The Basics

Here are the key elements of the City Council-approved Mission Valley Plan, which will guide development in the valley over the next 15 to 30 years:

- Creation of shuttle bus service within the valley and construction of a trolley line that would run east toward El Cajon along the San Diego River. These improvements are to be financed largely by the valley’s private developers.

- Construction of “a natural-appearing floodway” sufficient to withstand a “100-year flood” with a volume of 49,000 cubic feet of water per second. Along the river, it asks property owners to “conserve important wetland/riparian habitats balanced with expanded urban development.”

- Significantly more development--but less than previous zoning would have allowed. The plan would allow office space to increase from 3.9 million square feet now to 17.2 million square feet. It would allow for 4.3 million square feet of retail space compared to 3.3 million now; 9,799 hotel rooms compared to 4,508 now; 16,026 dwelling units compared to 5,317 now.

- Significantly more traffic would be allowed on valley streets--even compared to Padres home dates. Traffic is expected to increase from the current 300,000 trips a day to 700,000 over the life of the plan. Mayor Roger Hedgecock has described these volumes as a prescription for gridlock and the “Los Angelization” of the valley. But city planners claim that, with adequate “people-moving” systems in place, traffic will be manageable.

- Construction of a fire station.

- Construction of low-income and senior-citizen housing once the trolley is in operation.

- New neighborhood parks, to be paid for by developers, including one near San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium and another near the Mission Valley YMCA. The plan also calls for a community center for valley residents.

- Preserving the steep southern slopes of the valley. Under an amendment requested by Hedgecock and approved by the council Wednesday, it calls for a 40-foot height limit for new or altered buildings constructed near the valley’s southern wall.