Category: Economy

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 Michael Smolens / SD U-T / Sept. 21, 2025

The California Legislature recently passed another major bill to spur development in an effort to tame the cost of housing by boosting supply.

The concept behind Senate Bill 79, building high-rises around transit centers, is one that many people support, though the inclusion of nearby single-family home neighborhoods in the targeted areas has drawn unsurprising opposition. The bill, now on its way to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, was also hotly disputed because it can override local zoning ordinances.

Another approach, however, should start getting the kind of attention these types of pro-development efforts have garnered for years: preserving existing lower-cost housing.

The city of San Diego is moving toward launching an innovative program to create a fund to purchase affordable apartments before they are turned into market-rate housing (and potentially out of reach for existing residents) or torn down to build more luxurious abodes.

This isn’t an either/or argument. Construction of new homes is needed across California in the appropriate places — an important point — and along transit corridors is one of them. The controversy tends to be over what constitutes a transit corridor.

By Eric Law / September 23, 2025

Everyone needs a place to live. We are bombarded with the idea that there are far too few houses, the available housing is very expensive, and we need to build a great deal more to drive prices down and availability up. Everyone agrees that housing affordability is a problem, even if they don’t agree on why.

But how much is enough? How many new dwellings do we need to build to get the housing market stable, where supply and demand reach an equilibrium?

The answer is surprisingly achievable and likely far less than the city, county and state assert.

Using data from the US Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey and housing market measures from the economic analysis firm Moody’s, San Diego has a current shortfall of about 25,200 housing units. Using expected population growth figure from the state, San Diego needs to build about 42,600 units over the next decade to reach a housing market equilibrium on par with that across the remainder of the country.

While that may seem like a great deal of required building, it’s very achievable at a normal building pace. To place this requirement in context, San Diego issued over 9,000 residential building permits in 2023, many for multifamily dwellings with multiple units. This means that the city will reach a balanced housing market in 5 years at this building pace.

By Jennifer Van Grove / The San Diego Union-Tribune / September 22, 2025 

The comprehensive land-use plan behind the $3.9-billion Midway Rising project proposing to remake San Diego’s 49.2-acre sports arena site with thousands of apartments, a replacement arena and new shops is slated for its penultimate review.

Thursday, Sept. 25, the city of San Diego’s Planning Commission will weigh whether to recommend to City Council adoption of the Midway Rising Specific Plan, certification of the associated environment impact report and approval of a development agreement. City staff are recommending approval of the proposed actions, which also include a general plan amendment, community plan amendment and rezone to residential mixed-use.

The proposed changes would allow building heights that max out at 250 feet for a portion of the site and support a total of 4,254 residential units, or 2,088 more units than what is allowed under the existing community plan, according to agenda materials prepared for the Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission’s decision is expected to tee up final consideration of the land-use documents by City Council later this year.

One of the leaders of the group, Protect Point Loma, released this statement:

Our group has continued to stay busy, vigilant and also attending other coalition meetings in other neighborhoods while also carrying the torch to the finish line.

We are getting to the final steps of filing a lawsuit against the city for 1004 Rosecrans.

Neighbors for a Better Pacific Beach says the city allows developers to change the face of the community without any public input.

By Dorian Hargrove/ CBS8 / September 18, 2025

The city of San Diego will soon have to defend its ADU program in court.

A Pacific Beach community group, Neighbors for a Better Pacific Beach, filed a newly amended complaint Thursday, Sept. 18, against the city, claiming the law has paved the way for unchecked, unbridled development and environmental harm in San Diego neighborhoods.

Their lawsuit now seeks to overturn the city’s ADU program, limit the number of new units in single-family zones, and require public input for larger ADU projects.
Originally filed on Aug. 15, amended to challenge projects citywide, claims city staff are unlawfully fast-tracking dozens of dense, apartment-style ADU projects without any environmental review or public notice.

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 Cody Dulaney and Charis Johnston / inewsource / September 18, 2025

A single-family homeowner in Pacific Beach recently transformed their garage into a one-bedroom beach house. Four blocks down the road, another property owner built a new unit on top of their garage, complete with a rooftop deck and private hot tub.

Both new homes, known officially as accessory dwelling units, are glowing with five-star praise from out-of-town guests for cleanliness, quiet neighborhood charm and responsive hosts. On the other hand, neighbors tell a different story — one of frequent summertime parties with beer pong, loud music, screaming and shouting late into the wee hours of the morning. In June, San Diego police had to break up what sounded like a rooftop bachelorette party after midnight, city records show.

“Please do something!!!” one neighbor wrote in a string of code enforcement complaints tied to both short-term vacation rentals.

San Diego officials have for years grappled with two competing realities: A worsening housing and affordability crisis coupled with the business interests of property owners in a world-class destination city. The battle over short-term rentals continues even after the city finally decided to regulate the industry with a tiered licensing system two years ago — a decade after short-term platforms like Airbnb exploded in communities across the country.

by Giovanni Moujaes / inewsource / September 7, 2025

If you’re a North Park resident, there’s a good chance you or someone you know has received a daylighting ticket this year.

The city of San Diego wrote more than 8,000 of them in the first half of 2025, the vast majority issued in neighborhoods where parking is in short supply, according to an inewsource analysis.

Enforcement officers began ticketing drivers across the city this year for parking next to a curb within 20 feet of any crosswalk — marked or not.

Officials first issued warnings before enforcing a $77.50 fine. A month later, the citation rose to $117 — an increase that came as San Diego sought additional revenue to cover its quarter billion-dollar budget deficit.

Daylighting, explained: The state Legislature passed AB-413 with the goal of reducing traffic accidents. The practice, known as daylighting, is meant to increase visibility for drivers to see around the corners at intersections. Forty-three states already have a similar law.

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.

Want to protest against the 2 biggest developers of huge ADU backyard apartment complexes in our City — Mr. Christian Spicer — “King of San Diego’s ADU Mega projects — and Mr. Daniel Skholnik?

Want to give Mr. Gary Geiler of the City’s Development Services Department or the San Diego Housing Commission a piece of your mind?

How about the state branch of the national group YIMBY’s or the Casita Coalition?

These are just a few of the speakers at one of the BIGGEST ADU CONVENTIONS in our City.

And here is your chance to do it in STYLE.

Pam has chartered what is called a LIMO BUS to take the first 50 people who sign up at this email: ADUBonus@gmail.com

Here are the details: