San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

You are here: Home / Archives for Land Use

The History of San Diego’s 30 Foot Height Limit

by

Recently – within the context of discussions over the City of San Diego’s plans to bring massive redevelopment to the Midway District on this site – there has been some serious disparagement of the 30 foot height limit, and it’s being blamed for everything from the housing crisis to the lack of affordability at the coast.

So, apparently it’s time, once again, to present some local history – the origins of the 30 foot height limit – and some of the good folks who made it happen. It all began back in the late 60s when beach residents began to rebel against a wave of unbridled development occurring at the coast.   [Read more…]

City Poised to Dismantle 30 Foot Height Limit to Allow Massive Redevelopment in Midway District

by

It appears the City of San Diego is getting set to dismantle the 30-foot height limit in order to allow massive redevelopment of the Midway District.

With the Midway area community plan update – okayed by the Midway planning committee on March 21 – about to be approved by the City Council in June, all the chips are falling into place to set the stage for some kind of political action that would get rid of the sacrosanct height limit for the some 1324 acres being considered for the redevelopment. The redevelopment would bring in dense housing – some of it affordable -, “modern commercial districts”, and a 7-fold population increase to the area.

But the 30-foot height limit stands in the way of the dreams of developers, city planners, and their sycophants within the mainly commercial zones of the district.   [Read more…]

North County’s McClellan-Palomar Airport 2018 – 2038 Master Plan Environmental Impact Review

by

Has the San Diego Water Board Provided the County Helpful Comments?

In January 2018, the County unpacked its 2018 – 2038 McClellan-Palomar (Palomar) Airport Master Plan (PMP). Also, its sister Programmatic EIR (PEIR). The San Diego Water Board (SDWB) commented, but inadequately.

The PMP Purpose

The Board of Supervisors has a simple but complex question before it: Should county by 2038 spend $112 million to move and lengthen the Palomar 4900-foot runway by 800 feet to annually handle 30% fewer aircraft than county handled before?   [Read more…]

Should Councilman Scott Sherman Recuse Himself from Decisions on Short Term Vacation Rentals?

by

Sherman’s Family Owns 33 Rental Units in or Near Ocean Beach

There’s just something sketchy going on about San Diego Councilman Scott Sherman, the allegations that he has a conflict of interest in decisions concerning regulations for short-term vacation rentals (STVRs), and the lack of any genuine investigation by the San Diego Ethics Commission.

And the issue whether Sherman should recuse himself from any decisions about STVRs just won’t go away. Plus there are allegations he or his family own lots of rentals in Ocean Beach.   [Read more…]

Decertification of Barrio Logan Planning Group Election a Civil Rights Issue, Say Activists

by

From the OB Rag

The Peninsula planning board is not the only community planning panel in the city that’s having conflicts. Over in Barrio Logan, there’s some really funky stuff going on these days.

Consider this: in the middle of counting ballots for the most recent annual election to the Barrio Logan Planning Committee held on March 18th – all counting stopped.

Why?

If you asked the current leaders of the planning group, they would’ve said there needed to be another election – a re-election – because activists with the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) were handing out election fliers too close to the voting.   [Read more…]

Supervisor Bill Horn’s McClellan-Palomar Airport Retaining Wall: $12 Million for 60 Feet?

by

Sometimes, you just have to shake your head and ask, What was he thinking? Today, the “he” is San Diego Board of Supervisor Bill Horn.

Here is today’s specific question: Did the McClellan-Palomar (Palomar) Airport consultant add a massive $12 million retaining wall to the 2018 Palomar Master Plan so Bill Horn could add 60 more feet to the Palomar runway?

***

The County of San Diego operates eight county airports (but not the San Diego International Airport). Palomar is one county airport within the city of Carlsbad in North County. At a cost of $700,000 in 2013, county asked a consultant to study whether the runway could be stretched from 4,900 feet to 5,800 feet.

The county archives are yet to tell us why a 900-foot extension was picked. Though this article may provide some clues.

  [Read more…]

Rent Control in California: Seven Myths and Seven Solutions for Protecting Tenants

by

Rent control can help solve California’s housing affordability and homelessness crisis by decreasing displacement and protecting the rights and dignity of working families, the elderly, and long-term tenants. To demystify rent control in California, here are seven rent control myths followed by seven anti-poverty tenant protection ordinances cities can implement.

By Parisa Ijadi-Maghsoodi / UrbDeZine

Articles and studies from newspapers to academic journals warn the public against the havoc and devastation caused by rent control ordinances. However, it is not tenants and community-based organizations that are funding these articles and studies, it is real estate investors, developers, and corporate apartment owner associations. For decades, tenants and community-based organizations across California have worked tirelessly to enact rent control ordinances to decrease displacement and protect the rights and dignity of working families, the elderly, and long-term tenants. Tenant advocates continue to direct their limited resources to local initiatives and ballot measures, not to fund studies, articles, and lawsuits.   [Read more…]

Will the Coast Be Toast? Tuesday City Council Hearing on Vacation Rentals Will Decide

by

December 12th Session Will Decide Future of Ocean Beach and Other Coastal Communities

If San Diego City Councilmembers from inland districts get their way and legalize short-term vacation rentals with hardly any restrictions, coastal neighborhoods like Ocean Beach will be inundated with a flood of new such rentals. And it could have a devastating impact on OB, uprooting the sparse housing stock and turning entire sections of the community into “Airbnb Beach”.

The City Council meets on Tuesday, December 12th, and come hell or high water will make policy on vacation rentals that day. Short-term rentals have been boiling San Diego politics for nearly 3 years as city government kept delaying any decisions, one way or another. And now, after all this time, the Council is set to put something into law, into the Municipal Code on the 12th.

Come next Tuesday, nothing but the very future of Ocean Beach is at stake.   [Read more…]

Televangelist Extremist Morris Cerullo Got His Disneyland Park in Mission Valley

by

In October, San Diego City Council Approved 18-Acre Christian-Themed Center

In our continuing saga to track developments in Mission Valley, we have to note that just about one month ago, on October 17, the San Diego City Council approved televangelist Morris Cerullo’s $130 – 160 million Legacy International Center project. The Center will replace the former Mission Valley Resort at 875 South Hotel Circle Drive on an 18-acre site at the west end of Mission Valley.

That’s the main headline.

But what the Council also did was approve a mini Disneyland-type of religious theme park that will promote controversial religious tourism. This project will be owned by the head of an extremist Evangelical empire who is outspoken in his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage; who was expelled from India for religious disturbances; who is criticized by rabbis for trying to convert Jews; and whose disputed claims of being a faith healer and miracle worker have led to at least one documented death.   [Read more…]

Housing Law 101: What San Diego is Doing Wrong

by

By Parisa Ijadi-Maghsoodi / UrbDeZine

Instead of taking concrete steps to address the growing housing affordability crisis, San Diego has done nothing for years.  Now, faced with nationwide criticism for its mishandling of a Hepatitis A outbreak that was caused by the mistreatment of a growing homeless population, City leaders are wondering what went wrong.  

First, San Diego gave its public housing authority, San Diego Housing Commission, free reign to opt out of following federal laws aimed at protecting housing subsidy recipients. As a result, San Diego Housing Commission has and continues to create policies that adversely impact the low-income tenants for whom it receives federal funding to protect. One example: SDHC’s Community Choices program encourages low-income families to spend 50 percent of their income on rent.   [Read more…]

Scheme Using Homeless Crisis to Expand Convention Center Rebuked by Alliance San Diego

by

Alliance San Diego has been asked to respond to the Voice of San Diego story revealing Mayor Faulconer’s involvement in another effort to use the homelessness crisis as a lever to put an expansion of the convention center on a special-election ballot, which would contravene Measure L. We are responding to multiple inquiries all at once to make Alliance San Diego’s position clear.
1. The homelessness crisis is a crisis of Mayor Faulconer’s own making.
2. Measure L allows for special elections, not special interests.
3. We call on Mayor Faulconer to take immediate action to address homelessness.
See story inside for details…
  [Read more…]

Competing Proposals on Short Term Vacation Rentals Vie for City Council Approval

by

For two years now the City Council of San Diego has been debating what to do about short term vacation rentals. They’ll continue this debate at another hearing on the matter, October 23rd, the 6th hearing in those two years.

At that hearing, the city planning department will probably present draft alternative measures based on three options it released in March of this year, plus it will hopefully address new draft ordinances – one by Councilwoman Barbara Bry and one by Councilman Chris Cate.

Bry’s proposal – the most promising – was released last week after a weekend of Op-Ed pieces in the San Diego Union-Tribune by her and by her colleagues Lorie Zapf and Cate. Zapf, of course, represents District 2 including OB.   [Read more…]

©2010-2017 SanDiegoFreePress.org

Code is Poetry