This document is the understanding and opinion of Save Civita Because Sudberry Won’t (“Save Civita”)
Since 2011, the sales disclosures for new homes purchased in Civita included the following language:
“Phyllis Place is located to the north of the Civita Community. Currently there is no access to the Civita Community from Phyllis Place. However, it is possible that, in the future, there will be a connection through Phyllis Place to and from the other areas within Serra Mesa and areas to the north of Civita. If there is a connection from Civita through Phyllis Place, it is very likely that traffic will increase as residents and other member of the public use the roadways within Civita to access Mission Valley, the freeway and areas south of Phyllis Place.”
On October 30, 2017, the San Diego City Council approved the “Serra Mesa Community Plan Amendment – Phyllis Place Street Connection” under Item 200 on its agenda. This vote was the last step to what some people had considered an already-approved connector by the City Council in 2008.
Because of this approval, the language in the sales disclosures needs to be changed to reflect the accuracy of the situation. It is no longer accurate to represent that this is a “possible” connector or merely that it is “very likely that traffic will increase.”
In addition, the original marketing map prepared by Sudberry Properties (SP), which has been included in the sales disclosures, showed a dead-end at the northern most point where Via Alta and Franklin Ridge intersected. There was no indication of the “possible” connector between Civita and Interstate 805.
SP has been informed by Civita residents for roughly three years that it should revise the marketing map because they believed it inaccurately described the situation with the connector. Only when residents stood on the sidewalks of Via Alta in April 2018 and handed out flyers warning home buyers of the connector’s dangers did SP change the map to acknowledge the connector.
However, this revised map along with a handout continues to be inaccurate and misleading. (See below for referenced handout and map.)
| SP’s Inaccurate and Misleading Statements in their Handout and Map. | What Residents Have Learned |
|---|---|
| A. The inset of the freeway connector depicted on the map and in the handout is illustrated as a narrow, 2-lane residential road. | The freeway connector approved by the City of San Diego is designed to be a major 4-lane roadway. Based on the City’s final environmental impact report, on the connector’s opening day the average daily vehicle trips will be 23,217 (16 cars every minute) and by 2035 they will be 34,117 (24 cars every a minute). |
| B. The map inset gives the impression that the area where the dog park is located will be unaffected. | At least half of the area for large dogs will be eliminated with the construction of the connector. Phyllis Place Park will be bisected by the 4-lane connector, and Phyllis Place will be increased to 5 lanes. |
| C. In SP’s handout buyers at Promontory, entitled “Facts about the Franklin Ridge Road connection,” it states: ❖Sudberry Properties has maintained a neutral position about the road connection since 2005 and remains neutral today." | According to disclosure forms filed with the City of San Diego, SP’s representatives met with City officials 10 times in 2017 and 5 times in 2016. The disclosure forms are available here: netfile.com [perform a search for "Sudberry"] The Organization Lobbyist Quarterly Disclosure Report filed with the City in 2017 for SP states that the outcome sought was: “Serra Mesa Community Plan Amendment Street Connection." |
| D. In SP’s handout buyers at Promontory, entitled “Facts about the Franklin Ridge Road connection,” it states: ❖“The speed limit on the existing roads in Civita is 35 MPH and would not change if the road connection is built" ❖"If the connector road is built, the speed limit on the connector road will be 35 MPH (it will not be 55 MPH)." | There has been no speed limit established for existing roads in Civita. There are no speed-limit signs on Via Alta or Franklin Ridge. At this time, nobody knows what the posted speed limit will be. A speed limit cannot be posted without a traffic and engineering survey first being conducted by the City’s Traffic Engineer, and there is no evidence that such a survey has been done. (California Vehicle Code § 40802A-speed trap). However, Section 3.3.1.1 and Figure 3-7 in the City’s final environmental impact report states that the design speed limit on the connector road will be 55 mph. |
For these reasons, Save Civita believes that the sales disclosures from this point forward should make the following disclosure (or use words with substantially the same meaning) in lieu of the existing disclosure: “The 4-lane connector road will allow vehicles traveling from Interstate 805 to exit at Phyllis Place and travel adjacent to Promontory and through Civita. The connector has received final approval by the City of San Diego. According to the City, on the connector road’s opening day the average daily trips for vehicles will be 23,217; and by 2035, the average daily trips for vehicles will be 34,117. Passenger vehicles and commercial trucks will be allowed to travel up to 55 miles per hour on the connector road and, until a traffic study is requested and performed, on both Via Alta and Franklin Ridge Road too.
A May 2018 report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reinforces Save Civita’s concerns. Available at http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/53/3/1, the report describes a scenario strikingly similar to what can be found in Civita: half-mile stretches of roads in a dense residential area with no crosswalks or traffic calming, where the City plans to use the roads to funnel traffic to and from freeways.
Quotes from the report:
“Pedestrian deaths have jumped 46 percent since reaching their lowest point in 2009, as pedestrian crashes have become both deadlier and more frequent. The increase has been mostly in urban or suburban areas, at non-intersections, on arterials — busy roads designed mainly to funnel vehicle traffic toward freeways — and in the dark, a new IIHS study shows. Crashes were increasingly likely to involve SUVs and high-horsepower vehicles.” “The large increase in pedestrian deaths on arterials isn’t surprising. These roads often have a shortage of convenient and safe crossing locations.”
“’When people are forced to walk long distances to the nearest signalized intersection, they are more likely to choose the riskier option of sprinting across multiple lanes of traffic,’ David Harkey, IIHS President says. Communities can improve safety by providing more options to safely cross.”
Sudberry Properties Handout and Revised Map Introduced in April, 2018. The letters in red below, reference the table above.
This is the Revised Map that was on the Reverse Side of the Above Handout:
Sudberry Properties has been informed by Civita residents for roughly three years that it should revise the marketing map because they believed it inaccurately described the situation with the connector. Only when residents stood on the sidewalks of Via Alta in April 2018 and handed out flyers warning home buyers of the connector’s dangers did Sudberry change the map to acknowledge the connector.
This was the Original Map Used from 2011 to early 2018:
The above map was used from 2011 to early 2018 for marketing and sales disclosures distributed by Sudberry, New Homes, Shea Homes, Ryland (now CalAtlantic) and TRI Point. It shows a dead-end at the northern point where Via Alta and Franklin Ridge join (C). There is no indication of the “possible” freeway connector between Civita and Interstate 805.