Author: Staff

By Geoff Page

A proposed project on Locust and Ingelow Streets, in the Roseville-Fleetridge neighborhood, plans to pierce the 30-foot height limit by 14 feet using the Affordable Housing Density Bonus. Fourteen feet.

An explanation of that 14-foot figure first. The building will be 44 feet high when measured from the existing grade. However, the city made a decision some years ago about how to measure height that, for unknown reasons, was never legally challenged.

That decision declared the earth inside a planter – that the new developer builds – is “finished grade.” The 30-foot height limit is measured from “finished grade.” By building a five-foot tall planter, the developer gains another five feet immediately.

After working for forty plus years in the San Diego construction industry, this writer can say with confidence that no one in that profession would agree that the earth inside of a planter qualifies as finished grade. No one at all.

The other nine feet above the 30-foot height limit consists of the thickness of the roof, a parapet, and an elevator bulkhead. The elevator bulkhead is the main intrusion.

OB Staff Report / September 30, 2025

Former San Diego state senator Toni Atkins has withdrawn from the crowded race for California governor, saying in a statement Monday that “there is simply no viable path forward to victory.”

The decision comes just one month after a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll ranked Atkins 11th out of 12 gubernatorial candidates, with 1 percent of respondents choosing her as their first-place choice, and 38 percent undecided.

The three top-ranked candidates were Democrat Katie Porter, chosen as first by 17 percent, Republican Chad Bianco, chosen by 10 percent, and Democrat Xavier Becerra, chosen by 9 percent.

OB Staff Report / September 29, 2025

Campaigning for San Diego’s June 2 primary election is already underway. Given the City’s deplorable state of affairs (101 Ash, predatory development, bait-and-switch trash fees, paid Balboa Park parking), voter interest in the four Council races on the 2026 ballot will be unusually intense.

To help voters make informed choices, the Rag will provide investigative coverage of the most important 2026 races. We will scout campaign finance reports and document where candidates get their support. We will study the fine print on campaign mailers and tell you which powerbrokers and special interest groups funded them.

The best indicators of a politician’s real agenda aren’t their promises or their platforms. It’s the money. When you know who is backing a candidate, you can pretty much predict what that person will do in office.

Let’s say we publish a list of the top 20 donors to Candidate X, and we identify many of them as players who have been close to Mayor Todd Gloria. Their support for X means they believe X will follow in Gloria’s political footsteps.

If you think Gloria has been a great mayor, you might want to give X your vote and even your money. If you think Gloria has been a disaster, you might want to back one of X’s opponents.

OB Staff Report / September 26, 2025

If you’re thinking of visiting Balboa Park any weekend this fall, you might want to make other plans.

The Natural History Museum parking lot is closed to the public through November 21. The Museum is replacing its roof, and the lot is occupied by construction equipment.

For weekend visitors, the closure will mean that driving to and from the park, and parking inside the park, will be even more nightmarish than usual.

By OB Rag Staff / September 25, 2025

It’s showtime.

The Office of the San Diego City Clerk has a “2026 Election Information” webpage which shows the candidates who have publicly declared their intention to run for a City Council District seat. Their names are listed here. Hyperlinks will take you to the active websites of those candidates.

Council District 2

Josh Coyne

Nicole Crosby

Mandy Havlik

OB Staff Report / September 24, 2025

With fewer than 24 hours before the San Diego Planning Commission considers the bait-and-switch Midway Rising proposal, only a handful of comments have been posted via the Commission’s web-based Public Comment Form. A Public Comment Spreadsheet revised yesterday shows five comments, and four of them support the project.

So let’s get to work! The link to the Public Comment Form is:

https://www.sandiego.gov/planning-commission/agenda-comment-form

Fill in the Contact Info blanks — red asterisks indicate required fields — the Meeting Date is 09/25/2025, the Comment type is Agenda Comment, Agenda Item Number is 2, and Position is Opposition.

By JW August / Times of San Diego / September 22, 2025

If you play the Torrey Pines or Balboa Park golf courses, you’re probably aware of how difficult it is to get a good tee time, especially for slots on Thursday through Sunday from the early morning to noon.

It’s a common problem across municipal courses in Southern California, and a new federal indictment provides insight into the disappearance of weekend morning tee times within seconds of being released.

The possible reveal to the mystery of the vanishing tee times can be found in a grand jury document filed this month in Los Angeles, alleging that two men started a brokering business using digital devices to reserve thousands of tee times for resale at numerous golf courses nationwide.

In doing so, they allegedly created “a monopoly of Los Angeles and Orange County area golf course tee times by securing the most sought-after early morning slots, often within seconds of their release to the public.”

By Kate Callen 

Ever see a German shepherd frightened by a barking terrier?

That was the vibe when the organizers of a convention of accessory dwelling unit (ADU) developers were thrown into a panic by a small band of civil protesters.

A September 17 demonstration against predatory ADU builders was organized by Pamela Begeal of Adubonus.org. Her tracking of industry activities found that an
events company called Informa Connect was hosting an ADU builders meeting that day at the San Diego Marriott Marquis.

Begeal identified two speakers on the agenda who have ravaged countless local neighborhoods: Christian Spicer of SDRE Homebuilders and Daniel Shkolnik of
Atlas West Group. And she saw an opportunity to send them a public message.

Some 20 community activists answered her invitation to gather on Harbor Drive outside the hotel. Upon arrival, they encountered a security force of men in dark
suits wearing sunglasses and carrying walkie-talkies.

Demonstrators who strayed from the sidewalk onto a stretch of lawn were told to move. Two people who walked into the hotel lobby were stopped, asked to show
picture IDs, and body screened by electronic wands for weapons.

But the real farce took place inside the convention area when Lisa Becerra and Kim Beck, who had paid $1,599 each to attend the event, were denied admission.

By Kate Callen

At the September 15 hearing on parking fees in Balboa Park, weary San Diego City Councilmembers knew they would be hammered by volunteers, arts patrons, bridge players, lawn bowlers, square dancers, and other regular park users who skew elderly.

But they didn’t see the high school students coming.

Nearly 200 San Diego High students marched from their campus to City Hall with courtesy escorts from City and School District police. The Inspiration Point parking lot is walking distance from their classrooms. Under the new fee system, these students from mostly low-income families would now have to pay to park there.

The sight of gray-haired and teenage constituents teaming up to rebuke City officials made this one of the most enthralling Council hearings in recent memory.

After four hours of deliberation, the Council chose to delay the new fees until January 1. City residents will pay less; out-of-town visitors will pay more. An annual resident parking pass, which the mayor’s staff claimed was impossible, is on the table. The yearly fee will likely be $150.

An application has been made for a Process 2 Coastal Development Permit for 4611 Newport Avenue, dated September 8.

The application calls:

• to demolish a 1,354 square foot existing single dwelling unit
• to construct two new single dwelling units with attached accessory dwelling units.
• one unit would be 3-story, 2,540-square-foot single-dwelling unit with an attached carport,
• that unit would have an attached 2-story, 639-square-foot accessory dwelling unit.
• a second new unit would be a 2-story 1,859-square-foot single-dwelling unit with (2) attached garages (front and
  back), and
• an attached, 2-story 779-square-foot accessory dwelling unit.

The San Diego Police Department is investigating a shooting that killed a man late Wednesday night in Ocean Beach.

SDPD reported that at about 11:29 p.m., police received a report of a shooting in the area of 5000 Newport Ave. in Ocean Beach. Officers arrived on scene and located an adult male suffering from at least one gunshot wound to his upper body. Officers and medics rendered aid at the scene, but unfortunately, the man did not survive.

7SanDiego reported that the shooting took place in the parking lot next to the popular Hodad’s restaurant on Newport Avenue near Bacon Street.

Homicide detectives were called to the scene to investigate. Investigators have learned the decedent was involved in a confrontation with two men in a parking lot. The victim punched one of the men, at which time the second man produced a handgun and shot the decedent.