A Chula Vista community that sits next to a San Diego Metropolitan Transit System trolley station has been asking the agency to close their community off from the area for months, citing high crime.
Holiday Gardens, a residential community that sits adjacent to the H Street trolley station, has two open pedestrian accessways in a wall that connect the community to the station’s parking lot.
On November 19 of last year, the Holiday Gardens Homeowners Association board submitted a formal request to the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System to close the pedestrian access points connecting Colorado Avenue to the MTS parking lot.
The request mentioned many incidents that affected the community, like drug use, homeless encampments, vandalism and indecent exposure incidents.
The request also mentioned that the pedestrian access area used to be closed off, but was opened at the request of the HOA during a period of significantly lower crime.
On November 20 of last year Javier Haros, president of the Holiday Gardens HOA, brought up the issue of the open accessways at an MTS board meeting.
“Now that times have changed, we’re coming back to the board, asking if it could be closed,” Haros said, adding that the Holiday Gardens HOA is willing to fund the construction of a perimeter wall modification with a secured pedestrian gate that would be subject to MTS review and approval.
At that same meeting, David Jentz, a Holiday Gardens HOA board member, also requested that the accessways be closed.
“We think by fencing off this gate, pedestrians would go down more well-lit streets and it would cause less issues for us as the HOA,” Jentz said.
Haros brought up the issue again a month later with a written statement to the board. According to MTS, Haros submitted photos, incident reports and a proposed detour for the board’s review.
At an MTS board meeting from June, Haros returned to request an update regarding the pedestrian access closure proposal that was submitted in November.
“Over the past several years, residents have documented significant and ongoing public safety, security, and quality of life concerns associated with the unrestricted access points connecting the station area to our neighborhood,” Haros said. “These issues have resulted in repeated impacts on residents, property, community infrastructure, and the overall safety of the area.”
Since submitting their request, Haros said that residents have continued to document incidents in that area.
The Holiday Gardens HOA proposed a new route that would prevent people from easily entering the community through the parking lot. (Photo courtesy of Holiday Gardens HOA)“MTS and the City of Chula Vista are working collaboratively to address the loitering concerns raised by residents of the Holiday Gardens community adjacent to the H Street Transit Center,” according to a statement from MTS.
“MTS is committed to identifying a solution that balances transit accessibility, public safety, and the quality of life of nearby residents, while continuing to serve the needs of MTS riders,” the statement added.
A spokesperson for the city of Chula Vista said in a statement to Times of San Diego that they are in the planning stage for their outreach efforts to address these issues.
“Our next steps on this matter include reaching out to the community over the coming weeks to better understand their interest in closing off the pedestrian access,” the spokesperson said. “Additionally, the Chula Vista Police Department will be working with the HOA and the community to develop a Neighborhood Watch Program.”
Haros said that his next step will be to gather signatures from the community, so they can see that it isn’t just the HOA who is asking for the area to be closed off.
Haros said that MTS has been unresponsive with his requests.
“At least respond back to the people who say something,” Haros said. “Even if you’re not gonna do anything about it, just tell them that you looked at it.”
Drug use has gone down a little bit this year, Haros said, because the community has been making a lot of reports and is working with detectives.
“This, I can truly say, is the first summer where I actually saw somewhat of a change,” Haros said, “but as soon as we let up just a little bit, they come back.”
Haros said that he doesn’t mind if the community isn’t perfect, but he believes that more can be done to protect people in the area.
“We just want it manageable, so we can live in peace and not worry about who’s gonna break in,” Haros said.
Haros said that a lot of crime happens in the area because it is so open. He said that a lot of it comes from the H Street parking lot.
“It’s like a little hideout,” Haros said.
Haros points out that the H Street area is a bad look for the city.
“We got the convention center right across the freeway,” Haros said. “Do you guys want tourists coming here and seeing all this when they want to walk throughout the community to get some tacos over here on Broadway?”
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