ride on the street. His kids don’t know how to bike. He’s lives on my route. His boys should be riding. My attitude is just go for it and do it. I tell him that if his kid rides with me, he’ll be one less car for me to deal with.
Q: When you started, weren’t you afraid of the traffic?
Not too much. I don’t know why. I figure when you get five kids on a bike, it slows traffic down.
Q: Have you had any negative experiences during the year you have been biking to school with the kids?
A: The negative is the kids that aren’t listening. The ones that don’t follow the rules of the road or won’t attend a class (on learning the rules of the road or how to ride safely). Then there are parents who won’t come to a class because their kids have been riding for years so they know everything. The kids are ten [years old] and haven’t had a bike education class. They need one. That is probably one of the challenges.
The other challenge is watching parents ride the wrong way on the road because it sets a bad example to the kids.
The other example most people fixate on is helmets and whether to wear one or not. I can be partial on helmets. Personally. I’ve read articles on helmets and I know how Amsterdam is with helmets. I wear a helmet because the kids are watching me. So as a parent if you want your kids to wear a helmet, you should wear one too.
Q: If other parents in other neighborhoods and other cities want to start a bike train what would you suggest as first steps?
A: Take your own kid to school. That’s the first step. Then try to get their friends. Then get more friends. I tried to recruit by offering incentives. I told the kids that if they recruited another rider I'd take them out to lunch. But that never really works. It’s always so hard to get a new rider. But once they get a new rider, they’re hooked! They love it. But to get the new rider is always a challenge.
Q: You mentioned something about the coolness factor in riding a bike. Can you talk a bit more about that?
A: For the Dana kids who are in 5th and 6th grades – it’s really pretty cool to ride a bike. You’re in 5th or 6th grade and you’re responsible for getting yourself to school, you don’t have to depend on your mom. It shows them independence. But then they go to seventh grade and it’s not cool to wear a helmet. And maybe it’s not cool to ride a bike because its cool to ride a skateboard. Because the kids think they don’t have to wear a helmet when they skateboard. Because they can just pick up their skateboard and walk if they see anyone who will give them a talk about helmets. So they have a vision of not wearing a helmet when on a skateboard. And then in high school, it’s obviously not cool to ride a bike.
So I’m working on getting the current generation to see that it is cool to ride a bike, cool to wear a helmet. That you can ride a bike. And hopefully by the time they go to high school, I can keep them out of a car. That’s the idea. But because I don’t have high school age kids yet, I’m not there yet. Eventually when my kids are in high school I can be an advocate at high schools, but they’ll lose me at the elementary schools. Which is something I see as being more important because high school students should be able to do it on their own. Elementary students can’t do it on their own.
Q: What sort of advocacy do you do in elementary schools?
A: I conduct “bike assemblies” which is a way for me to talk about bike education [pdf presentation]. I talk about some of the markings that have showed up in OB like the sharrows. I talk about the value of facility improvements by talking about active transportation.
Q: What are your views on sharrows?
A: I think they’re great for awareness. They’re inexpensive and I think they’re a great value. I think we still need to work on the education part. I’ve been asking the Beacon to write an article about sharrows for six months but I haven’t seen one. My bike crew all know about sharrows. In the afternoon on Voltaire Street it is chaos and its crazy and cars are coming up and we’ve got 13 bikers. Drivers should slow down but what happens is the drivers think they’ll just pass this one rider and they then see two and three riders so then they try to zoom past all the riders. As the person riding in the back, I should probably take the whole lane to slow down traffic behind me but sometimes…
Q: Let’s talk about Nimitz Boulevard. You’ve been riding it now for three years. Have conditions gotten worse or are they the same?
The potholes have gotten a little worse.
Q: Has there been any work done on Nimitz to improve the road?
A: No. Not at all.
Q: When did you start getting involved with advocacy like being on the SANDAG Bike/Ped Working Group?
A: That happened about two years ago. A bike advocate from Oceanside, Howard LaGrange, asked me, “why not just focus on your district?” And that was what I did. And that’s the way it should be for San Diego. Because it’s too hard to focus on the entire city. So the district focus is great. I tried to get involved when Jim Lundquist was the bike coordinator. This was when I first started riding and I asked for a “share the road” sign on Voltaire and one by OB Elementary. It took a year to get it the sign. Now I’m seeing all this new signage. It took me a year to get one new sign. It took so long for Jim to get motivated in that. The city crew has to come out and make an observation and tell you where they will put the sign then they have to go back and make a request and then come out again and put the sign up…then Jim Lundquist said I need a letter from the bicycle coalition to the mayor stating that we need this sign up. So many little hoops to figure out how to go through.
Q: Do you know why it took so long?
A: No. Then Jim Lundquist left and then Tom Landre came in. I don’t know why things take so long. But it definitely helps to have a group of people working to make the same demand. That’s why I founded the District 2 bike/ped working group. Since last year I’ve been asking everyone I can to form an advisory committee.
Q: What has been your focus in District 2 bike/ped meetings? What are some of the problem spots in District 2?
A: Nimitz is our main priority. It’s a huge corridor. Nimitz used to be not on the radar for the city for improvements, but now it has become a priority. Greg Cox supports the idea. All of SANDAG supports this, Kevin Faulconer supports this.
With Nimitz, I regularly only ride a small portion to get to Dana Middle School but, it links up to the huge Mission Bay bike path and the Harbor Drive bike path. If we make a small change we can get a huge amount of tourist traffic coming into OB. Right now riding groups ride from downtown to Mission Beach via Pacific Highway. They’re skipping out on Ocean Beach! We’re missing all those people coming in. If Nimitz was good, it could be a coastal route. It also is huge in connecting the three big parks: Bill Cleator (next to Correia Middle School), Robb Field and Dusty Rhodes. They’re all so close! Why aren’t they connected? Why can’t we walk across the street from one park to another? Hundreds of kids play soccer and they have to cross a hundred yards or two hundred yards of highway to get from one park to another. So guess what? All of them have to have their parents pick them up to come down Voltaire (one of the busiest roads) or go on Nimitz. It’s crazy. If I had a vision for the next 20 years, I want to see these parks being utilized by everybody. There’s parents that have girls playing softball in one park, and boys’ soccer in a differnt park that is less than a mile away. But they get in the car and wind up doing this loop, three times in one day and go back and forth. It’s crazy. Anyone living in Loma Portal area that wants to go to Mission Bay take Nimitz. Kevin Faulconer takes Nimitz. Then you see kids with skateboards trying to get to the skateboard park, across the I-8 ramp – it’s scary to watch.
Bacon is another street. People come off the bike path and are confused on how to get around OB.
Q: Have you had any success in asking for traffic calming?
A: I’ve never really asked for traffic calming.
Q: Any other last thoughts?
One issue with bike trains is I’m a huge advocate of odometers. I love my odometer and the kids get so excited to ride with an odometer. I sponsor my kids because it was hard to get my kids motivated to ride everyday so when I decided to do this , I told my kids I don’t need to fight with you every time over biking so I’m going to give you a buck/mile. Now, publicly I don’t advocate for a buck a mile, but I do say $0.20/mile because that’s what it costs: $0.25/mile in an average car. So if you can save your parents a $0.05/mile, your kid should get part of those savings. So if you get an odometer for your kid and pay them every hundred miles, they get $20. It’s amazing. My son, when I did a buck a mile, wanted shoes. So I said fine, let’s ride our bikes to Sports Authority. Sure enough, I owed him $40 in bike money. So he was able to buy his own shoes. My other kids went to Target and bought their own clothes. I have not spent money on them, because they’re making good money. I’m going to change it though.
Q: How?
A: Next year, most schools have a run for life program and they give out shoes for every hundred miles. So I’m going to go out and get bike charms that are color coded, a color for riding 100 miles and a different color for 500 miles and a different color for a 1000 miles so other kids know visually how many miles their friends have biked. A lot of my kids have odometers and their parents are sponsoring them in some way, sometimes the pay is computer time or giving them credit for getting themselves to school and giving them an extra incentive, because its amazing how much time it saves parents.
Q: How does biking to school save parents time?
A: For example, afternoon pickup time is at 1:10 PM and parents leave at quarter to one by car to get a “good parking spot” to sit in their car and wait for their kids. Or sit there and do nothing. And I can leave five minutes before they get out and meet them at the front door of the school rather than up the street in the car and be home at the same time as the rest of the parents and not waste any gas. It seems like a no-brainer to ride to school!
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To contact Nicole about either starting your own bike train, helping her with her bike train, or to get involved in District 2 bike advocacy please contact her at nicole23@cox.net
Support Freeride Famosa's Proposal to Bring a Bike Park to the Peninsula Community
The moment to make a difference in the Peninsula Community is around the corner and our friends over at Freeride Famosa need as many supporters to show up this Thursday, April 19th, to speak up in support of the bike park that was cruelly destroyed nearly two months ago.
Help bring a bike park (back) to the Peninsula Community
Where: Point Loma/Hervey Branch Library - 3701 Voltaire Street, San Diego, CA
When: Thursday, April 19, 2012 - 6:30 PM
Why: Request the PCPB change the community plan to designate the land to be used as a community park
At the group's March meeting with city officials, Councilman Kevin Faulconer requested the group ask the PCPB (the community planning group that makes decisions that affect land use designations in the Peninsula Community) to support changing the land designation in the community plan from "multi-family housing" to "public park".
Freeride Famosa needs all the help they can get to help promoting this event! Please download their full page flyer and quarter page handouts and distribute them to your friends.
UPDATE: The old flyer raised some concerns on our Facebook page about the message it seemed to unintentionally convey. I asked Scott Irwin to clarify and he responded as follows,
I believe you are referring to the original version of the April 19 meeting flyer. I agree the comment Paul references can be misleading since it could be interpreted as being opposed to community members who are socioeconomically disadvantaged.
Nothing could be further from the truth and that is why we had already asked our flyer designer to address our concern. Please see attached for the current copy of the April 19 meeting flyer.
The origin of the wording comes from the purpose of the April 19 meeting.
During this meeting we will ask the Peninsula Community Planning Board to support changing the designation for Site 428 (the corner of Famosa and Nimitz) from "multi-family housing" to "community park". The word "low income" comes from the fact that the land is currently owned by the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) - who's goal is to develop low-income housing.
The original idea behind the flyer was to let community members know we are advocating for a change in the land designation. Unfortunately the way it was worded could imply our group was also in opposition to the SDHC's attempts to develop housing. This type of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) philosophy is not supported by our group and it is the main reason why we made a change to our documents.
We are not opposed to providing opportunities to members of our community regardless of their socioeconomic background.
Thank you for asking for clarification. Please feel free to forward or post as necessary.
Children's Bicycle Park on Famosa and Nimitz Gains Support
Last Monday, Keighan Christenson and Scott Irwin were invited to meet with representatives from the city of San Diego to discuss the construction of a community bicycle park that was torn down last month.
I had an opportunity to meet with one of the supporters, Scott Irwin, last week to learn more about the events leading up to the destruction of the bicycle park last month and how he and eight* other community members are working on restoring the space so children in the Peninsula community and beyond can again have a safe, protected space to be outdoors and on a bicycle.
The bicycle park was created on an unused, vacant piece of land called Site 22 at the intersection of Nimitz and Famosa Boulevard. The San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) purchased Site 22 from the city of San Diego years ago. The land was purchased with the intent of developing low income housing on the location. However, nothing has been built on that piece of land due to lack of funds and community support.
The meeting last Monday was attended by Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer, Victoria Joes - Policy Advisor for the mayor of San Diego, Stacey LoMedico - Director of the San Diego Park and Recreation Department, Michael Patton - from Kevin Faulconer’s office - representative for the Midway/North Bay/OB/Point Loma area, Debbie Rhuan - Senior Vice President of Real Estate for the San Diego Housing Commission (owner of Site 22), Keighan Christenson and Scott Irwin - both supporters of the bicycle park and members of Freeride Famosa.
At the meeting last Monday, Christenson and Irwin shared the community park proposal titled, "Make Having Fun Legal", with the meeting attendees. I've highlighted some of my favorite talking points below:
After talking to Irwin, I learned that the bicycle park has repeatedly been built and then torn down despite community support and support from Councilmember Faulconer. I also learned that the local police was aware of the bicycle park and often would show up to ensure that nothing was awry. However, the park was never officially sanctioned and thus occasional complaints from a handful of naysayers would result in getting the park torn down.
This time however, through the power of social media and a petition to gain a broad spectrum of support, the supporters of the bicycle park now had a powerful voice:
The eight members who are part of Freeride Famosa and are spearheading the efforts to get the bicycle park rebuilt acknowledge that the city of San Diego has limited financial and personal resources. They listened to the mayor's message to be proactive and they proposed being creative when it comes to making this project happen. According to Freeride Famosa,
The Grass Roots model is similar to what currently exists but is sanctioned by the city. The benefit is community buy-in through sweat equity. Features are designed and maintained by the people who ride them. The park is respected and utilized. The professional model is an option but there is a cost factor.
At the meeting last Monday, Freeride Famosa prepared this proposal on their vision for the bicycle park,
At the meeting last Monday, Faulconer and LoMedico expressed their support for the proposal. Faulconer supported the idea of incorporating a community garden into the park design. Faulconer mentioned his office has received letters from community members in support of the community bicycle park proposal. LoMedico said the Park and & Recreation Department have a process for identifying the purpose/focus for new parks in San Diego. This includes collecting input from the community regarding the types of activities to be included (riding bikes, frisbee golf, walking dogs, etc...).
However the San Diego Housing Commission representative Debbie Rhuan said the SDHC was not interested in using the land for the development of a community bicycle park because they did not want to be responsible for the liability. LoMedico said Park & Rec. wanted to expand the number of parks available to our community but they were not interested in entering into a temporary agreement with the SDHC for the purpose of developing a community bicycle park. Park & Rec.wanted to own the land before they would willingly invest in the development of a park.
At this point, SDHC offered to sell the land to the city for the current market value rate. Although no one at the meeting knew what the current market value rate was, Rhuan shared the steps necessary to transfer ownership of the land from the SDHC to the city. Rhuan expressed interested in trading Site 22 to the city for another piece of land for equal value. Freeride Famosa was interested in exploring this idea and discussed a couple of potential options.
Rhuan stated the SDHC did not support bicycle riding on their land and that they would be posting additional “no tresspassing” signs, and requested no one ride bicycles at Site 22.
Christenson and Irwin proposed a “grass roots approach” to the design, construction, and maintenance of the proposed community park. See p.2 of the proposal for details.
Faulconer reaffirmed his support for the development of a community bicycle park at Site 22 and asked Freeride Famosa to continue working towards this goal.
Toward the end of the meeting, Faulconer asked the SDHC to appraise Site 22 for the purpose of identifying market value. Rhuan said this will take one to two months but they will fast-track the process. Faulconer then asked Freeride Famosa to identify other city real estate holdings that could potentially be used in a trade with the SDHC. Christenson and Irwin promised to contact the Peninsula Community Planning Board regarding being added to the April meeting agenda. Christenson and Irwin agreed to contact LoMedico once the item has been added to ensure that city staff would be present at the meeting. Christenson and Irwin also promised to share Faulconer’s support for a bicycle component to the community park when meeting with community groups. The group agreed that once PCPB support is obtained, they would work with the city designated City Planner to change community plan designation of Site 22 from affordable housing to community bicycle park. The group will meet again once the appraisal process is complete to discuss the status of the project which should take approximately two months.
* The eight main community members who spearheaded the efforts to ensure that a safe and dedicated space will created for the children who want to be outdoors and on a bicycle are:
Keighan Christenson
Ryan Floth
Stan Guerrero
Scott Irwin
Josh Job
Darren Miller
Cliff Nelson
Fred Robinson