Planning Commission to consider allowing 10-story buildings downtown Meeting set for Oct. 1 Jeremy Ogul Editor
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A nine-story building could obstruct the view from this home on El Capitan Drive. (Photo by Jeremy Ogul)
ust about everyone in La Mesa agrees the used-car and RV lots in the city’s downtown need to go. The property east of Baltimore Drive and south of El Cajon Boulevard is ripe for a modern development that could enhance the city’s aesthetics, provide much-needed housing and breathe new life into the downtown economy, not to mention the city’s tax coffers. The community consensus begins to crumble, however, at the next question: How much should the property be allowed to change? How
many homes can be squeezed onto the 4.5-acre lot? How many stories should new buildings be allowed to rise above street level? Members of La Mesa’s Kitzman family, which has owned the property for decades, say they want to transform the land into a 21st-century, walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented mixeduse development called Park Station at the Crossroads of La Mesa. They envision condos, an upscale hotel and new shops and restaurants in buildings up to nine stories. The problem with their plan: Current zoning requirements limit building heights in the area See PARK STATION page 12
Last call at Parkway Bar
Neighborhood hangout to close Marty
Graham
T Todd Tobias frequently flips through his binders full of football cards from the American Football League era of the 1960s. (Photo by Morgan M. Hurley)
Native La Mesan is all about the AFL
Football and history fuel his passions Morgan M. Hurley Contributing Editor
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ou could say Todd Tobias was born in the wrong decade. The 41-year-old La Mesa native became a rabid sports fan after getting his first baseball card at the age of five, but his greatest passion is the short-lived American Football League (AFL) of the 1960s, a decade he missed completely. Tobias has made a career out of his love of sports. He spent many years working for the San Diego Hall of Champions sports museum, managing its awards program, helping it transition to its current location and acting as curator. He also worked for the San Diego Chargers managing their memorabilia and outfitting their professional offices;
he helped the San Diego Padres with their throw-back displays at the new Petco Park; he managed personal memorabilia collections for various pro football players; and he’s made a good living doing what he loves best, being one of the most — if not the most — diligent collectors of historic sports memorabilia around. Tobias is all La Mesan. He was born at Grossmont Hospital, graduated from Grossmont High School and went to college at the University of San Diego, all while living in La Mesa. He continues to live there with his wife and three children today. His love for the AFL came after he decided to write his master’s thesis on Sid Gilman, the first head coach of the San Diego Chargers. He has amassed a tremendous amount of AFL memorabilia in the 15 or 16 years since, purchasing from professional athletes, eBay, and garage and estate sales. Items he’s picked See FOOTBALL page 14
he lights are dim and the wood is old and polished inside the Parkway Bar, the acoustical tile ceiling painted a dark red. It smells faintly of mustiness and bleach; amplifiers and microphones stand randomly near the small, low stage. The bar feels small — tucked between a pho restaurant and a Thai restaurant in a rundown strip mall on Fletcher Parkway east of Highway 125 where the most prominent tenant is Souplantation. This is a neighborhood bar — a gathering place for the La Mesa regulars that opens at 10 a.m. every day. Local artists’ work hangs on the walls, and the old bricks and beams in the back have been painted the same deep red as the ceiling tiles. The U-shaped bar has beer taps at one end, next to a chalkboard on the wall that says “38 days to closing.” On Nov. 1, the Parkway — which has been in operation since at least 1968, will close. The owners of the strip mall had told tenants about their plans to renovate the mall and sent owners Doug and Katie Halvin a
See PARKWAY page 16
Parkway Bar owner Katie Halvin displays a collectible t-shirt at the bar. (Photo by Marty Graham)