By Kate Callen
The Golden Hill community scored an astonishing win Friday, October 17, in its battle against an eight-story apartment project when a Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order to halt further development on the site.
The decision is believed to be the first successful legal salvo against Mayor Todd Gloria’s Complete Communities densification program. It was the second victory on the same day for land use attorney Everett Delano, whose client Save Our Access won a state appeals decision Friday that reinstates the 30-foot-height limit in the Midway district.
The ruling by Superior Court Judge Joel Wohlfeil also undermined a key component of Complete Communities: “transit-oriented development” near bus stops, some of which don’t exist and might never exist.
Preserve Greater Golden Hill went to court to stop CEDARst from speed-building “The Lawson,” a 186-unit complex at 2935-2961 A Street that would be the largest high-rise building directly under the final approach into San Diego Airport.
“We knew we had a strong case,” said Richard Santini, President of Preserve Golden Hill. “This decision makes it clear that Complete Communities isn’t about affordable housing. This building is more of a luxury tower.”
The ruling also stipulated that a promise of future transit that might never happen does not justify infill density that will immediately disrupt urban residential neighborhoods.
CEDARst acknowledged there is currently no major transit stop within a mile of the proposed building. But it argued that SANDAG “projects” that a qualifying bus stop will be in place by 2035.
But Judge Wohlfeil pointed out that no funding has been identified for the $103 million project (in 2020 dollars). That lack of funding makes the transit stop “speculative,” the judge ruled, and if it “remains nothing more than an aspiration,” residents will have “their tranquility undermined without access to transportation deemed necessary by the City.”
The judge also noted that there’s a “reasonable probability” that Preserve Greater Golden Hill will win its case at trial.
Santini said the restraining order has emboldened the community to take pro-active steps against saturation density.
“We are preparing letters to send out to developers, financiers, and real estate agents,” he said. “We will inform them that Golden Hill has a community plan in place, and we will ensure that projects align with that plan.”
The Chicago-based CEDARst, which launched an aggressive but ultimately unsuccessful community relations campaign in Golden Hill, tried to persuade the judge that a restraining order would cause financial hardship, but Santini said their estimates were not credible.
“They said they’ve spent $18 million up to this point,” he said. “The permitting cost $2.9 million, and they claim they’re spending up to $90,000 to $100,000 a day. But some of their expenditures could not be accounted for.”
The restraining order will remain in effect until a hearing that is scheduled for Tuesday, November 26, at 9:00 a.m. in Department 73 of the San Diego Superior Court.
Preserve Golden Hill will hold a fundraising event to increase awareness of and support for its legal battle at Matteo’s in South Park, 3015 Juniper Street, Thursday, October 23 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
AWESOME!!!! Great news, and equally great article Kate. Good for the community, and fingers crossed for the end of Nov.
It appears in another article there’s the likely potential for another City of SD tax increase election in June, on the “vacation homes”. I wonder how many special elections the tax payers are going to pay for within the next 3.5 yrs.????
Oh my goodness, how these citizen victories warm my heart! Finally some common sense has been injected into the system. When will our elected officials learn that ramming their gifts to developers down our throats are not sustainable? We will fight them till the end. Wouldn’t it actually be easier to develop solutions to our public infrastructure problems in COLLABORATION with the communities affected?
Please, Kate, post a link to donate to the fundraiser if you get one.
There’s a link to the website run by Greater GH folks at the beginning of the post.
Do not forget that this has implications for every Complete Communities project. The City will come back ferociously! This decision does not accept as a Rapid Transit Center one which is scheduled for 2036 with no identified funding and the possibility for change. Almost all Complete Communities projects use the same justification for exemption to the Municipal Code. This finding is a TRO (Temporary Restraining Order) which stops construction until the full hearing can be held Tuesday, November 26. The 8-story project replaces 3 old houses.
The Court’s decision was incorrect and will be overturned.
The court’s decision was 100% correct. I looked over the case and even had AI look at it and even AI said the court decision was correct.
can you share the case information and the analysis
AI is also incorrect. The court’s decision relies on language in SANDAG’s regional plan that does not apply to the planned major transit stop. SANDAG’s plan budgets multiple billions of dollars for planned transit leap projects, including the stop at issue, and includes an appendix describing funding sources in excess of projected costs. The entire purpose of SANDAG’s regional plan is to outline long and short range projects to inform local agencies’ decision-making for where to approve housing (i.e. close to existing and future transit corridors) and other development. It is entirely reasonable for the City to approve complete communities developments based on future transportation projects listed in SANDAG’s regional plan… in fact, that’s exactly how good urban planning is supposed to work! It is immaterial that the particular judge in this case thinks that the planned stop is “speculative.” How does the judge suggest the City decide whether a project is “planned” or not, other than by reference to the regional transportation plan prepared by the agency expressly tasked with that responsibility (as provided by the municipal code)? Any other criteria would be entirely subjective. Planning decisions should be made by the City based on consistent/objective/predictable criteria, not by individual judges on a case by case basis.
Where can you find the courts ruling?
All over San Diego Citizens Rise up and object to City Hall dismantling our neighborhoods. Golden Hill. Middletown, PB, OB, East county’s and more. Now please turn some attention to the Port of San Diego. Also in close partnership with developers. Planning to block off Harbor Island with large and tall Hotel projects. We need another Harbor Island Hotel that will suffocate Harbor Island and block citizen access ?
Port of SD. Beware we are bringing this long time dissent to your lavish front door. Read the Room Please. dump this 12 year old unbuilt project that escapes the expectations Of The Community. Times have changed. Get with the plan. Community Rises up.. Coming your way!
Best to read official ruling. AI may give a summary, depends on the question/questions you ask it/the prompt, and depends on the AI you use. Kate and Editor Dude… is there a link for the court ruling?
I will be at Thursday evening’s Preserve Greater Golden Hill gathering — it should be a lot of fun, I’ll write a post on it — and I’ll ask Richard Santini where people can find the ruling online. As for “planned budgets” and “planned transit stops,” Robert Burns had it exactly right: The best-laid plans of mice and men (and public agencies notorious for fiscal mismanagement and overextension) often go awry.
Cool :-). Thank you for your reply Kate!! I’ll do some research too.