By Trudy Grundland
As our mayor and as a City Council Member, Todd Gloria has pushed Faulconer’s Complete Communities, San Diego’s response to SB 375, a 2008 state law that encourages transit oriented development.
The law, set up to accelerate construction timelines by streamlining environmental approvals, allows developers to skip the expensive and time-consuming analysis usually required under the California Environmental Quality Act. Developers save millions because they’re only required to conduct a cursory CEQA review of buildings within a half-mile of transit, using water efficiently, not impacting historical structures, not reducing affordable housing and many others.
Despite being a steward of America’s Finest City, Todd Gloria has fast-tracked the construction of hi-rise tiny studio apartments and ADUs, 500 sqft each, maximum 1-2 persons. But are they affordable? In 2023 86.4% of all new housing,10,300 units was “moderate”, i.e. full-market rate.
Families in need of housing?
Sorry. Very low, and low income individuals need housing? Sorry. But if you can afford $2,500-$3,000/month, you can live near hipster stores, restaurants and bars! Work late? Work all over San Diego? Have children? Busy? Have work related equipment you need on the job? Can’t walk a half mile with groceries? Bum knee? Sorry. We expect you to walk or roll or take public transportation to work and errands. This is Complete Communities!
HUD recommends 25-33% of gross pay on rent. Willing to spend 33% of your income on a 500 sqft studio that lacks storage for sports equipment, extra food, water and clothing? You need to make $90,000/yr. Who will consider this reasonable? Who can afford this rent and buy drinks at a hipster bar? It can’t be low income service, retail workers, gardeners, housecleaners and health care aides. Not young teachers or first responders; their salary is $60K/year.
Where does this bring us? Complete Communities is not a panacea; it’s more a Pandora’s Box. Lawsuits by neighbor groups have popped up like weeds in the cracks of our city streets. Many people want more housing but not in this manner. Many want the mayor to stop hi-rise buildings next to single family homes, to stop 12 ADUs behind houses on quiet residential streets, to prevent a 238’H hotel/housing in the coastal zone.
San Diego’s backstory of SB 375 and Complete Communities. The people involved.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer 2014-20 (SDSU ’89) and his Chief of Staff Matt Awbrey (UCDavis ’04) pushed Proposition E in 2020, elimination of building height limit in the Midway District, which laid the groundwork for COMPLETE COMMUNITIES, permit hi-rise buildings of tiny apartments anywhere with the promise of “affordable housing*”. Faulconer gained national attention from this plan and ran for office as governor of CA, but lost. He’s back on the ’24 ballot for District 3 County Supervisor.
Matthew Awbrey got paid $24K by investors as a “private consultant” for his assistance while Chief of Staff in ‘20. Now a “land use” consultant to the L.A. developers of Kalonymus, a 23-story hotel/housing in the coastal zone 30’H area, on a surfer-friendly street of mom & pop businesses and small condos. 970 Turquoise PB 92109, French Gourmet restaurant/Bar/Sharp Fitness/convenience store will be eliminated.
Mayor Todd Gloria 2020-24 (UCSD ’00) proponent of COMPLETE COMMUNITIES and of maximizing the CA Density Bonus Law. Contrary to state law which states ADUs must be smaller than the original home, Gloria has allowed large complexes of 2-story ADUs which overwhelm the original home.
Christopher Ackerman-Avila (U of IL ’20, M.S. Urban Planning ‘21), Gloria’s land use policy aide, shown on IG offering Christian Spicer (SDSU ’14) CEO of SDRE Builders, the mayor’s approval on SDRE’s 12 unit, 2-story ADUs behind a single-story house on Firestone Ave, Clairemont Mesa.
Christian Spicer, SDRE website/IG post: “I have the support of the city” (to build large complexes of ADUs). SDRE has completed or in the process of building 30+ ADU complexes, many in Clairemont Mesa. He’s not the only developer doing this but he’s notorious.
Gloria’s Campaign Mgr & Dir of PR, Sarah Moga Alemany, (UCSD ’04) a proponent since 2018 of COMPLETE COMMUNITIES and hi-rise buildings of tiny apartments, sized for a single person, such as the ones her developer husband, Alexander Alemany, builds. This young woman advocates for San Diegans to ride bicycles instead of using cars. Although it’s not likely we’ll see her riding a bicycle from Point Loma to work.
Alexander Alemany (USC ’05), Sarah’s husband, owner of Hub & Spoke Builders, developer of urban infill, “middle housing”. Alemany’s comment to Channel 8 news: I’m doing what the city allows. If neighbors have a concern, they have to contact their councilmember. [Alemany, RE instructor at UCSD, Linkedin/IG post, giving his UCSD students a tour of his 60’ tall, 4-story, 18 studio apartments, 500 sqft each, 3,000 sqft lot, Logan Heights. A single family home now in the shadow cast of this urban behemoth. Teaching the next generation of developers to think like him.]
Follow the money. It’s so true. If we continue on this path, what will future generations think of San Diego? They won’t believe the coast had cool beach communities that were affordable for families and surfers, and were popular with all San Diegans, especially in the summer. Mission Beach was a cozy neighborhood, not a short-term rental community. We lived in houses, condos and apartments with parking spaces. The ocean could be seen from Bay Ho. Clairemont Mesa had single family homes without ADU apartment complexes in the backyard. We knew our neighbors. Folks would say to each other in greeting: another day in paradise.
Excellent work exposing the rogue’s gallery of our most complicit “public servants” — although a complete list would be as long as Santa’s naughty list. Clearly they only serve their own interests at our expense and it’s high time to give them all pink slips.
This post was updated to correct a small bit of history on one of the individuals listed.
This sounds like pay for play. Is anyone investigating this? Los Angeles and San Francisco have had legal action taken against politicians that engage in similar developer driven shenanigans.
You’re spot on Laura. Others have “noticed” this also. We certainly don’t have the resources to dig deeper – and have to ask, ‘where is our San Diego media and press?’
Sure does! FBI occasionally shows up for these, most notably decades ago when VP Agnew was receiving envelopes of cash even after leaving Baltimore politics for DC. Recent action only in NY. See https://www.commoncause.org/press/from-corruption-to-accountability-reforming-pay-to-play-politics-in-atlanta/ for one study. San Diego seems to be overdue for FBI or some investigative attention.