LA MESA, Calif. — "I’m battling a monster is how I see it. I’m just a resident here in La Mesa and I’ve been here for a very long time. I’m doing this to bring awareness, there’s a lot of people who feel the same way too," Araceli Guerrero said.
Guerrero has lived in her La Mesa home on Keeney Street for 27 years. She reached out to CBS 8 looking for answers about why a new development planned to be built across the street was approved without community input, and had concerns over fire lanes.
The apartment complex will be built at the end of Keeney Street, replacing a house. It will have 19 units total, three or four of them will be affordable housing units. It will be a four-story building with a parking garage for 21 cars.
"I’ve reached out to the City of La Mesa, I’ve been basically transferred around, hung up on, basically I’m being ignored," Guerero said.
Her son, Christian Jones, is a civil engineer. He said the road between Guerrero's house and the new development needed to be 26 feet wide according to California fire code to allow fire trucks through, although the road is only about 20 feet.
"The one thing that should really be preventing this from happening is the width of the roads. They are not designed to accommodate for these types of facilities and it really is putting everyone at risk," Jones said.
He emailed the fire marshal with his concerns.
“The next following month, the code that I cited that would have enforced a 26 foot requirement was removed," Jones said. "Now its 20 feet and the reasoning to me is not really clear why."
We reached out to Heartland Fire and Rescue. The fire chief told CBS 8, "the 20 foot requirement is in compliance with current fire code" and the state requirement has been in effect at least since 2009.
To find out more, I reached out to the project development company. We spoke with Justin Brennan, a partner representing the development with Keeney Street LLC.
"The fire code comes number one. The fire marshals, fire safety, I mean, they're not going to let us do anything that is not stamped and approved by them," Brennan said.
Brennan said they are in full compliance with the fire code, the fire marshal and the city.
"These are all the fire marshal's requirements, so they designed it, they told us what they wanted," Brennan said. "We've done everything they've asked for and more."
Guerrero also said she was never notified or asked about the project before it was approved.
“Immediately I reached out to the City of La Mesa. I’ve called I’ve emailed, I wrote them letters and the response I received from them was ‘there’s nothing you can do the project’s been approved’," Guererro said.
She said a similar project was proposed years ago and was shut down by concerns from residents. Brennan said there are different requirements for approval depending on the type of project.
"So there's ones that require community involvement and there's ones that do not," Brennan said. "So this one does not, because it involves affordable housing and all kinds of other things involved in it."
Another concern of Guerrero's is the private road that leads to her house. She said she owns the property the road is on, but it will now be used as an entrance to the new units.
"I have to maintain (the road), I’m liable for the insurance, I’m liable for the property tax. I reached out to the City of La Mesa, I’m going to continue to be liable," Guerrero said.
I asked Brennan about the new development using the privately- owned road. He said both the developers and Guerrero have easement rights to the road and will each be responsible for any damages or issues they cause individually.
The City of La Mesa sent CBS 8 a statement that said,
"The City of La Mesa supports the creation of necessary new housing in the region. Most of the new housing created today in La Mesa is infill development or on more challenging vacant sites. The City understands that there are concerns from residents regarding this new proposed development and have met with those residents on multiple occasion in an attempt to address those concerns. In addition, the City brokered meetings between the developer and the concerned residents in an effort to ensure that the issues could be addressed as best as possible by the developer."
The project has been approved, but Guerrero is still hoping to see change in the future.
"I’m asking for the City of La Mesa to do the right thing, put safety of the residents above profit," Guerrero said. "So this doesn't happen to someone else like it has happened to me."
There is no set construction date or timeline for the new units yet. Brennan said they are waiting for final permits.
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