Preliminary map splits Torrey Hills between council districts

With a month to go until the San Diego Redistricting Commission votes on a final map of the City Council’s new district boundaries, it voted 7-2 on Nov. 13 to adopt a preliminary redistricting plan and map and submitted it to the city clerk.

In the plan, dubbed the “compromise map,”District 1 would include Carmel Valley, Del Mar Heights, Del Mar Mesa, Pacific Highlands Ranch, La Jolla, UC San Diego, part of Pacific Beach, Torrey Highlands, Torrey Pines and part of Rancho Peñasquitos.

The community of Torrey Hills was split in half between District 1 and District 6. The proposed map also puts all of Los Penasquitos Canyon into District 6—the current map has a boundary line through the center of the canyon.

In the preliminary map, University City also moved from District 1 to District 6.

Kathryn Burton, chair of the Torrey Hills Community Planning Board and member of the District 1 United group, is advocating that the commission keep Torrey Hills whole and in District 1.

Torrey Hills, she said, shares no communities of interest with District 6 and they are separated by the 7.5 mile-long Los Penasquitos Canyon.

“The (preliminary) map is titled ‘Keeping a community together makes sense’ but it divides Torrey Hills and it doesn’t need to divide Torrey Hills at all,” Burton said. “Torrey Hills should remain in District 1 with our communities of interest: Carmel Valley, Torrey Pines and Del Mar Mesa.”

According to the city, council districts must be composed of contiguous territory, be made roughly equal in population based on U.S. Census data and be as geographically compact as possible. The districts also must be bordered by natural boundaries, street lines and/or city lines as much as possible.

San Diego has about 1.39 million residents, so each of its nine council districts will need about 154,400 people. However, District 1 currently has a population of about 166,600, representing a 12.8% increase from the 2010 Census and almost 8% over the desired number.

Under the compromise map, District 1 would have a population of about 157,600.

In coming weeks, the commission will have five meetings to collect public feedback. The commission may make changes to the preliminary plan or adopt it as is. On or about Dec. 15, the commission will vote on a final map to submit to the San Diego County registrar of voters.

The redistricting process is done once every 10 years in accord with federal law and the city charter. Learn more at sandiego.gov/redistricting-commission.