INSIDE CITY HALL Here are a few...

INSIDE CITY HALL

Here are a few of the issues the council decided Tuesday.

ST. MARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

The council approved a general-plan amendment for the church to

allow it to build a new facility at San Joaquin Hills Road and

MacArthur Boulevard, an amendment to the Big Canyon planned

community, a use permit to allow for new construction, a traffic

study and a tentative parcel map.

The project, in the works for more than a year, entails a

34,000-square-foot facility to replace the church’s current site next

to Our Lady Queen of Angels Roman Catholic Church in the Eastbluff

neighborhood.

WHAT IT MEANS

Church officials can now progress with their working drawings and

submit them to the building department for permits.

WHAT WAS SAID

“St. Mark’s has created a low-density, environmentally sensitive

site plan that does not generate substantial traffic, and it was

unanimously supported because it was so environmentally sensitive and

low-density, so it was terrific,” Mayor Tod Ridgeway said. “It’s

really a nice project.”

HOUSING REPORT

The council approved an annual performance report for the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development. The report shows what

the city accomplished with the funds it received from HUD, which are

provided to help cities meet affordable housing and community

development needs of their residents, especially those considered to

have low or moderate levels of income.

The report summarizes the 2003-04 fiscal year, when the city

received $426,000 from HUD. It spent about $408,000 of that amount.

WHAT IT MEANS

The council approved the report.

BRIDGE SEISMIC RETROFIT

The council will consider approving a contract with an engineering

firm for the design and construction support of seismically

retrofitting three city-owned bridges -- the northbound and

southbound Jamboree Road bridges over San Diego Creek and the

Goldenrod Avenue pedestrian bridge over Bayside Drive. The contract

would be for about $279,000.

Staff members are still evaluating whether to recommend the

retrofit or replacement of the Little Island Bridge over Grand Canal

to the council.

WHAT IT MEANS

The council approved the contract.