Author: Staff

David Garrick at the U-T announced this morning that the City of San Diego is knocking 10% off its proposed trash fee as a response to all the push back from residents. But is that enough to placate angry residents?

Garrick:

The revised proposal announced Wednesday suggests a monthly rate of $47.59 for full-service customers — more than $5 less than the initial proposal of $53 per month that the city announced in February.

The fee would still rise in coming years when the city adds new services like bulky trash pickup. But instead of rising to $65 in July 2027, the fee would rise to $59.42 at that time.

City leaders and politicians have been hearing a lot from San Diego residents recently about how much the City should charge for trash pickup.

In 2022, city voters said they were OK with being charged for trash pickup, agreeing to a ballot measure that suggested San Diegans be charged between $20-$30 a month for trash collection services. But the word from the city has been a fee almost double that. Thus, the pushback from residents.

Yet, just this week, on Tuesday, April 1, Kirby Brady, the city of San Diego’s interim director of the Environmental Services Department, told the press that her department will be recommending a $53 a month fee to the San Diego City Council during an April 14 meeting, at which Environmental Services will request a public hearing for the council’s June docket.

She says the cost of doing business has skyrocketed in the last two years. “Inflation has hit nearly everything we talk about in today’s economy,” Brady said.

Around 4,000 new apartments are set to open throughout San Diego County this year, 2025, coming near or matching totals of the past few years. But many of the new complexes will be charging well above the average, with some hitting $3,000 a month.

So, they’re not really a solution to the affordable housing crisis.

A few weeks ago, the U-T ran this story and reported:

The largest complex will be in Convoy District, the 531-unit Alexan Camellia, expected to open late this year. Rents are not set yet but, like most new projects this year, prospective tenants might experience sticker shock.

“(Developers) need to charge high rents because of the high cost of construction,” said Nathan Moeder, principal with real estate analysts London Moeder Advisors.

Dozens of Point Lomans protested in front of 1004 Rosecrans on Saturday, March 29, to show their opposition to the proposed development of 56 units and a 4-story complex at that site.

Called by Protect Point Loma, a newly formed nonprofit established to oppose the development, the demonstration was on the sidewalks of the busy Point Loma Village street corner in front of the housing development site being leased by a rental car agency. Many carried “No on 1004 Rosecrans” yard signs.

As proposed, the project would include 56 units (8 affordable) plus 45 basement garage spaces with 1,779 square feet of commercial space with no lot line or street setbacks. The site previously was a gas station, another concern about possible lingering environmental contamination. The site would be immediately adjacent to Cabrillo Elementary School and directly across from Point Loma Assembly at 3035 Talbot St.

Four lifeguards were injured Friday night, March 28, after they came to the rescue of a pair of people who were swept off the South Mission Jetty by waves. None of  the lifeguards were severely injured but the woman rescued was in critical condition and was helicoptered out.

Lt. Rick Romero with San Diego Fire Rescue said a lifeguard at the South Mission Tower saw a man and woman get washed off the rocks at the jetty around 6:30 p.m. on Friday, after they had gone to the end of the jetty to check out the waves.

By Kate Callen

A funny thing happened on the way to a March 27 conclave about accessory dwelling units (ADUs) featuring Mayor Todd Gloria and building industry VIPs.

It turned out there were two different ADU workshops in Mission Valley that night. I attended one of them. When I walked in and saw no mayor and no VIPs, I figured I was at the wrong event.

In fact, I had come to the right place.

The Gloria event would have trumpeted his ADU “reform” efforts to soothe public fury over massive projects by predatory developers. (One reform involves developer fees that would be “opt-in” or voluntary. Cool idea, Mr. Mayor! Let’s have “opt-in” trash fees!)

The other event took me back to the original “granny flat” concept where modest structures built by and for families create multi-generational housing with financial stability.

By Kate Callen

Mark your calendars: Mayor Todd Gloria will be the lead-off speaker at an “exclusive event” for accessory dwelling unit (ADU) developers this Thursday, March 27, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The event is titled “The Future of San Diego’s ADU Bonus Program: How Will It Reshape San Diego’s Housing Market?” The flyer, which was sent to the Rag by an anonymous source, doesn’t include a location, a registration link, or contact information.

The host appears to be JLM Real Estate, a self-described “commercial real estate team focusing on the sale of multifamily investment properties.” JLM’s San Diego office is in Mission Valley at 3945 Camino Del Rio South.

The invitation reads: “Join San Diego’s top multifamily investors and industry leaders for an exclusive event on the future of housing. Hear from expert panelists as they unpack the potential repeal of the ADU Bonus Program— set for a vote soon — and what it means for your investments, housing supply, and development opportunities.”

From Rebusiness Online / March 25, 2025

It appears that an out-of-state modular home builder has bought the Canon Street Marina Center, a retail and office center in San Diego’s Point Loma Village, plus two adjacent properties. NorthStar Homes, a family-owned and run outfit from Colorado purchased the Canon Street and Scott Street properties for $8.2 million.

By Kate Callen

Most San Diegans who heard the news that Horton Plaza is in foreclosure didn’t know anything about the Los Angeles builder in the middle of the meltdown.

But residents of Mission Hills instantly recognized his name. Steven Yari — the developer who has plunged Horton Plaza into debt — is the same man who bulldozed the Little Red Bungalow in 2023 and has, for nearly two years, left a fenced-off crater in its place.

The empty lot at Goldfinch Street and Fort Stockton Drive is a painful reminder that a city’s greatness is measured by the way it protects its architectural treasures – and this city has fallen terribly short. San Diego will remain a third-rate town so long as our history and heritage carry price tags.

And now City Hall has launched a new campaign to scuttle historic preservation measures. If it succeeds, look for more fortune-hunters parachuting into town for more land grabs.

By Geoff Page

As I came down to Dog Beach on Wednesday, I was forewarned that there was a sick or injured sea lion on the beach and I might want to keep my dog away.  As I got down on the sand, I saw the animal lying in shallow water. It was moving its head but did not seem to want to move otherwise.

But what caught my attention even more though

A fire in a carport broke out late Monday night, March 17, and caused an estimated $350,000 worth of damage to an Ocean Beach home.

Just after 11:30 p.m. Monday the fire erupted and then spread into an adjacent residential garage that had been converted into living quarters, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.