California legislators put water bond to the voters
Groff painting from Hemingway Street’s Open Space Park in San Carlos (Courtesy Larry Groff)
Local artist captures C beauty of San Carlos
Doug Curlee
Editor at Large
Ken Denbow
A
rtists create space with unique parameters and feelings. Authors J.K. Rowling in “Harry Potter” and J. R. R. Tolkien in “Lord of the Rings” created imaginary worlds where wizards, unicorns, Hobbits and dragons abound. Mark Twain, in “Huckleberry Finn,”
and Harper Lee, in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” view the “real world” through the eyes of a child to show the evils of slavery and racial stereotypes using humor and satire in the former and gripping drama in the latter. Da Vinci painted the “Mona Lisa,” an ordinary woman with an enchanting smile, which has fascinated viewers for 500 years. San Carlos resident and artist Larry Groff paints unique scenes
from San Diego, particularly the San Carlos community, that portray the beauty of the area infused with feelings ranging from the tranquility of a neighborhood with Cowles Mountain in the background to the frenetic interchanges of the Grossmont freeway overpass. His talent was recently recognized at his first one-man show at Prince Street See ARTIST page 23
‘Megadorm’ will stay Jeremy Ogul Contributing Editor
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hey did everything they could to stop it, but neighbors in the Rolando area southeast of San Diego State will have to live with BLVD63, a new 332-unit luxury apartment complex on El Cajon Boulevard. Nearly a year of legal wrangling among neighborhood homeowners, the city of San Diego and developer Carmel Partners ended in late August with a judge’s ruling that the project was not a
dormitory and that the neighbors’ environmental claims were barred by a statute of limitations. Tenants — mostly students — began moving into the apartments in late August, before Judge Katherine Bacal made the final ruling in the case. A group of neighbors calling themselves Rolandans for Quality Infill Development sued the city and the developer last fall, alleging that the city did not follow its own procedures requiring extensive community review for studentSee MEGADORM page 18
alifornia legislators have provided the state’s voters with the chance to decide whether the decision to pass a 7.5 billion dollar bond to repair California’s decrepit water system was a wise choice or not. The bond issue will appear as Proposition 1 on the Nov. 4 general election ballot. Legislators say they think the bond issue will pass, if for no other reason than the fact that the ongoing drought the state is embroiled in will make up their minds for BILLION them. Cost of Although the Gov. Jerry state Senate Brown’s passed the bill plan to 37-0 and only build two Assembly tunnels members voted under the against it, that Delta does not mean there is unanimous support for all of the issues in that bond. There were compromises made all through the yearlong process that upset as many people as they made happy. Three questions will dominate the debate as it moves toward Election Day:
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Who’s in favor? Students began moving into BLVD63 last month. (Photo by Jeremy Ogul)
Most of what’s called the water See WATER page 5
Grantville redevelopment proceeding slowly Doug Curlee Editor at Large
T An outline of the Grantville redevelopment project. (City of San Diego)
he city’s plan to recreate the image of Grantville as an urban infill full of homes, apartments, condos and stores is moving along the tracks laid down by the city’s planners. It’s actually moving along the tracks of the San Diego Trolley as it winds its way from Santee all the way through Mission Valley. A ride along that route shows you
exactly what planners have in mind as you see the apartments, condos and businesses surrounding almost every other trolley stop on the route. There are a couple of potential roadblocks standing in the way of all this. A group called the Grantville Action Group has been loud and persistent in saying its supporters like Grantville just the way it is. The group sued and lost in a challenge of where redevelopment money See GRANTVILLE page 19