By Kate Callen / August 1, 2025
A year ago, after hearing countless stories about monstrous accessory dwelling units (ADUs), OB Rag staff wanted to find out how bad things were. So we launched a “Worst ADU in San Diego” contest on August 9. And we sat back and waited for entries.
By the August 23 contest deadline, the Rag received over 50 submissions from 20 communities across the city. Our panel of five judges drove around town looking at one eyesore after another. It was depressing work.
The three top prizewinners were announced September 12: Gold at 4578 Jicarillo Avenue in Bay Ho, Silver at 4974 54th Street in College, and Bronze at 5732-36 Dorothy Drive, also in College.
The combined awfulness of the projects prompted us to add 12 “Dishonorable Mentions.”
The 15 contest “winners” fell into two categories of greed. In the first, predatory developers crammed multiple units onto a single lot for maximum profit. In the second, selfish property owners built gigantic structures onto small lots for maximum living space.
The second category included the Bronze recipient. The judges commented, “This demonstrates how a single ADU can have an overwhelming neighborhood impact. Our first thought was: Could this be any uglier? Our second thought was: Is this an architectural middle finger to the surrounding neighborhood?”
The San Diego City Council recently found the courage to cap the number of ADUs per parcel. But a limit on oversized structures isn’t likely, especially in a city where all development is ministerial and City Hall rubber-stamps permit applications.
One of the contest “dishonorables” was back in the news this week. A two-story ADU, the largest in Crown Point, towers over the Promontory Street home of Cathie and Marc Umemoto. The sheer mass of the structure is bad enough. But a coastal zoning loophole allowed owner Heidi Martin, who had just bought the property, to build a large ADU just inches from her property line.
The Umemotos were never notified that their home was about to be overshadowed by a giant bunker.
“At the last second, the garage was torn down, and the foundation was jackhammered,” said Marc. “We didn’t know what was happening until the yellow wall was pulled up into place.”
In her rush to build, Martin didn’t consider that if you’re too close to your neighbor’s line, you need to enter their property to finish your project. The Umemotos were willing to grant that access. But when Martin’s contractor refused to absolve them of any construction liability, they withdrew it.
The ensuing war of attrition, covered by the Rag and the Union-Tribune, dragged on for a year until this week. The Union-Tribune reported July 29 that Martin’s crew figured out a way to finish off the remaining wall from the roof using a long pole with a roller paintbrush.
So the war is over for now, or until Heidi Martin again needs to enter the next-door property for ADU repairs or maintenance. She complained to the U-T that she has been “unfairly portrayed as some sort of neighborhood enemy.” And she emphasized that “her family is building only one ADU and that they are not investors buying up properties for ADUs.”
The Umemotos’ plight – living in perpetual shadow, their house devalued – has won them widespread sympathy. But Marc said they want peace in the neighborhood. “Every neighbor has supported us,” he said. “but we’ve never wanted anyone to disassociate with the Martins.”
Last month, the Promontory Street residents held their annual July Fourth block party. Cathie Umemoto always pulls the permit and organizes the event, which is open to everyone on the street. It’s one of the reasons the neighbors are so tight knit.
This year, residents made sure to leave a flyer on Martin’s property, and she received a personal invitation from a neighborhood leader. She RSVP’d for herself and eight members of her extended family.
“They came to the block party, and they were welcomed,” said Umemoto. “We’re trying to rise above it all.”
Why not just have an ugliest house contest? There are a bunch of ugly single family homes in San Diego besides ADUs.
??? Ugly houses are not an issue; massive numbers and huge ADUs are. Are you just trying to distract from the issue here?
Wow these are something.
Could be a future episode of “Fear Thy Neighbor”.
Funniest comment ever Chris. I live across from that neighbor. No one has moved into the house or the units yet.
Kate some of the things you say in this article are not accurate. You write that Martin’s contractor would not absolve Umemoto from liability if the ADU work was done from his yard. However, the UT article explains that Martin’s contractor DID offer to do that, and that Umemoto ultimately did not agree because he did not like Martin’s “reasoning”.
You also write that Umemoto’s property has been devalued without ever providing evidence. Is his property worth less now than it was before the ADU next door was built? If so, then is it a phenomenon occurring exclusively to his property or have home prices decreased in that neighborhood broadly speaking? These are important questions to answer if you are going to make claims like that!
Finally, someone else mentioned on here but Umemoto’s behavior does not reflect well on him. He called the police twice over what is pretty clearly not trespassing (trespassing requires intent and it doesn’t seem like the painter intended to step on to Umemoto’s property) which wasted the police’s time and resources they could have spent doing other more important things. Umemoto also could have signed the liability release forms so there would be no risk of a lawsuit should the painter get injured. The fact that he did not do so because he didn’t like Martin’s rationale is bizarre. All of this makes him look petty but at no point in your article to you mention that.
The martins were totally inconsiderate and not bright to assume they could build on the property line, and feel entitled to use the neighbors yard for their construction workers. The obviously didn’t give two hoots if they blocked the sun from the neighbors house. IF the Martin’s construction crew member fell while traipsing around on the Umemoto and hurt themselves, the construction worker could have sued the Umemoto’s. I would have done the same thing. Deny strangers entrance onto their property, because of the liability they could incur. I think the Umemoto’s were above and beyond being gracious enough to invite the Martin’s AND their extended family to a neighborhood event. Ms Martin was disrespectful to everyone in the area.
George, I’m sorry but that’s not what happened. The painter did not lose his footing. That never happened. The painters were using our fence as a scaffold, without our permission. (We have pictures.) We asked them to get off our wood fence, before they damage it. They refused. The fence is ours, on our property. (The property line was established by a surveyor before we put the fence up.) Just because you don’t agree with someone’s point of view, it still doesn’t make it okay to break the law. The Martin’s needed to trespass to finish their project. Is it really our responsibility or duty to be compliant? The funny thing is, the only people actively complaining about the Martin’s ADU issue is the Martin’s. Because their contractor screwed up, they placed the blame on us. They have never publicly acknowledged the fact that we gave them permission to come on to our property, and they refused. George, your anger is rooted in misinformation. Before you judge our character from afar, I suggest you visit our street, knock on any door, other than the Martin’s, and ask them what type of neighbors we are.
Something missing from the article: the Umemoto’s called the cops when the painter lost his balance and fell onto their property.
This reminds me of when I was a kid whenever my soccer ball would fall into my neighbors yard he would threaten to call the cops on us, he was angry. While technically he could do that and accuse us of trespassing that was not the right response, similar to how the Umemotos just called the cops. Why not just tell the painter and show him the way out? Was it really necessary to call the cops for someone just accidentally landing in your yard with no harm?
I’m generally not in favor of calling police unless lives are at stake or a very serious crime has been committed, as they have a tendency to make matters worse. But I’m assuming the rationale was, had the painter been injured–or decided later that he had been “injured”– having a record of police reports asserting illegal trespassing might make it easier for the property owners to avoid liability. If someone is greedy enough to build a monstrous structure inches from your property, disrupting your peace, ruining your yard, and diminishing the value of your home with no consideration for you or your neighbors, is this not just the sort of person who might also exploit the law to sue *you* for damages when they or their workers get injured on *your* property?
Absolutely agree, Lee.
The Umemoto’s are my neighborhood and I’ve known them for 20+ years. They are wonderful neighbors. They were absolutely justified in calling the cops for the Martin’s crew trespassing. For you doubters – just drive by their house and look what they’ve had to endure. It’s heartbreaking. The Martin’s left zero setback for their ADU from the property line. I have a feeling if this happened to you, you’d feel just like the neighbors do – who would want to welcome or be friends with the Martins given their greedy and self-serving actions? In my opinion they deserve whatever repercussions they are getting from people in the neighborhood. I hope they feel so uncomfortable that they move. Adios.
Just to set the record straight.
1. I did grant their original contractor access to our backyard. All I asked was that he sign a document, releasing us from any liability, scope of the project, and acknowledging that they would pay for any damages. HE SAID NO! The Martins and the original contractor know he said no.
2. Prior to the Martins buying the house next door, our southside property line was established by a surveyor. Bear Fence installed the entire fence on our property. We paid for the fence. We did not half it with the previous owner. The Martin’s painters did not accidentally fall onto our wood fence. They were using our wood fence as a scaffold. We have pictures and videos to prove it. They never asked, and they were flippant when my wife asked them to get down.
3. The police were called the first time because the Martin’s painters were clearly trespassing and using our fence as a scaffold. When the police came out the first time they explained to us and the painters, that the only time the painters should be on the fence is if they were to fall and they needed the fence to break their fall, otherwise they should stay off our fence. The police officers said to call again if the painters got back on the fence. As soon as the police left, the painters got back on the fence and were using it as a scaffold again. Once again, pictures and videos, with time stamps, don’t lie.
4. The police were called a second time. This time, the police officer explained that unless the fence can be clearly established on our property, he would not cite them. He also indicated that they would need to see the trespassing for themselves to cite them. Neither of these conditions were going to be met that day.
While the Martins were building their house, their original contractor kept breaking our wood fence. Pictures and videos don’t lie. While this was happening, Chris Martin, assured me that we would settle up after construction was finished, text messages don’t lie. He never did. We ended up repairing our fence that their contractor continually damaged.
Before the Martins finished building their house, I reminded Chris Martin that his contractor did not sign the release I requested and they do not have permission to trespass. Chris Martin texted back, “Neither I or my contractor will trespass on your property. I have already stated this more than once.” CHRIS MARTIN IS OBVIOUSLY NOT A MAN OF HIS WORD.
It is sad that someone, who doesn’t know me or the history behind this issue, can make a judgement about my character. If you want to know the type of person I am, please stop by our neighborhood and knock on any door other than the Martin’s and ask. I’m also open to a conversation.