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Code Enforcement Volunteer Program

The City of San Diego has revived its popular Volunteer Code Enforcement Program, at the urging of CACC and other community groups.  With this program, community volunteers are trained to observe and document code violations in their neighborhoods (but not within a few blocks of their own homes), to aid the City's Code Enforcement staff.  The names of volunteers must be submitted by a recognized community planning group.  Training will be provided by CES staff sometime in late May.

If you are interested in being trained as a Code Enforcement volunteer for the College Area, please attend the May 8 CACC meeting to submit your name for consideration, or contact us at info@collegearea.org  by May 10.  The City will begin training in late May.  Here is more information about the program:

Purpose

The purpose of the volunteer is to augment, but not replace, paid City staff.  Citizen volunteers will have an opportunity to make a difference in their community by addressing area specific quality of life issues. They will provide invaluable information and evidence to City staff who then can proceed with proper Code Enforcement procedures.

Position Description

The Code Enforcement volunteers would assist in Code Enforcement Section (CES) staff in identifying zoning violations/problems within their communities that are readily viewable from the Public Right-of-Way with the goal of reducing visual blight. Volunteers would also operate out of normal business hours such as evenings, weekends, or holidays. All volunteers must be 'authorized", meaning they must be affiliated with an established Community Planning Group.  Volunteers would perform these services without pay.

Comprehensive List of Duties

Volunteers will identify, document and assist in the resolution of common code problems in their community. They must be able to gather, evaluate facts and evidence, and articulate verbally as well as in writing. The types of violations include, but are not limited to: yard sales, parking on lawns, identifying and removing illegal signs (both signs in the Right-of-Way and political), storage and encroachments.  Individual community groups may also chose to address maintenance issues such as: peeling paint and overgrown vegetation.  Volunteers, through the community planning groups, will also provide written contact advising the owner/tenant that there is/are violation(s) on their property which if removed would assist the community in improving the overall visual appearance.  They will meet regularly with the CES staff to provide status reports on community issues. Volunteers must also have a valid California Driver's License.

Potential hazard/Safety Concerns

Although volunteers will operate within their community, they will not be active in their immediate neighborhoods. This policy is intended to eliminate the possibility of friction or retaliation between volunteers in their neighborhoods.  Also, because the volunteers will operate in teams and will not make contact with tenants/owners at the time of inspection, the potential for hazards or safety concerns should be minimal.

Community Gardens

The College Area Community Garden (CACG) is establishing a nearby community garden/urban farm that will have an attractive network of garden plots and related areas, available to local residents and to SDSU students, faculty and staff at a reasonable cost. CACG will also sponsor educational workshops and hold classes on organic farming practices and planet-friendly agricultural methods that promote healthy soils, water, food crops and eco-systems. 

The garden will be located just east of SDSU near the Children's Center. The location has been approved by the San Diego City Planning Department. Several private landowners have agreed to allow the CACG to garden lower portions of their properties in exchange for reasonable leasing fees and SDSU has authorized use of campus roads for access.

CAGC represents a new and exciting collaboration between SDSU and the College Area. The newly elected board includes SDSU student and faculty representatives as well as College Area residents.   College Viwe Estates Association (CVEA) is represented on the CACG Board, with Henry Bertram serving as president, Alicia Wolf, treasurer, and Pat McGann and Sally Ellis involved in planning.     

The College Neighborhood Foundation (CNF) serves as CACG's official fiscal sponsor.  Funds are being raised to support the garden. CSU Student Association has awarded grant money and private donors have pledged money for matching contributions. CAGC is a not-for-profit association, and the CNF has IRS 501(c)3 status, so tax deductible donations may be made through this foundation.  For further information about the garden and making tax deductible donations, please email Henry Bertram at cacg.sandiego@yahoo.com.

Good News for the Rolando Community

The Rolando Community has recently had cause for concern about the Centrepoint Project going up at 63rd and El Cajon Blvd.  The project had been billed as luxury apartments, consistent with what the Eastern Planning Group had previously approved for the spot.  When the previous developer declared bankruptcy and a new developer took over, it was assumed that the project remained unchanged, and the City's Development Services Department declared the development a Process 1 project, meaning that no further community review was required.

Rolando residents were understandably surprised to learn that the project had been substantially reconfigured to include a number of four bedroom, four bath units that implied the development had been reoriented as dormitory style student housing. 

The residents approached Mayor Filner and District 9 Councilmember Marti Emerald with their concerns.  After re-examining the sequence of events, Development Services Director Kelley Broughton declared that, due to the substantial changes in the nature of the project, it should in fact be rated as a Process 3 project, meaning that further neighborhood review is required.

It is unusual for the City to re-classify a project once construction has begun, and this represents a significant victory for the Rolando Community.  Kudos to Mayor Filner and Councilmember Emerald for their commitment to responding to neighborhood input.

Predatory Home Buyers

It's Spring, and in the College Area that sometimes means that predatory home buyers are out in hordes.  We've recently seen a plethora of signs around the neighborhood such as this:

"We Buy Houses, any condition, cash paid. Call xxx"

"Flip burgers $10, flip houses $10,000. Call xxx"

"Real estate trainee wanted. Call xxx."

You may even have gotten a postcard recently that read "Urgent: We want to buy your home.  Contact us ASAP at xxx." What all these signs and cards have in common is that they're posted by predatory agents who want to buy houses in the College Area at below market rates, and turn them into mini-dorms, sober living homes, or other below market rental properties.  If you're thinking of selling your home, don't be fooled by these predators.  Contact a reputable real estate agent or consider For Sale by Owner. 

If you see one of these signs around, take note of the location of the sign and the phone number written on it.  You can contact the Code Enforcement and Nuisance Rental Housing Committee of the College Area Community Council at info@cacc.org, and they will forward the information to the City's Code Enforcement Officer for the College Area, who will see that the sign is removed.

Our Wild Neighbors

Our neighborhood has many canyons, and wild life inhabits these canyons. Coyotes and rattlesnakes are a continued threat on our pets. Baby Rattlesnakes have already been found in our canyons this Spring, earlier than usual.

Last summer rattlesnakes bit four dogs, with two of them perishing from the bite.  Just recently another dog lost her battle with a rattlesnake after being bitten. Be sure to keep your ears and eyes open when around low growing brush and grasses. Call 911 if you are bitten.