OB Rag

Editordude: Nadia Lathan at Voice of San Diego just published a great read on the latest on Midway Rising and Senate Bill 958 — although she doesn’t mention NAVWAR — and it’s worth your time to catch up on this complex set of issues that will, if enacted, drastically affect all residents and visitors to the Peninsula. She hits most of the key issues, although not everyone, but does wet our appetites. So, try to get to it over the weekend. Here it is:

Voice of San Diego dated July 24, 2026.

San Diego officials are moving full-steam ahead to get one of their chief policy priorities to the finish line before the legislative session wraps up next month.

Senate Bill 958 would make it easier to build a 165-foot-tall sports arena in the Midway District neighborhood by giving broad exemptions to building height restrictions in the California Environmental Quality Act, the state’s preeminent environmental law.

It allows the lawsuit-ridden Midway Rising project, which includes housing and the arena, to skirt the neighborhood’s 30-foot height limit for buildings near the coast.

Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, a Democrat who represents Midway District, is authoring the bill.

Business and housing groups lobbying for the bill expect smooth sailing from here: It cleared a June hearing in the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources with unanimous support. That came after the bill was changed from its initial, more ambitious version introduced in February, when city officials sought to exempt all parts of the project from CEQA.

YIMBY Democrats of San Diego helped craft the legislation with the mayor’s office, which has been doing whatever it can to get the 16,000-seat arena off the ground amid yearslong local opposition.

By JW August / Special to OB Rag

Shirley Weber, California’s Secretary of State. has responded to a recent veiled threat from the Trump administration warning about criminal prosecutions of any election official allowing ineligible individuals to vote.

President Trump frequently repeats the claim of ineligible voters swinging the results of the 2020 presidential election he lost. No legitimate evidence has ever been provided to back the claim.

Weber’s response was to a letter from attorney and Trump supporter Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the administration’s civil rights division as an Assistant Attorney General. Weber told Dhillon that “California is in full compliance with federal election law obligations.”

Weber did not respond to an offer of “assistance” from the Trump administration. Instead her unspoken response seemed to say, California electors know what they are doing. To prove her point she sent Dhillon a lengthy list of California and federal laws and codes her office enforces.

By Debbie L. Sklar / Special to the OB Rag

Today, Encanto is one of southeastern San Diego’s best-known communities, with a history that reflects both the opportunities and challenges experienced by many urban neighborhoods.

First promoted to homebuyers in the early 1900s, developers envisioned a place of orchards, small farms, and country living connected to downtown by rail. The name itself—Encanto, the Spanish word for “enchantment” or “charm”—dates to 1889 and reflected the area’s appeal as an attractive place to settle. From its rural beginnings to its evolution into one of southeastern San Diego’s most recognizable neighborhoods, Encanto’s history mirrors San Diego’s own growth. Here are eight facts that helped shape the community.

1. It Began as a Community of “Suburban Homes and Small Farms”

When the Encanto Heights subdivision was created in 1907, developers promoted it as a place for “suburban homes and small farms.”

Buyers could purchase five- and 10-acre parcels where they could grow orchards, tend gardens,s and even keep livestock. It was a far cry from the suburban neighborhood people know today.

By Dan Plante / Yahoo KUSI / Wed, July 22, 2026

San Diego Bay was once considered among the most polluted waterways in America. That was then; this is now.

According to environmental watchdog San Diego Coastkeeper, the Big Bay is bouncing back in a big way.

“We did water quality testing for an entire year at different locations around San Diego Bay. We were all a little surprised at how clean it is. I would actually go swimming here. San Diego Bay is cleaner than Mission Bay right now,” said Phillip Musegaas of San Diego Coastkeeper.

 It’s taken decades to reach this point. At one point in history, the bay was an open dumping ground for industrial waste.

Since then, tons of toxic sludge and solid waste have been dredged from the floor of the bay.

By Kate Callen

Most parking shakedowns are simple transactions. Two guys block off a curb space with orange cones. If you hand them cash, they remove the cones and guide you into the spot.

San Diego is seeing a new kind of parking shakedown on a broader scale. First, build so much housing with no off-street parking that curb spaces are completely full. Then offer “residential permits” so people can pay to park in their own neighborhoods.

The idea was outlined in a July 14 Times of San Diego article, “Permit options pitched to planning group amid housing growth and parking concerns.” The story reported that “dense housing adds more vehicles — and more pressure — to already crowded streets.” (Who knew?) To ease the pressure, YIMBY-affiliated advocacy group Ride SD is presenting “a new framework” for residential permit parking.

Of course, it isn’t news that overbuilding has choked off street parking in too many neighborhoods. But it is news that density forces are admitting that.

For over a decade, when residents have complained about parking shortages, YIMBY Democrats, the building industry, and City Hall have given a cavalier response: Let them take transit and ride bikes.

By Michael Hernandez

Though San Diego’s Clairemont neighborhood has been around for over 76 years now, the story of Clairemont’s development goes back even further to the late 1940s, when local developers Carlos Tavares and Lou Burgener bought 1,000 acres of land formerly used for cattle grazing.

Located on a wind-swept mesa overlooking Mission Bay, Tavares, an engineer, and Burgener, a kingpin among builders, transformed the land into one of the country’s largest post-war housing tracts, originally dubbed “The Village Within A City”. According to a pamphlet by the San Diego non-profit “Save Our Heritage Organisation” Tavares’ wife, Claire, made a suggestion that the new development’s layout should match the terrain with winding roads and cul-de-sacs for the children to play in. The development was named “Clairemont” in her honor.

Since its development, Clairemont has grown to encompass over six thousand acres of land and is home to more than 81,000 residents, becoming so large that it can be subdivided into five distinct neighborhoods: North Clairemont, Bay Ho, Clairemont Mesa West, Clairemont Mesa East, and Bay Park. Here’s an overview on what each of these five Clairemont neighborhoods have to offer.

Disclaimer: While the distinction of the five neighborhoods are outlined in the Clairemont Community Plan, passed by the San Diego City Council in December of 2025, the neighborhood boundaries are not officially defined, but illustrated based on multiple factors including historical documents, property deeds, and resident’s perceptions.

North Clairemont

The North Clairemont neighborhood is located in the upper region of Clairemont, closer to University City, and is bordered by the San Clemente Canyon and both California State Route 52 and Interstate 805.

by Ernie McCray

With the tragedy
at the mosque
still on my mind
I’ve been thinking
of a wonderful book
I just finished,
“The Future is Peace,”
written by Aziz Abu Sarah,
a Palestinian,
and Maoz Inon,
an Israeli,
who, rather than focusing on their ethnicities,
choose to view themselves
as human beings
who are trying to cultivate

Senate Bill 958 Would Exempt Increased Building Height from CEQA Study of Redevelopment of Sports Arena Area

by Nicole Abrams / Times of San Diego / July 22, 2026

On July 16, members of the Peninsula Community Planning Board formally opposed a bill, which, if passed, would remove the 30-foot height limit in the Midway District and clear the way for a massive redevelopment of the Sports Arena.

The planning group’s opposition to Senate Bill 958 is spelled out in a letter to the state assembly.

If passed, the proposed legislation would prohibit increased building height from being considered a significant impact on the environment under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.

San Diego State Senator Akilah Weber Pierson introduced the bill in February after a successful legal challenge from residents over Midway Rising’s plans to bring over 4,000 housing units and a new sports arena to the Midway District.

“SB 958 is an important step toward addressing California’s ongoing housing crisis and ensuring communities across the state have the tools to create the housing Californians need,” Weber Pierson said in a statement to Times of San Diego.

Eric Law, the chairman of the Peninsula Community Planning Board, said he and other members support the redevelopment of the Sports Arena but not by dismantling the current height restrictions.

“Effectively, it makes possible the Miami Beach-ification of the entirety of the California coast,” Law said of the bill. “There’s no reason to have skyscrapers at the beach.”

By Lauren Fimbres Wood  / Scripps Institute of Oceanography / July 9, 2026

Following a four-year study, scientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography released a new report to determine if an early warning system could potentially detect a landslide before it happens. The “California Coastal Landslide Early Warning Research” report found that a network of in-ground sensors can provide a reliable warning of impending, dangerous landslides with hours to days notice, but that more work is needed to formalize the findings into an actionable warning system.

Roughly 70% of the California coast is made up of eroding coastal cliffs. These cliffs are home to important infrastructure like highways, railways, coastal access points, energy facilities, and structures, and can be deadly to beachgoers when a cliff collapse occurs.

In August 2019, at Grandview Beach in Encinitas, Calif., three women were killed following a 30-foot by 25-foot section of a cliff collapsing onto the beach. Other fatal events have occurred throughout the state in Big Sur, Santa Barbara, Point Reyes and San Francisco. The tragedy in Encinitas inspired California Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, whose district includes San Diego’s coastal North County, to introduce a bill, AB 66, and secure funding through the State budget, to enhance coastal monitoring to better understand the timing of bluff failures and help inform recommendations towards the development of a potential early landslide warning system.

Meeting Organized by Several Local Planning Groups

A number of local community planning groups have organized what they’re calling a “Town Hall” to discuss and debate several key development projects facing this area of San Diego: The Peninsula Community Planning Board, the Uptown Community Planning Group, Old Town Community Planning group and Protect Pt Loma Community Association are co-sponsoring this event. (Interesting that the OB Planning Board is not included.) The issues:

• NAVWAR redevelopment project
• Midway Rising for the sports arena area
• Senate Bill 958 aiming to pave the way for Midway Rising

It’s all happening:

Tuesday, July 28th, 2026
6pm – 7:30pm
Pt Loma Library
3701 Voltaire Street
San Diego, CA 92107

Organizers say they will have a brief presentation on the background and serious consequences if the Midway Rising and NAVWAR projects are approved.  Then they will open up the forum to public comment and discussion.  This meeting will be recorded, and they say they will send this to each of the Assembly members who sit on the Appropriations Committee the first week of August.

Most people who spend some time in San Diego understand that it’s a coastal desert city. “Desert” being the main word here. Because of this understanding, many adjust their behavior into conserving a desert’s most priceless commodity: water.

People take out their green grass and plant cacti and succulents; they don’t wash their car as much; they use less water in their normal day-to-day living and chores. And up to now, those residents who use less water were rewarded by a city of San Diego water rate system in which customers who use less water paid a lower rate, and those who use more water paid more.

Now, all of that is going to change.

A recent court ruling against the city of San Diego and its tiered pricing system has prompted a proposed rate change that would eliminate the city’s tiered pricing system.

Which means, if enacted, San Diego residents who use less water could see their monthly water bills increase next year and those who don’t use less water will actually see a decrease in their monthly bills. If approved, all customers would pay the same rate, regardless of how much water they use.

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

Where would the incentive to save water go?

And critics of the proposed changes malign the idea as just one more cost being heaped on the average consumer.  One Kensington homeowner, Cynthia Hillman was quoted by local TV station 7SanDiego as saying the potential increase comes at a difficult time for many families.

“For somebody who’s having to pay higher gas prices, higher grocery prices, this is just one more thing that makes life very uncomfortable,” she said. She also expressed concern about who would bear the added cost. “You’re asking the little guy to pay more,” she said.

Kensington resident Connie Kirk also was quoted: “That doesn’t sound very fair because if they’re using more that means they’ve got more property, which probably means they’ve got more income period.”

Rag readers have also expressed outrage.

The proposed changes stem from a legal decision in a case against the city of San Diego that requires the city to move away from a rate structure that incentivizes lower water usage.

Public Has Until August 24 to Give Feedback to Port

By City News Service / 7SanDiego / July 10-13, 2026

The comment period for a proposed redevelopment of East Harbor Island for a Topgolf and Waterfront Park Project is open, Port of San Diego officials announced Friday.

The port published a Draft Environmental Impact Report for the project, with the public comment period open through Aug. 24.

The project, if approved, would entail a 10.1-acre public waterfront park with a promenade, plaza areas, playgrounds, restrooms and public art. It also includes a 16.5-acre section designated as an entertainment district, with 9.8 of those acres set aside for the popular arcade/ driving range company Topgolf. The remainder is slated as “eatertainment” concepts, to be determined by a competitive public solicitation process.

Additionally, the proposal calls for realignment of Liberator Way with new public parking, sidewalks, planting buffers and reconfiguration of adjacent intersections.