How to make a National City resident mad: Tell them you’ve selected their city as the site of a new industrial development that wealthier, more powerful cities would never allow.
This Thursday, in an effort to avoid that unhappy scenario, the developer of a new Port of San Diego electric truck charging station proposed on port property in National City is holding a community meeting to outline the project, take questions from the public and, project proponents hope, win over city residents long accustomed to viewing the rosy promises of industrial developers with skepticism.
Such meetings are standard fare in big development projects. This one takes on added significance because it comes at a time of ongoing tension between National City and the port.
The two public entities have been at odds in recent years over issues ranging from National City’s representative on the port’s Board of Port Commissioners to how much the port pays the city for municipal services such as policing and firefighting on port property.
“We want to make sure constituents feel included,” said John Friedrich, chief development officer for Skycharger, a national electric vehicle infrastructure company that was selected by the port to build the 4.8-acre truck charging facility on Tidelands Avenue near the National City Marine Terminal.
“In my view, [the charging facility] brings environmental and economic benefits to the community,” Friedrich said. “We want to have it be rooted in a local community benefit mindset.”
If built as planned, the charging facility would resemble an interstate highway truck stop, with 70 charging ports for trucks of various sizes plus a convenience store with restrooms for truck drivers. There would also be a solar panel array atop a canopy shading the charging ports. The solar panels would supply power to the charging ports and send excess electricity to a 1.25-megawatt onsite storage battery.
The project is part of the port’s Maritime Clean Air Strategy, a multipronged effort to reduce port-generated pollution and transition port infrastructure to alternative energy sources.
Though California regulators recently withdrew an ambitious plan to phase out diesel trucks statewide, the port is continuing its own efforts. Friedrich said a long-term goal is switching most if not all trucks serving the port, especially those ferrying goods from one part of the port to another or to local warehouses, to electric power.
“The project will reduce air pollution in National City,” he said.
Residents and city officials aren’t so sure. Mayor Ron Morrison has said he worries the charging station will draw even more trucks to an already clogged area and raise the risk of toxic electric battery fires. Though the charging station’s storage battery is small compared to larger storage facilities that recently have caught fire, an electric truck that overturned at the Port of Los Angeles last year burned for 24 hours, emitting toxic fumes.
Friedrich said the National City charging station will have a 24-hour security operation and will have cameras connected to the city’s police and fire departments to ensure the city can respond to emergencies quickly.
“We will keep having [community meetings] to make sure we’re listening and responding to input on how to maximize benefits,” he said.
The Skycharger community meeting to discuss plans for an electric truck charging facility in National City takes place at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 1, at the National City Aquatic Center, 3300 Pepper Park Pl. in National City. More information here.
South County’s Economic Future
South County’s four mayors – Paloma Aguirre of Imperial Beach, John Duncan of Coronado, John McCann of Chula Vista and Ron Morrison of National City – appeared onstage together Tuesday and did their best to predict their region’s economic future at a time of economic and political uncertainty.
One word summed up their discussion at the annual South County Economic Development Council Economic Summit at the Liberty Station Conference Center in San Diego: “Headwinds.”
Several of the mayors used that term to describe what they foresee for their cities and the rest of South San Diego County.
“We’re at the bottom of the food chain,” Morrison said, referring to cities’ relative lack of power over state, national and international developments that impact cities’ economies.
Aguirre cited “the big-T elephant in the room: Tariffs.” Duncan said the entire regional economy was imperiled by the ongoing sewage crisis in the Tijuana River, which he said threatens not only residents’ health but also tourism and major new business initiatives, such as a luxury resort hotel opening later this year in Chula Vista.
McCann also cited tariffs as a problem and lumped in with them what he described as overly rigid and prescriptive state housing rules that “take away local control [and] hurt cities for being able to build housing.”
Duncan joked about another elephant in the conference center ballroom: The fact that Aguirre and McCann are currently locked in a tight race to fill a vacant seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
Duncan took a diplomatic approach: “I’m happy one of these two mayors will be our next Supervisor,” he said.
There was no politicking on the summit stage. Though the race between Aguirre and McCann promises to be bruising, the two were cordial during the morning’s discussion. Both pointed out that they have worked together in the past, including traveling with a bipartisan delegation of local leaders last year to secure additional federal funding to address the sewage issue.
“We have worked well together,” Aguirre said. Her words were echoed by McCann: “It’s a collaboration,” he said.
Happy Trails
It’s been almost two decades since San Diego County officials gave the green light in 2008 to build a loop trail around the Sweetwater Reservoir northeast of Bonita.
Since then, hikers, horseback riders and other lovers of peaceful outdoor spaces have waited…and waited.
Last week, the wait inched closer to being over. On April 23, governing board members of Sweetwater Authority, the water agency that manages the reservoir, approved a proposal to cooperate with county officials to design, build and maintain a trail that loops around the entire reservoir, connecting to a network of existing trails that currently encircle only part of the reservoir.
Many details of the project, including the final layout of the trails and who will pay for maintenance and other ongoing costs remain to be worked out between the authority and the county.
But the proposal approved last week puts the authority’s stamp of approval on the project and brings it closer to reality.
“This is HUGE for South County residents and trail users,” one advocate said after the meeting. Some people have “been waiting [their] whole [lives] for this.”
In Other News
Assemblymember David Alvarez continues his efforts to reexamine California environmental policies to ensure they do not unduly burden state residents. Alvarez already co-sponsored legislation to modify state environmental laws to make it easier to build housing. Now he will co-chair a legislative committee that plans to scrutinize recent new clean air policies that critics say will raise the price of gasoline.
In a statement, Alvarez said the clean air policy committee would examine how the new policy “is implemented, who benefits from clean fuel incentives and how we can improve the transition to a low-carbon economy without unnecessary costs to consumers.”