Mark your calendars for AUGUST 29TH, 9 AM. A hearing will be held by the City of San Diego Planning Commission.
On August 29th you may speak yourself (1 minute) or cede minutes to others so they can speak longer. You can also attend online or speak online via Zoom. We will have exactly the amount of minutes that we have people there.
We would like to invite all of OB and Point Loma, people who love OB’s small beach town feel and history, and speakers who were so passionate on May 7th to attend the hearing of an appeal going before the City of San Diego Planning Commission.
By Lynne Miller
Remember when OB residents protested in the 1970s and demanded a building moratorium and won? WE’RE BACK!
OB locals showed up at OBPB meeting twice, voicing their concerns about 4705 Point Loma Ave (and the ADUs that are essentially apartments being built in single family R1 zones). OBPB listened and voted to oppose the PL Ave Project. But San Diego City Planning Board does not have to honor local planning boards, and they didn’t. (go to https://obsandiego92107.com for details about what is next.) EMAIL ME IF YOU WANT TO BE PLACED ON OUR MAILING–email at bottom of page.
You all know our community has been targeted by greedy corporations that have found the perfect village to destroy. Many of you have fought the battles to maintain the integrity of Ocean Beach, and no that phrase is not an oxymoron! These small beach cottages with large lots are just what the corporate land grabbers are looking for.
Sadly our state and local governments have created executive ordinances that serve the profiteers and not the local residents. While laws like SB9 and SB10 may have been created with good intentions, so is the road to hell. The Complete Communities Housing Solution CCHS, with its rush to build using a 30-day Expedited Program, is solving what problem? It is surely solving all of those pesky obstacles that builders used to face in California. California has been dedicated to clean environments (well except for the Imperial Beach Sewage Spills). Our oceans and land have been protected by California Environmental Quality Act CEQA, California Coastal Commission CCC, Local Coastal Plan LCP, Coastal Overlay Zones, and Parking Impact Overlay Zone (Coastal), to name a few.
All of these laws that you and I had to obey are waived or categorically exempt so that CCHS can BUILD before you can say “High Rise”. The guilt factor is used to make local residents obedient. How can you selfish people NOT provide housing willingly? What is wrong with you? You are just a bunch of privileged NIMBY (not in my back yarders). Sorry, that tactic is not working in OB. We will show up at the Hearing, and be heard. We will write, and be heard. And if necessary we will protest and be heard! Oh, and we will VOTE! I have a Larry Turner sign in my yard, do you?
Here is an example of what CCHS looks like in OB. We are appealing a 20-unit building on Point Loma Ave that is marketed by owner/promoter as the largest residential new building in 50 years! Per the promoter who is trying to find investors to pay for the project, it is a great ‘for profit’ investment. Why? The laws that we locals followed as we attempted to insert a granny flat, or remodel, have been removed, erased, squashed.
The land grab and high density building is ON, all over the city. Individual ownership of land is almost impossible. San Diego has one of the three most expensive Real Estate markets in the country. The CCHS mandates were cleverly written. This 20-unit building on the corner of Point Loma Ave gets financial support from the state Density Bonus program if ONLY 10%-15% of the building is affordable. The formula for identifying ‘affordable’ is based on the median rent in a specific area. So the median rent in OB is going to be higher than many neighborhoods. The State is watching to make sure that the cities comply with the new laws on the books. Oh Yeah. If cities argue against the state narrative, they face law suits. If a city cannot show that they are building high-density housing, they get substantial fines. (Can you say extortion?)
May 7th began my learning of CCHS, CEQA, NORA, LCP, CHLOZ, CDP, OBECD. It has been a steep learning curve with warning signs, detours, deadlines, gaslights. Where are we now? TIME FOR ACTION!
FOR VERY CLEAR DETAILS ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE GO TO:
https://obsandiego92107.com
Tell all your friends and neighbors, even those friends who love and left OB. They can write. Everyone show up on August 29th at 9:00. See website for details.
Let’s do this!
Not ADUs. Complete Community Housing.
Yes, this is a Complete Community build which allows the city to waive, exempt and ignore many laws we all had to follow when remodeling or building. However, this is NOT the only issue. Look around OB. Less than 1/4 city block up PL AVE from this project there is one ADU. They kept front house and built 4 units in the back. So the new ADU laws, in tandem with CCHS, will forever change the landscape of OB, and it happens overnight, almost. Think about who you vote for, it matters. More than we understood. Nationwide land grab by Blackrock, Blackstone, and others. We should all be asking WHY there is a housing shortage. Things are not what they appear to be. This PL Ave Project will provide between 1-4 people affordable housing. That means no more than 35% of a person’s total income can go to their rent. Rent is decided by area – in OB/PL the mean rent is pretty high, I think over 2k for a studio. Does that sound affordable to you? WHY IS SAN DIEGO HOUSING SO EXPENSIVE. Look to the governing bodies and their laws, which favor builders, not local residents.
The Hearing is August 29. The city plan, Compete Communities, will change what we know as OB to something else – Little Italy? Washington St? The city used to require ground-floor businesses in commercial areas, but that requirement is removed. And the beach is all too attractive to investors, and so close for advertising brochures – the audience now is investors, not tenants. It can be all residential, with little, if any, parking. Public Comments can be posted without zooming in, or better yet, showing up in person.