Tone Deaf SDCI Forces Escala to Appeal!
After 5 years, 8 Plan Sets, and 10 rounds of corrections, you would think the Applicant for the 5th & Stewart Altitude project (#3018037) could come up with a functional design…but NO, they could NOT, mostly because they are trying to put too much on a “postage-stamp” site.
Absent a functional design, they focused on legal shenanigans, and the tone deaf SDCI simply rolled over once again on transportation matters, accepting the applicant’s “fantasyland” info virtually verbatim. Consequently, the Escala Owners Association has come to the aid of the neighborhood and Appealed SDCI approval of their nonfunctional design, and requested issuance of a Land Use Code interpretation for the project.
The tower's current loading and waste design will cause major back-ups in its alley and surrounding streets. None of its berths will fit the trucks for which they're intended. There is no space on the alley for garbage collection. No Transportation or Dock Management Plan can overcome this kind of defective infrastructure.
Without substantive changes, the entrance to the alley behind this proposed Altitude project will be a “choke point” restricting traffic for this project, the Centennial Building right across the alley, and both Escala and the proposed 5th & Virginia project at the other end of this alley block, not to mention causing pedestrian safety issues and gridlock on Stewart Street.
Stay tuned!
