The Callen Report
By Kate Callen
City Hall has an innovative solution to the plight of flood victims still struggling to meet basic needs: Let them build accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
South East San Diego residents came to an August 5 community forum at the Jackie Robinson YMCA looking for help with lingering flood damage. What they got instead was a 25-minute slideshow on the bewildering arcana of ADU construction.
It isn’t news that the Todd Gloria administration has no interest in hearing what constituents want. And it’s no surprise that his Development Services Department (DSD) will seize any opportunity to push his ADU development crusade.
Still, the disconnect between what flood victims needed to know and what city officials preferred to discuss was staggering.
The event began with community reports of ongoing needs for cleanup, mold remediation, health care, and medical supplies. A single mother who was evicted from a shelter hotel because of a paperwork snafu said, “We are literally on our own.”
Then the forum entered a parallel universe as DSD program manager Michael Prinz clicked through a dreary presentation packed with terms like JADU (junior ADU), FAR (floor-area ratio), and SDA (sustainable development area).
“Hey, we’re not great with acronyms,” an audience member called out.
“Thank you, that’s a very good question,” Prinz responded.
South East already had a housing shortage before the January floods (caused by clogged stormwater channels the city never bothered to clear) damaged an estimated 1,000 homes and businesses. Building ADUs would make sense if property owners in the community could afford construction costs.
But people living in disaster zones don’t have that kind of money. And no city officials in attendance, including chief operating officer Eric Dargan and mayoral aide Lucero Maganda, broached the subject of paying for ADUs.
It fell to community activists from other areas to raise concerns about predatory ADU development. Members of the Mission Beach Planning Board questioned Prinz about DSD’s failure to curb illegal construction. And representatives of Neighbors for a Better San Diego (NFBSD) warned South East residents about unscrupulous builders.
“People are going to come in and buy properties and build 6, 10, 12 units with no parking,” said NFBSD’s Paul Krueger. “You want to be sure that codes are enforced and builders are not allowed to do things that are contrary to the law.”
The audience caught fire at the mention of parking and code enforcement, two perennial problems in the South East community. Upon learning that ADUs do not have on-site parking, several residents burst out laughing.
DSD officials emphasized that street parking regulations will still be in effect. Residents countered that those regulations are never enforced. “It’s a fucking joke, there are 20 motor homes parked in my neighborhood,” a woman said.
Fred Sotelo, the South East disaster relief leader who chaired the meeting, said to residents, “Here’s the question we want to know: Is [ADU development] an obstacle or a solution to this community?”
“An obstacle,” several called out.
“We have to look at this,” said Sotelo. “Some of these lots are bigger, is it an option for a family member to build in the back? At the same time, we want to prevent opportunists from coming in and creating headaches for residents who already have headaches.”
A follow-up community forum on code enforcement takes place at the Robinson YMCA on Monday, August 19, at 5:30 pm. Mark your calendar.
Jesus H Christ. You almost have to wonder if the city people attended the wrong meeting and there are other city people talking to another group about ” cleanup, mold remediation, health care, and medical supplies” with everyone scratching their heads. This city cannot be any more offensive.
To be fair, the flyer I saw about the meeting said nothing about it being geared toward flood damaged properties. Sounds like an organizer for the flood victims called city hall and asked for a meeting to help them with the long lingering issues. City Hall, being City Hall, said we have one solution for any housing issue, so we’ll have DSD give them a presentation on ADUs.
It seems pretty simple the meeting as stated by the rag was about ADU’s (and likely anything other than building an ADU was not going to be the topic for discussion). How that changed? Is like the city is looking to push ADU’s to reconstruct the flooded neighborhoods now?
Jane, you’re right, this was billed as an ADU forum. But it was clear from the outset that people showed up for the event because they desperately need help from City Hall and they aren’t getting it. Like all the city’s ubiquitous PowerPoint presentations, this one was deadly dull. Foisting it onto a captive audience of frustrated residents seemed disrespectful. But I did feel sympathy for Prinz. It must be awful for city staff to peddle Gloria’s tripe to constituents who will never buy it.
Prinz is part of the problem. He does the bidding of Gloria and the city machine, and disregards the public. I say this from first hand experience with him.
The tone deafness is comical. It sounds like the city staff deserves whatever grief they got at this meeting. Maybe they can toss the people some rolls of paper towels while they’re at it.
Excellent article Kate! The voters voted for a “strong mayor” form of government, which appears to have left the Council Reps brainless. They don’t listen to, or pay attention to any constituents City-wide. They need to do whatever the Mayor tells them to do, or the monetary slush fund they are given at budget time, will dwindle down to the point they won’t be able to do anything FOR their constituents. SD needs an independent mayor who doesn’t owe favors as a trade off for campaign money. SD has a history of voting for those affiliated with the construction industry, or in Toni Akins case, married to one. Pay attention and try to read and make future sense of Propositions on the ballot. this entire problem of the flooding is because the mayor didn’t listen to the constituents who repeatedly complained about the blockage in the creek prior to the flooding. He alone calls the shots, and he obviously spent maint. money on some of his pets WANTS, and ignored the City NEEDS.
Great article Kate! The Todd Squad needs to learn to read the room.