By Tanja Kropf / Explore Clairemont / August 19, 2025
If the City of San Diego has its way, the single-family home landscape that has been a part of the fabric of Clairemont for decades is about to dramatically change.
On August 4, city planners unveiled their proposed 30-year plan for Clairemont at the Clairemont Community Planning Group (CCPG) meeting. The 101-page document was released to the public less than two hours before the meeting.
The new Clairemont Community Plan proposes up to 17,100 additional residences and a more urbanized ‘City of Villages’ neighborhood design where commercial, retail, and residential units will share higher density spaces.
Additionally, the 30-foot height limit the City Council adopted in 1989 for most of Clairemont will go away. This will clear the way for, at a minimum, 65-foot height limits in certain areas.
The elimination of height limits aligns with California Senate Bill 79. SB 79 would override current single-family zoning restrictions in favor of multi-family residential developments (condos, apartments). The bill would allow buildings up to 95 feet high in areas with access to transit within a half mile (as the crow flies).
What Are The Details Of The Clairemont Community Plan Proposal? [for answers go to original]
The Plan’s History
If this is the first time you’re even hearing of a Clairemont Community Plan, you’re not alone. The initial plan was adopted in 1989. It remained dormant until 2016, when the city initiated an update process.
Between 2017 and 2019, there were 26 ad hoc meetings, a workshop, and online surveys to collect community feedback on land use. The feedback from the community overwhelmingly indicated resistance to more height or density, with the exception of the Clairemont Village area (The Quad) and the area of Clairemont Drive south of Clairemont High School. One reason for the community pushback cited concerns about wildfire risk.
[For the balance of this investigative report, go to Explore Clairemont here]
Never any grocery stores. You ever notice that? Proposing, in some cases to triple (or more) the existing number of rental units, means we need triple the food distribution, pharmacy access, right? Yet never any new drugstores, grocery stores, bupkis, nothing, ever, never, any in these fairytale concepts, especially that of Midway Rising?
Imagine the rush when 17,100 Clairemontians are about to fix holiday meals and need something from the ONLY grocery store… The only grocery store mind you, because grease palmed leaders demolished Target and that was the only other freestanding grocery store in the area. Planned overdevelopment will leave the area forever hemmed in entirely, preventing any new grocery store development & the necessary required sq footage from ever being built in the future.
Please remain mindful that residents are relegated to walking a mile in order tto reach public transportation. And driving to the only grocery store isn’t going to be an option because new residents will be spending 40%, 50%, 60%, 70% of their incomes on rent, so no electric car for them, no money for taxi, or GOOBERLIFT or whatever.
Please make note of the way this fantastical rendering just lays waste to everything currently standing, which is a lot. From a giant Home Depot to Giant Target, 5 banks, drugstore several businesses including HONEY BAKED HAMS and everything else.
Also please take note of the timing. This rendering was released the day after the State Senate committee took up SB79.
The voters will never disavow their morbid fascination with the two major political parties and the prostituted loot that comes with being a winner. My advice to adherents to the OB Rag is to pen your thoughts to David Garrick at the SDUT in order to save our city from dishonesty, untruthfulness, corruption, back room deals, developers raping the very core of our communities, greed, disingenuous mumbo jumbo, and just plain non common sense. Otherwise, I guarantee the status quo will prevail. The residents of Clairemont must be awfully dumb to put up campaign signs all over the place for another insider Democrat. GEEZ! WTF, man? Pathetically stupid!!
I grew up in Clairemont and now 74yrs. of age. This is my thought on the subject. Where will all the businesses and residents move to while the city and state makes money on your property? The change will be more expensive to live there and most people are living on credit cards to survive. I don’t like the word going forward with progress and watching the middle class having to move elsewhere, most out of the state due to being very expensive to live. As it is the Governor can’t figure out how to fix our broken roads after many years of adding a gas tax for fixing the roads, as well as the homeless living in our streets like a garbage dump site. Shame on you Governor, your another deep pocket scum bag and should be kicked out of your seat. Why you’re still in office I can’t figure that one out. These politicians are ruining San Diego as we speak and rapping the tax payers here where we older aged people are settled in to enjoy this beautiful city of ours. It’s all greed and filling their deep pockets. I grew up in the sixty’s in Clairemont, Tecolote area and look back to see good honest people with good outlooks to mankind. People back then were very different than now! Today we are so stressed out the minute we leave our homes to go to work or go anywhere else. There is no longer going out for a Sunday Drive with the Family! That is in the past! We can take over and make San Diego beautiful again if everybody gets together as one and voices our opinions on what the people want not the politicians want!! If we do nothing in stopping this so called future planning we will end up like Los Angeles, a dump site!!!