By Lynne Miller
Hey Friends! Some of you know that we have been opposing a 20-unit building in our Ocean Beach neighborhood. The good news is that OBPB voted to deny the project. The bad news is that the City of San Diego does not have to accept the recommendation, so we will likely have a long appeal process ahead.
I attended Peninsula Planning Board (subcommittee) meeting and found out something disturbing. Here is a copy of a post I put on Facebook pages. Here is the article:
OBcians, protect Ocean Beach! We are fighting a 20-unit high-density building on Point Loma Avenue.
A few houses up the street, there is an 8-unit building beginning, and on Pescadero and Froude, another 9 units are being built that will look like an apartment complex.
State and City executive actions cater to Big money and developers and ignore the people who live here and pay taxes.
They ignore zoning and parking requirements of our historic community.
Here is the scary thing. OB and PL are targeted by developers, using the style of community we fought to preserve (small cottages and large yards).
The City ADU laws entice these buyer/builders to hunt through our community looking for these properties, purchase them at a high prices, and since CCHS (Complete Community Housing Solution) laws trump local zoning and regulations, these predators move quickly and build fast. These ADUs are in fact apartments, and the ruse of affordable housing is used to get them ‘in’.
The City is NOT going to stop these; they are, in fact, promoting high-density housing, as is the state.
Look at The Real Estate Takeoff. Here is the Link: https://www.youtube.com/@therealestatetakeoff.
They intend to build everywhere in OB and PL, make a ton of $$$$, and destroy what we have fought to preserve.
Time to fight the system and the billionaire buyers.
The very essence in the ownership of this property screams PUMP AND DUMP, CHURN AND BURN as the owners are nothing more than venture capitalists using our community to add to their bottom line. Their agenda is to find a beautiful community, like ours, come in and land grab, decimate the very reason why this is a coveted place to live, finally selling it at top profit, paying their investors and moving on to destroy the next unassuming neighborhood. These facts can be read on their very own website. This is their wording, their mission. Does any of their mission speak to the community?
• Identify and acquire underperforming apartments with growth potential.
• Implement a strategic renovation plan to enhance the property’s value and appeal.
• Enhance amenities and improve property management to attract and retain high-quality tenants.
• Provide regular monthly reports to keep investors informed about the progress of the project.
• Distribute positive cash flow generated from rental income to investors on a consistent basis.
• When the time is right, sell the property to realize profits and distribute the proceeds to our investors.
Sourced from:
An Apartment Investing Firm – Takeoff Capital) https://takeoffcapital.com/#strategy
How can city officials consciously approve an unprecedented development in a neighborhood? What will happen if 3, 4, 8 or ALL lots in our area do the same? Forget about ever parking let alone driving down one of these streets, this is turning into a business district and we are slowly losing the neighborhood that I and my parents and my grandparents grew up in. No allowance for parking and no allowance (that I could see from the plans??) for garbage/trash/recycling services.
There was a time, not too long ago, that the city planning people DID care, they rejected any MIL units if there was no room for additional off street parking, they cared about the general neighborhood aesthetics. Suddenly this has all gone away. It’s a free for all, for the most part, build and cram as much as you can on to one lot.
There has to be a better way, allow only 1 or 2 ADUs as originally planned, we all can work with that. This area was never zoned for multiple upon multiple housing units. There are areas designated for such complexes.
I realize this complaint falls on deaf ears. Those in charge and allowing this to happen don’t live here therefore this does not impact them. My father’s house, that he has owned since 1970, is now surrounded by ADUs, there are no longer neighbors that he knows and can depend upon, no longer do we sit outside and have the next door neighbors walk over to sit and chat, visit, supporting our mental health. It is a constant stream of unknowns. Security and safety are becoming a concern with every development such as this one. And is getting worse as time goes on and density increases.
I am now a regular user of the San Diego City Get It Done app. Why? Because these ADU’s are many times managed by off-site companies and they don’t bring the trash cans in after pick up, they don’t pick up trash left behind after a party, they don’t hear the parties, noise, fights, yelling, laughter at 3AM. Think of the last time you stayed at a resort – all those amenities you enjoyed. ADU’s are being rented out on daily rates. Can you imagine living next to a Hilton Grand Vacation Club?
The city is allowing developers to turn our NEIGHBORHOODS into business districts. Why? Does it increase revenues? Is it an increase in votes? The housing crisis is worldwide, not in just our little hamlet. By destroying your backyard, they think you are helping the housing crisis but they are not, they are only speeding up the process. It always end with the same sentiment, follow the money.
This is beyond shameful.
Cindy: Are you ready to put your money where your mouth is and contribute to what it will take to fight the City and these evil developers? Realistically, it will take between $200,00 to $300,000 to wage the kind of legal battle that will be necessary if we want to try and save our community. 200 home owners at $1,000 each would be a nice start.
Hail yeah! Why wouldn’t I, this is home.
Great: Let’s reach out to our neighbors and start raising a war chest.
and don’t forget you can use the OB Rag to help get that word out.
Also from this developer’s site:
ADUs, or Accessory Dwelling Units, involve constructing apartment units on an existing single family lot. Click here to learn more about this strategy
House
We source a home on a lot with enough space to build 10 units or more.
House Renovation
Renovate the existing home and fill it with a tenant. Eliminating holding costs during the permitting phase
Documents
Acquire construction permits and build the new complex
Lease
Lease up the new units
Investor
Sell and distribute profits to investors
North Park has been getting destroyed by the same group for the past 5-6 years, and was the only community getting destroyed and NP fought and fought. Good luck and hope you can slow it down. voteforlarryturner.com
ONLY WAY TO REALLY MAKE CHANGE IS TO VOTE new people into office. From state to city we are finding that executive orders by those people we chose to serve us, are serving special interest, Big Developers, and not local communities. California is overtaxed, overregulated, (except for new rules allowing more people, more density, more pollution, and no requirements for parking.) I like VOTEFORLARRYTURNER.COM. We need to get organized and fight this take over of a way of life. We need to move fast, because the future is now.
Another way is to hold off development until it is possible for something else to change. We can fight it all and we can fight one battle at a time. It may take both ways to work!
Sorry to say, but as a long term renter in OB – since 2010 – I”m done.
Joining the Army of 30,000 who voted with their feet and left San Diego last year, I’m soon to decamp to Florida.
I’ll get double the space, in a beautiful town, full of lakes in Florida, for less money.
I’ll miss OB, miss my friends, miss Cabrillo nad the ocean. But math is math.
The architect even said he was trying to get the plans through NOW because policy would be changing, so he wanted to get his plans through now. A long time resident relayed a story recently to me that he was told he had to provide a multiple parking spot underground parking garage for a 6 unit build, several years ago. The plans under discussion for this 20 unit unlimited density building at 4705 PL Ave. require NOOOOO parking at all. 9 spots (or is it 3.5 spots?) have currently been allocated in the plans for what could be 30-40 tenants who all have cars. This is all because of the City’s scheme of Complete Communities. Normal building regulations are thrown out the window for Complete Community projects. Don’t let the name fool you. There is nothing Complete about them.
This website can help you learn about the issue and learn about what you can do: https://obsandiego92107.com/ A petition was started the week before the OB Planning Board meeting on May 7th. It now has 431 signatures!! Go here to sign: https://www.change.org/p/stop-big-development-in-ob
There is a lot of this history in Rag archives; just do a word search on our search bar.
Yes indeed! Articles in “The OB Rag”:
OB Planners’ Project Review Committee: 20 Units at 4705 Point Loma Ave., — Wed., April 17
https://obrag.org/2024/04/ob-planners-project-review-committee-20-units-at-4705-point-loma-ave-wed-april-17/
Open Letter to Councilwoman Campbell on ‘Complete Communities’ from Point Loma Homeowner
https://obrag.org/2024/04/open-letter-to-councilwoman-campbell-on-complete-communities-from-point-loma-homeowner/
‘Complete Communities’ Is Not a Cure for San Diego’s Affordable Housing Crisis
https://obrag.org/2024/04/complete-communities-is-not-a-cure-for-san-diegos-affordable-housing-crisis/
Faulconer’s ‘Complete Communities’ Plan Devalues Parks, Is Being Too Rushed in Nontransparent Process
https://obrag.org/2020/07/faulconers-complete-communities-plan-devalues-parks-is-being-too-rushed-in-nontransparent-process/
City Gives Notice of Upcoming Decision on New 3-Story Multi-Unit Complex at 4705 Point Loma Ave. in Ocean Beach
https://obrag.org/2023/10/city-gives-notice-of-upcoming-decision-on-new-3-story-multi-unit-complex-at-4705-point-loma-ave-in-ocean-beach/
California Court Rules Against Pro-Density SB9
https://obrag.org/2024/04/california-court-rules-against-pro-density-sb9/
Ocean Beach is a target because many properties are or are expected to be Estate properties with out-of-town heirs or ownership. This makes the whole OB area where a developer can target multiple projects at the same time. The developer then is not the owner, not the builder, not the investor, not the loan-agent, but a combination of all of the above under the LLC organization.
If your trust says to distribute proceeds from the sale of your house to your heirs, I believe that the trustee must try to get the maximum return for the heirs. You can amend your trust to specify that you do not want it sold to an LLC. Probably best to talk to a realtor and lawyer before doing this.
DON’T GO TO SLEEP OUT THERE!!!! The battle has begun, the city– our elected officials –are coming for OB and PL. City officials have been ‘legally’ plotting with developers to move quickly, build, and ‘present’ projects as affordable housing. We are next in their line of fire. City by City, the State mandate for affordable housing known as SB9 is the excuse used by elected officials to change our living, landscape, and way of life. Someone forgot that they work for US. We are the people who work, pay taxes, take care of our families and property, and VOTE. So of course, the City Project Manager, Christian Hoppe, approved the 20 unit “Not really” low income housing project. Yes, OB Planning Board rejected the project. The board that is supposed to represent local residents has no power. In order for OB and PL to be heard, we need to work together quickly and follow the lead of other cities who are taking SB9 into the courts. (Anyone see that OB Elementary parents and children picketed the transfer of a teacher?) We will look around one day very soon and realize that the walls of tall apartments from Mission Valley to Voltaire in Point Loma will be everywhere. Zoning, Coastal Commission, and EPA regulations are being negated by executive order, and construction is being expedited so that residents do not have time to appeal properly. Don’t go to sleep out there, the battle has only begun. SAVE OB FROM BIG DEVELOPMENT.