Congressman Peters Calls 23-Story ‘Pencil Tower’ in Pacific Beach a ‘Mistake’

Peters: Turquoise Tower proposal is a ‘mistake’ so bad it may become ‘poster child’ for development foes

From Neighbors for a Better California

Congressman Scott Peters, who represents Pacific Beach and is the founder of the San Diego YIMBY Democrats, says the proposed 23-story high-rise on Turquoise Street in North Pacific Beach is a “mistake” that should be sent back to the drawing board.

In a post on December 5 on X, the 50th district representative added:

“Other home builders I’ve spoken to worry that it will taint the reputation of all development and be a poster child for those who resist all new housing.”

Peters weighed in on what, arguably, has become the most important political issue in Pacific Beach since 1972, when concerned residents organized to pass Proposition D, a local citizens initiative that limits the height of buildings in San Diego’s coastal zone to 30 feet.

“Over the Thanksgiving break, I heard a lot of concern about the proposed 23-story tower in Pacific Beach,” Peters wrote in his post. “I support building more housing in our existing neighborhoods. That’s not what we will get from the Pacific Beach proposal.

“I hope the Turquoise Street developer will reconsider the proposal and offer something in better keeping with the scale of the neighborhood. I also understand that this project will likely exceed the surrounding height limit. We can accommodate taller buildings on the major streets that can still fit in. A four or six or maybe even an eight-story building on that property could provide a good number of units, still enhance the neighborhood, and provide a path for future developments of the sort.

“But this project, in its 23-story form, is a mistake,” Peters concluded.

Neighbors for a Better California’s response

Neighbors for a Better California, which formed after learning of the Turquoise Tower project and has seen its membership surge, welcomed Peters’ post but was puzzled by parts of it.

“As our representative in Washington, Scott Peters is right to weigh in on perhaps the biggest political issue to erupt in his district in 52 years – the Turquoise Tower,” the group wrote in an editorial on an enewsletter.

“Peters can’t directly change the laws in Sacramento that allowed developers to propose “unintended consequences,” like a 23-story poster child for community abuse. However, as founder of the San Diego YIMBY Democratic club and a long-time fixture in San Diego politics, he can wield considerable influence.

“As welcome as his post was, we have some questions about it. His X post says he would be okay with the developers coming back with a revised proposal for a building of up to 8 stories, which he says “will likely exceed the surrounding height limit.” Moreover, he says an 8-story revised proposal for the Turquoise Tower could “provide a path for future developments of the sort.”

“That is puzzling in a way that suggests perhaps he doesn’t have a full understanding of how bad this project is. First, of course, it will exceed the area’s height limit, set at 30 feet (or three stories) by Prop D, unless he is already discounting Prop D as being irrelevant. Second, he makes no mention that nine floors of the proposed project are for a hotel.

Concerns about a row of 8-story high-rises

“What is troubling is that if the Turquoise Tower is built, even at 8 stories, without Prop D protections it will throw out the welcome mat for a row of 8-story towers up and down the north side of Turquoise Street.”

The group asks how a row of high-rises would help ease the traffic safety concerns of parents worried about their children using already over-crowded streets that would be forced to take on hundreds of additional vehicle trips a day if even one eight-story high-rise is built.

“This is serious stuff with serious consequences for communities up and down the state. Housing at any cost isn’t the answer,” the editorial says. “There are better, more responsible ways to add needed housing.”

In the Neighbors for a Better California enewsletter last week, the group published results of a door-to-door survey that showed 97 percent of residents polled on Foothill Blvd. and Beryl Street were “extremely concerned” about their safety and the safety of their families by the prospect of up to 1,000 additional vehicle trips a day if the 23-story Turquoise Tower project is approved. These streets carry heavy traffic because they connect Interstate 5 to Birdrock and La Jolla.

San Diego is awaiting guidance from California Housing

Currently, the application for the proposed “Vela” project at 970 Turquoise Street is awaiting review by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), which has been asked by the office of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria for “technical guidance.” Once HCD sends guidance to San Diego, the city’s Development Services Department is expected to approve or deny the application.

Former California Senate leader Toni Atkins, State Senator Catherine Blakespear, and Assembly member Tasha Boerner all have sent highly critical letters to HCD urging the project be denied. All have said the project is an attempt by the developer to take advantage of state laws meant to create affordable housing.

“This proposal is misusing state density bonus laws to effectively create a hotel rather than addressing the critical housing shortage we face,” Boerner wrote in her letter to HCD.

If approved, the development will dramatically change the skyline of a community that has been governed by a 30-foot height limit since 1972 when Proposition D, a local citizens’ initiative, was passed by 64 percent of all voters in San Diego. However, in legislation passed in 2023, the state declared it can override local citizen initiatives and local zoning laws because of California’s housing crisis.

“Of course, our first priority is to prevent the Vela project from being built because it will change Pacific Beach forever,” said Marcella Bothwell, Chair of Neighbors for a Better San Diego and of the Pacific Beach Planning Group. “But we also are working to restore the right of communities to have a say about what projects are built in their neighborhoods so we don’t have any more ‘unintended consequences’ like the Vela project.”