CCDC Won’t Try to Derail Teen Shelter : Development: Center for homeless youth has been approved for Marina area downtown.

Father Joe Carroll won a narrow victory Friday when the board of directors for San Diego’s downtown redevelopment agency turned down an effort to oppose a shelter for homeless teens.

The 3-1 vote by the seven-member Centre City Development Corp. board fell short of majority approval on a motion to support an appeal, to the San Diego City Council, to revoke a permit for a shelter in the Marina area. Two board members abstained and one was absent. The permit was given to a group headed by Father Carroll.

Odmark & Thelan, a local development company, had asked CCDC officials to support an attempt to revoke the permit issued by the San Diego Planning Commission. The board’s newest member, attorney Raul Silva, was the lone vote against supporting the appeal.

“I voted against the motion for a number of reasons. . . . After reviewing the files, it looked like Father Carroll had gone through the whole process and done everything right. It was also my impression that the CCDC staff had been notified of the project but never came before the board to deal with it on a policy level, until today,” said Silva.

He said the CCDC staff knew of Father Carroll’s plans for the shelter, called Teen Quest and sponsored by St. Vincent de Paul Society, for at least six months. It is to be located at 633 State St. and will house 30 teen-agers.

Although a CCDC subcommittee had recommended that the board support the appeal, Harvey Mandel, St. Vincent de Paul assistant director of development, said he was not surprised by the vote.

“Father Joe explained the program. He explained the need and emphasized the fact that he didn’t think the appeal was legitimate,” said Mandel. “There was no reason to appeal, and they (CCDC) haven’t been shown any new evidence that was not given to the planning commission,” said Mandel.

On Thursday, developer John D. Thelan said his company was appealing the permit because the shelter is incompatible with the city’s redevelopment plans for the area. San Diego planners have earmarked the block where the shelter will be located for residential housing. The shelter will be in a vacant warehouse.

Odmark & Thelan is building the 96-unit Watermark condominium project a block from the Teen Quest site. Another condominium project completed by the company, the 103-unit Columbia Palace, is across the street from the shelter site.

The appeal will be heard by the City Council at its March 19 meeting. The permit was granted on a unanimous vote by the Planning Commission on Jan. 10.

Pam Hamilton, CCDC’s executive vice president, said board members John Davies and Patrick Kruer abstained from the vote. Davies, an attorney, works for a law firm that represents several clients living at the Meridian condominium complex, Hamilton said. The Meridian Residential Assn. opposed the shelter.

Kruer, a real estate developer, has a business partnership with Larry Cushman, owner of the block where Teen Quest will be located, she added.

Board member Gil Ontai was absent from Friday’s meeting. However, in a letter to other board members, Ontai said he would vote against supporting the appeal.