Magic in San Diego: Towers Pop Up, Coastal Cottages Disappear

By Lynne Miller

Editor’s Note: This commentary raises issues that will be front and center at the City Council’s Bonus ADU hearing at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, June 16.

There is a particular kind of magic in San Diego, from skyline to sandy sea.  A bird’s eye or drone view will show more structures rising faster and in greater numbers than ever before. The people of San Diego will tell you that in the blink of 30 days, the next-door house that was an old one-bedroom cottage on a good-sized lot was leveled, permitted, and framed before a person could say “Albus Dumbledore.”

When a magician presents his show, the audience tries to figure out where the rabbits were hidden and how the beautiful assistant disappeared.  In San Diego, we are trying to figure out how everything changed while we were simply living our lives.

Profit and Power magically drive good intentions into the mire. Politicians and Big Corporations, even research companies, can be tainted by “desired outcomes.” Don’t be fooled by data-driven statements that promote the “new and better” political agenda.

Here is what misuse of power looks like in local government.  Magic and Secrets are hidden among the new laws. Here is one of those secrets. The term “ministerial’ refers to actions that are carried out without discretion. In city government, ministerial laws require no public notice, input, or approval. Magic! The city does not have to notify local residents of building plans.

The accelerated program is designed for “quick builds,”and in no time, your backyard touches the new 8-story building, and your privacy goes away, like magic! With this kind of magic, our quaint neighborhoods have legally transformed into monolithic towers that pack people into small living spaces.

The lack of government transparency and integrity are serious problems. Here is an example of what locals face. At 4705 Point Loma Avenue, residents received a notice for an 8-unit building designed for that corner. No one complained or appealed to my knowledge.

Suddenly the city of San Diego unleashed their magic: The building changed from 8 units with parking to 20 units with very few parking spaces. (A gift from the builder who was not required to provide any parking.)  A 30-foot-plus building, with tiny high-density apartments, was going to be built FAST.

Residents were almost fooled by the city’s hidden tricks. Locals learned the meanings of Complete Communities, Historic Districts, ADU and JADUs.   Residents had to pay out of pocket to add legal intervention into the appeal to stop the building. It stopped.

But another owner will hire another builder, and this process will go on and on. When will the City Council and the Mayor listen to constituents and stop redefining San Diego through unreadable and unclear laws?

Here is another example. In Clairemont, residents see apartment-style buildings crammed into cul-de-sacs that are intended for single-family homes, and they wonder where the influx of cars will park or how emergency vehicles can make their way to fires.

Another example: In Mission Valley, the riverbed is topped with thousands of  apartments, condos, and small businesses built several stories high with great views. San Diego is literally flooded with ‘new builds’ based on questionable solutions and cherry-picked data (from the State and City).  Data analysists, by using sleight hand, can make the numbers support any “cause.”

Make no mistake.  This is intentional.  I have heard that San Diego’s demand for 5,000-square-foot lots for single-family homes is antiquated and unfair. The current plan is to destroy single- family homes and replace them with apartment-type living.

Call it what you will, but ADU, JADU, Complete Communities are words that magically change the fine city of San Diego into crowded towers and congested streets. When this Council is done, San Diego will look like any other large city.  The beautiful tree-lined streets will be replaced by cement structures and the coastline will be blocked by “housing” that supports high-density mandates and unrestricted height.

Again, sleight of hand and word soup repeatedly insist these plans are about equity and are the solutions to affordable housing and homelessness. Locals see the flawed magic tricks, and they understand that most of this is a money-grab for a depleted budget that was mismanaged by the State and the City.

Taxes are so high in the state, soon to be higher through increased gasoline taxes, that people are leaving California in search of freedom, honesty in government, and affordability of shelter, food, land, and energy.

I dare any of you to read the Amended Code Suggested for ADU and JADU.  I would be surprised if any Council Member or Staff or Appointee read the full words of the new amended code.  I understand that it is 215-plus pages, and it is hidden (somewhere in plain sight) but you have to find it.  Good Luck!

Words and emotions form a complicated marriage. We assume our words communicate what we intend.  Be aware! Words have the power to influence thinking.

We justify change by using phrases like “housing crisis,” “equity,” “sustainability,” and “homelessness.”  Into the word soup we throw data, numbers and theories, a few Ph.Ds., and there is a movement. The movement gains momentum, and magically, before we know it, a mandated way of thinking emerges that restricts questions, discussions, and possible solutions.

Words began the citywide physical changes in Point Loma, Ocean Beach, La Jolla, Encanto, North Park, Pacific Beach, Linda Vista. We know this. Words, confusing and unclear to the public, and resulting in new laws, entice builders with bucks to outbid locals and get fast-tracked for permits.

We know this. Our elected officials and their staff create new laws, and before we know it, magically, another ADU pops up in our backyard.

Here is another secret. Development Services Department (DSD) has a form anyone can order.  It is called DS-375. Visit sandiego.gov/DSD where you can request this form. It is the Preliminary Review Questionnaire for Building in San Diego.

This 7-page form has must be completed and submitted prior to an application for building.  Is that called a Preapplication application?  What happens if you, a local resident, want to look at a DS-375 that has been filed?  Good luck!  You will have to travel in person to ‘view’ the document.  The visit will be supervised.  Don’t bother bringing a notebook, pen, or cell phone-such devices are not allowed in the “viewing.”  Freedom just keeps on ringing!!

Complete Communities and ADUs are built with bogus laws and probably no infrastructure. But do not despair. If plans have been set in motion, building can be fast-tracked. You, too, can live right next to an 8-unit ADU with no setbacks, no sunshine, and no parking required!

San Diegans are exposing the political magicians who are responsible for laws they create and permits they expedite that benefit Big Developers. The residents and the voters of San Diego are creating their own kind of magic. Lot by lot, permit by permit, peaceful residents are waging war against an elected and appointed body that is serving up guilt to constituents rather than service.

There are many organizations forming and working to stop the land grab and destruction of our neighborhoods. Hopefully by working together we/they can take back our communities and promote reasonable solutions to affordable housing.

Time is not on our side! See above for the information for the next meeting. Tell your friends!