It’s the day of the showdown at the San Diego Planning Commission at city hall over the city’s ADU policies — and the Rag will attempt a “live blog” of the event.
This means we’ll try to bring a contemporaneous account of the happenings right here.
For a live view of the meeting, go here.
I really recommend you click on the live feed from the city as we cannot keep up with the reports, presentations and comments.
It is a showdown, however, between residents of neighborhoods across the city that have been negatively affected by Mayor Gloria’s so-called “Bonus ADU Program.” On the agenda of the Commission are proposed “reforms” both by Gloria and by the numerous groups that are arguing for a slowdown in enacting any reforms until the residents of the city have had a chance to make their voices and opinions known.
Some of the groups that have members in the audience include Neighbors for a Better San Diego, the Community Coalition, UC Peeps, Neighbors for Encanto, Neighbors for a Better California, and Community Planners Committee, a group from Linda Vista.
1:36 pm the Commission passed a motion unanimously to accept staff’s recommendations with a 2-story cap for ADUs and a request that staff return with options of limiting the number of ADUs on one lot. (Unfortunately I don’t list the staff’s recommendations here. Please watch this space for a breakdown on those recommendations and the responses of the groups in attendance.)
12:32 Commissioner comments.
12:21 The hearing is having a short break until 12:30pm; what’s up? Originally the hearing was to have lunch at 12 noon.
11:38 Marcella Bothwell, chair of Neighbors for a Better California is up
11:13 Andrea Schlageter speaks. She heads the Community Planners Committee. She noted that all deed-restricted units should require 55 years.
11:01 Susan Baldwin speaks. She commented that the process for selecting a new flower for San Diego had more PR and hearings than the ADUs.
10:51 Hearing resumes.
10:44 – Commission is taking a 5 minute break
10:35 Angela from Linda Vista spoke, showing outrageous pictures of ADUs in her neighborhood.
10:29 Encanto resident Lisa Becerra asks, “Are we a tyranny?” She represents 857 of her neighbors who don’t want more than one ADU in a singlefamily lot. “The city is not listening to us.”
“Don’t you dare allow ADUs using Footnote 7”
10:19 Kenny Key speaker from Encanto speaks complaining of the lack of infrastructure in Southeast and Encanto. “Get in line with the state, San Diego.”
10:14 An attorney for Neighbors for a Better Pacific Beach speaks
Krueger : “Let the city council know you support a common sense approach and limit ADUs to four on a single-family lot.”
9:58am Paul Krueger speaks — he uses slides based on the Rag “Worst ADU Contest”. He speaks on behalf of our San Diego Community Coalition.
Slides from Neighbors:
9:45 A rep from Neighbors for a Better San Diego speaks.
9:44 Comments from audience members begins.
9:40 Staff completes its report and recommendations.
9:38 a.m. Kate Callen reports there is at least a 150 residents in the audience. It’s “almost a full house” she says.
9:22 Staff report
9:20 – End of non-agenda comments.
9:05 a.m. — Kate Callen of the Rag just spoke during non-agenda comments and asked the Commission to refrain from calling opponents of the ADU policies “anti-housing” and received a good round of applause.
The San Diego Planning Commission is holding their meeting. We were going to try a live blog of the meeting but just cannot keep up. So we recommend you click on the link provided to view the meeting.
The African-American speaker pictured in the yellow “We Are San Diego” Encanto t-shirt is Kenny Key. He was awesome. It’s just 12 noon here in the chambers, the public is still speaking, and so far, not a single speaker has expressed any support for Todd Gloria’s Bonus ADU overreach.
8, 12, 14, 17 ADU’S on ONE single family home lot! This is OUTRAGEOUS and they City needs to stop the “bad actors” who are perpetrating this on our fellow citizens and DESTROYING NEIGHBORHOODS.
Check out reviews on Yelp https://www.yelp.com/biz/sundae-san-diego-2 and be forwarded about emailing them YIKES!!!
So what’s the dealio? Can I plant the official flower in my RS lot or not? If so, do I need to provide parking for those stopping by to admire it? Or will they take the imaginary high frequency transit instead? Can I plant it on the property line? What if it grows above 2 stories? If I am limited to 4 plants, can each plant have 100 flowers on it? Do I have to pay impact fees if the flowers exceed a certain size? Can I rip it out after 15 years, or do I need to go longer?
All of this needs to be sorted out before voting on the official city flower.
I hope that somebody will get a transcription, beginning when the Commissioner’s start speaking, What WAS the motion? kh is right. Sometimes (gasp) the motion as published doesn’t quite match what was said, particularly in a case like this.
Please see our Part 1 of Takeaways; Part 2 will be up Monday.
The Planning Commission’s recommendations to cap the height to 2-stories & limit the number of ADUs and JADUs is great! 3 total units should be allowed in the RS-1-7 zone.
The City can provide incentives to units that are affordable such as reduced fees, assistance with plans, & funding from the San Diego Housing Commission per State law to incentivize affordable ADUs.
05/01/2025 @CityofSanDiego Planning Commission
Video: 6 Hours
https://sandiego.granicus.com/player/clip/9156
Agenda
https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/2025-04/pc-agenda-5-1-2025-approved.pdf
Item 1 Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) and Jr. (JADU) Regulations Amendments to the SD Municipal Code and Local Coastal Program Amentments
Well done SD residents. Fingers crossed the Council could understand your reality caused by their prior illogical votes on the same issues.
My mistake, the Council hasn’t heard this yet. It was heard by the Planning Commission, all appointed by the mayor.
Thank you so much Neighbors for a Better San Diego for several years of hard and often unrewarded work to control predatory development that sucks resources from our neighborhoods! Thank you OBRag for persistent coverage.
The mayor and planning people are speaking out of both sides of their mouths on this and the fight isn’t over. The proposed changes affect only a few areas and only in a limited way.
But for the first time, they’re listening. Keep fighting, please!