58.9 F
San Diego
Monday, Mar 18, 2024
-Advertisement-

Ethics Violation Alleged Regarding New Library

Ethics Violation Alleged Regarding New Library

BY MANDY JACKSON

Staff Writer

Rep. Bob Filner, D-Chula Vista, has asked the San Diego Ethics Commission to investigate a grant application that the city filed with the California Library Board to help fund a new San Ysidro library branch.

The $14.7 million, 25,000-square-foot library is slated for the second floor of a building in the next phase of the Las Americas shopping center near the U.S./Mexico border, developed by San Diego-based LandGrant Development.

The city applied to the state’s Library Board for a $9.5 million grant. The city would provide matching funds of 35 percent of the cost of the project , $2 million combined with a contribution from LandGrant valued at $3.2 million, according to Anna Tat & #225;r, director of the San Diego Public Library system.

Filner alleges that the valuation provided by the city on the application, approved by the San Diego City Council in May, is fraudulent. He said the value of property donated by the developer was exaggerated to increase the state’s matching funds for the project.

LandGrant donated second floor air rights, 152 parking spaces and common area maintenance fees, which were independently appraised at $3.2 million. The developer will build the facility, but the city will own the second floor, similar to a condominium, according to Robert Chavez, a project manager for the city’s Redevelopment Agency.

In a press statement, Filner said the public money provided by the state would be used by the city to lease the second floor of a building at Las Americas, and to pay for improvements to the building in order to benefit the developer by bringing increased traffic to the shopping center.

Also, he said the library would be built at the edge of the community in an unsafe place for children, rather than a site in the middle of San Ysidro selected by community residents.

Tat & #225;r said San Ysidro’s current library facility serves more than 32,000 people. It opened in 1924 and was expanded in 1984, but it is only 4,089 square feet and does not have designated parking spaces.

Tat & #225;r said San Ysidro needs a library that includes a community room, more computers and a larger collection of materials, including an expanded Spanish-language collection. Adequate parking is important also, she said.

Tat & #225;r said the site at Las Americas was chosen for two reasons , the 152 parking spaces and because the shopping center is a high traffic area.

The new Mission Valley branch library, for instance, is in the Fenton Marketplace on Friars Road, along with stores such as furniture retailer Ikea, Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse and Costco Warehouse. Tat & #225;r said the library attracts 1,000 visitors per day.

The city’s application was initially denied by the library board, which said the environmental impact report conducted by LandGrant in 1998 was not complete. The city appealed the decision contending that the report included plans for a cultural center, and the library qualifies for that label, Tat & #225;r said.

As of Sept. 6,the library board is again considering the city’s application. In 2000, California voters approved Prop. 14, which provided $350 million in grant money for library projects around the state.

LandGrant opened 370,000 square feet of restaurants and shops for the first phase of the 1.4 million-square-foot Las Americas in November.

Leases and financing are in place for the next phase of 270,000 square feet of additional stores and restaurants and the developer expects to begin construction in the next six months, said LandGrant president Sam Marasco at a meeting for the San Diego/Tijuana chapter of the Urban Land Institute held at Las Americas on Sept. 10.

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-