From: Nathan Maycott
To: Public Comment
Subject: Speeding on K Ave from 12th to 16th Ave
Date: Wednesday, October 4, 2023 9:02:50 PM
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Dear Members of the National City City Council, I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the issue of speeding in our neighborhood, specifically along the stretch between on K Ave between 12th and 16th. Our community's safety and well-being are of utmost importance, and addressing this issue should be a top priority for our city. Over the past five years, I have noticed a significant increase in speeding vehicles within our neighborhood. This reckless behavior not only endangers the lives of our residents but also threatens the overall tranquility and quality of life in our community. Here are some specific issues and observations: 1. Excessive Speeding: Many drivers consistently exceed the posted speed limits on our residential streets, putting pedestrians, especially children and seniors, at significant risk. 2. Lack of Traffic Enforcement: There is a shortage of consistent traffic enforcement in our neighborhood. Frequent police presence and speed limit enforcement serve as a deterrent to potential speeders. 3. School Zones: John A. Otis and National City Middle schools are located near our neighborhood, and speeding vehicles during school hours pose a significant threat to our children. I kindly request that the City Council consider the following actions to address this pressing issue: 1. Increased Traffic Enforcement: I urge the city to allocate additional resources to enforce speed limits and traffic regulations within our neighborhood, especially during peak hours. 2. Traffic Calming Measures: Implementing traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps, radar signs, or strategically placed stop signs, could help reduce speeding and make our streets safer. 3.
Community Education: Initiate awareness campaigns about the importance of adhering to speed limits and the potential consequences of reckless driving. 4. Volunteer Senior Neighborhood Program: Encouraging the formation of reporting and monitoring traffic violations. By taking proactive measures to address the issue of speeding in our neighborhood, we can make our streets safer and improve the overall quality of life for all residents. I am willing to collaborate and support any initiatives to achieve these goals. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to hearing about the steps the City Council plans to take to address our concerns.
Sincerely, Nathan Maycott
General Comment
From: Ted Godshalk
To: Public Comment
Subject: Comment from Ted Godshalk for 10.1 on October 17, 2023 Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 9:08:00 AM
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COMMENTS FROM MR. TED GODSHALK FOR ITEMS 10.1 AND 10.2 of the Council meeting of October 17, 2023.
Council,
Concerning items 10.1 and 10.2, the appeal of a Planning Commission denial of Manna Heaven’s CUP and Round 1’s application for alcohol sales at Plaza Bonita. I request that you deny both applicants based on the alcohol outlet “overconcentration" of the census tract. Plaza Bonita’s owners will try to fill their mall with any business that will pay the rent. They submitted the previous applications knowing that the situation was already over the recommended limit. They will do it again if you approve these two. Will you ever stop this? These restaurants are not neighborhood serving establishments. Smart planning calls for neighborhoods with all services within a five minute walk. Plaza Bonita is outside of most neighborhoods’ radius, even with the new proposed homes in close proximity. Smart planning does not encourage drinking and driving, yet this restaurant and the others at the mall do just that. The Police Department has advised against the second applicant and could have easily made the same recommendation for the first.
If you do not take the overconcentration guidelines seriously, then why does staff continue to report on the recommendation? You should follow earlier Planning Commissions that have said no to the expansion of alcohol outlets past the saturation point. You need to direct the Planning staff and the City Manager, to not send any more of these types of applications to the Planning Commission and to you. You need to ask the City Manager to send a letter to the manager and owners of Plaza Bonita to stop approving these tenants for leases if they include alcohol. If Plaza Bonita needs anything it is condominium housing over the great expanse of parking that it currently has. Making it a true neighborhood there might make some sense if tied into transit along 805.
Our city has too many alcohol outlets already. Is that what you want it to be known for? Thank you, Ted Godshalk
NOTES FROM THE REPORT:
Alcohol Sales Concentration/Location
Per the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), there are currently 10 on-site sale licenses in this census tract (32.04) where a maximum of four are Item 10.1 and 10.2 - Ted Godshalk
recommended, meaning that the census tract is considered by ABC to be over-saturated with regard to alcohol sales outlets. For reference, there are seven on-site alcohol outlets in the census tract within National City (the other three are in Chula Vista). The outlets are:
Applebee’s
Red Robin
Broken Yolk
Outback Steakhouse
Gerry’s Grill
Funky Burgers & Fries
Crab Pub
Census tract 32.04 includes the area south of the Interstate 54, north of Bonita Road, west of Sweetwater Road, and east of the Interstate 805. The attached census tract map shows the location of the subject tract (Attachment 5).
Planning Commission
The Commission recommended denial of the CUP to the Council for reasons of license overconcentration, as outlined above.
“Overconcentration” is defined by ABC as when the ratio of on-sale retail licenses to population in the census tract in which the applicant premises are located exceeds the ratio of on-sale retail licenses to population in the county in which the applicant premises are located. A census tract contains approximately 4,500 residents (+/-).
From: Ted Godshalk
To: Public Comment
Subject: COMMENT FROM MR. TED GODSHALK FOR item 10.4 on October 17, 2023 Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 9:29:33 AM
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COMMENT FROM MR. TED GODSHALK FOR item 10.4 on October 17, 2023 Please reduce the speed limit on Cleveland Avenue from Bay Marina Drive to Civic Center Drive for the following reasons.
There are many pedestrians and bicyclists who use this street, crossing the road, sometimes in the early or dark hours, still during the longer work day. The heavy trucks need to controlled below the current median speed.
There is little compliance with “Truck Routes” requirements.
There are no “traffic calming “measures installed on Cleveland.
There are no crosswalks.
There is inadequate lighting a key intersections and mid-block.
There is a lack of turn lane painted markers.
There is a lot of truck parking with loading and unloading with forklifts in the median turn lane.
There are many potholes which require unsafe maneuvers by motorists.
There is a lack of police enforcement.
There is passing in the middle median of slower vehicles by speeders.
There are speed limit signs that are blocked and not maintained by city staff.
There is double parking in the area and heavy demand for parking, only to get worse with the Bayshore Bikepath coming to McKinley Ave.
There are ineffective, unmaintained, and poorly designed speed indicators signs in two locations on Cleveland Ave.
Lastly, there are serious accidents, unreported accidents, and near accidents every year.
Hoover Ave., National City Blvd., Highland Ave., and Euclid Avenue are all currently posted as 35 miles per hour and are recommended for reduction to 30 MPH. Cleveland Avenue also needs to be made safer. An NC police officer has reported that he cannot ticket speeders for 42 mph on Cleveland. I think you know the police Traffic Unit is understaffed, but the department should increase enforcement on Cleveland Ave. AND be supported by a 30 posted speed limit.
Make it safer for everyone who uses this key street in National City.
Ted Godshalk
Item 10.4 - Ted Godshalk
From: Ted Godshalk
To: Public Comment
Cc: Ron Morrison; Luz Molina
Subject: Comment from Mr. Ted Godshalk for item 11.1 of the Council meeting of October 17, 2023 Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 2:40:41 PM
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Comment from Mr. Ted Godshalk for item 11.1 of the Council meeting of October 17, 2023.
Council,
First, the change Policy 104 to cut off submission time at 12 noon is unacceptable from the public’s perspective. City staff, including the hired City Clerk and other assistants and City Manager’s staff should make the public’s comment opportunities more broad, not more restrictive.
I think you should formally address the uses of the Council District ($100,000 per Councilperson) budgets. You need to follow some guidelines with this portion of the public’s money.
I also think you should adopt new language for the use of El Toyon Park. This was not completed earlier when you opened the park to events.
I submitted these ideas below to you at an earlier meeting. The City Attorney told you that they were not eligible for discussing that night. Please discuss them tonight.
Your annual review and proposed changes to City Council policies should include the following suggestions:
Policy 104 II E. #1- Responsibilities of the City Manager ADD- The City Manager shall provide a written report at each City Council meeting. The report will become part of the approved minutes.
Policy 104. VI. C. 2. Combine points a. and b. with new languageIf the number of speakers for any item, including "Public Comments” and other Agenda Items is ten or less, then each is allowed 3 minutes. "In-person" speakers will go first, followed by ‘Call-In” speakers, followed by “Written” speakers (submitted by paper copy, email, or eScribe). Written comments will be read into the record for three minutes if there are a total of ten or fewer speakers.
If the number of commenters is more than ten, then no written comments are read into the record. “In-person” speakers go first, with “Call-in” speakers following, all with a two minutes time limit. Any written comments that are similar in content, or appear as a “form letter” may be summarized by topic and name of the sender.
At 30 minutes elapsed time on any one agenda item, the mayor may decide that all remaining speakers will be held over to the end of the meeting and the item is then moved on the agenda to the point after all "Staff Reports" items are concluded.
Item 11.1 - Ted Godshalk
The City Clerk will declare and record any request to remove an item from the consent calendar. All procedures for speakers will be the same as above.
Policy VII. N. Staff Reports
ADD- The City Manager shall provide a written report at each City Council meeting and the report shall be included in the minutes.
ADD- The City Manager and the Planning Department shall track the current number of single family dwellings, accessory dwelling units, and apartments in each Council District and include a report of those numbers in the agenda and of all new housing permitted since the previous report at each City Council meeting.
Policy 106- Minutes
ADD to second paragraph- The minutes portion of the City Council meeting devoted to staff, Mayor, City Attorney, and City Manager shall consist of a brief written description of the subject matters and actions taken and shall be included in the minutes.
CHANGE the third paragraph to read- Public Comment, Consent Calendar, and Public Hearings will include a list of all people speaking to the time and a summary of their position or comments.
Policy 107-
ADD to the Appointments section- and new “A” section and move all other sections downward.
ADD- A vacancy on the City Council shall be filled with the appointment of a resident from the District which has the vacancy. The applicant must prove current residency of more than two years. The Mayor will conduct the interview process within 60 days of the vacation of the seat. A simple majority of the voting City Council is required to appoint a person to fill the unexpired term. The Vice Mayor will assume the role of Mayor if the Mayor’s seat is vacated and then conduct the interview process. If the Vice Mayor is unavailable to hold the office of Mayor then the City Council shall appoint the Council member with the most years in office.
Policy 108-
ADD- The City Manager shall submit a written report to the City Council and the public at each City Council meeting.
Policy 114
ADD- in the second sentence change , “On a periodic basis…” to - On a quarterly basis, the City Manager will provide a written report of all grants pending, awarded, and acted upon with contracts to the City Council and the public.
Policy 120
ADD- Section 6- - The rotation of Vice Mayor must not include a representative from the same district with the previous two years.
Ted Godshalk