Category: Environment

It appears that the City of San Diego is getting ready to turn off the automated license plate readers. At a Wednesday, Oct. 21, council budget committee meeting, enough members voted for a proposal to rescind city approval of the use of the controversial technology and end the city’s contract to use ALPR cameras provided by Flock.

Councilmember Kent Lee was joined by Councilmembers Henry Foster III, Sean Elo-Rivera and Vivian Moreno in voting to stop using the readers, reported UT writer Teri Figueroa. Take these four plus Councilmember Stephen Whitburn — who very recently announced that he is withdrawing support for using ALPRs – and you have enough votes for the city to stop using the cameras.

The issue will have to come, of course, before the full council and Figueroa says that any vote could happen before the end of the year. With public opinion heightened on the issue, it’s very likely this being an election year that will happen. Yet, any vote would have to be sufficient to override a possible veto by Mayor Gloria; that’s a 6-3 tally.

Gloria continues to support the cameras.

Billionaire Stan Kroenke Is Starting with a 7-Story 223-Unit Project at Former Perry’s Cafe

By Dorian Hargrove and Andrew Keatts / Times of San Diego / Oct. 16, 2026

Billionaire Stan Kroenke, the nation’s largest landowner and professional sports team mogul, is looking to transform the Midway District.

And he’s not stopping at Midway Rising, the megaproject to redevelop the city-owned Pechanga Arena property that is on its way to a City Council vote.

His development team is nearing completion just under a mile away, across from the Old Town Transit Center, on a seven-story, 223-unit housing project.

That tower is at the site of the former Perry’s Cafe, a once-popular greasy spoon diner on the edge of Old Town. It is now the first piece of the puzzle for Kroenke’s Midway vision.

From Point Loma Association Newsletter

Manchester Group Considering 400-Megawatt Data Center as Part of Navy’s Redevelopment

By Andrew Bowen / KPBS /  Oct. 16, 2026 

Rep. Scott Peters on Friday said he is opposed to the concept of building a data center at the Navy’s NAVWAR campus in San Diego’s Midway District.

For more than two years, the Navy has been in talks with Manchester Financial Group and Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate on redeveloping the site, which sits on 70 acres between Pacific Highway and Interstate 5. It currently houses the Navy’s cybersecurity operations.

On Thursday, Voice of San Diego reported the development team was considering a 400-megawatt data center as part of the redevelopment.

Speaking at a press conference Friday, Peters said the site’s location near downtown, I-5 and the Old Town Transit Center make it an ideal location for housing and neighborhood-serving amenities. Peters is a Democrat whose 50th District includes NAVWAR.

By Debbie L. Sklar

When Ocean Beach’s first school opened in 1909, the seaside community had about 100 residences. The modest two-room schoolhouse gave local children a place to learn as the neighborhood developed from a small settlement into a residential community.

Its early history includes a graduating class of one, a future neighborhood librarian, and a building renovated after a major earthquake.

Here are six details about the school’s beginnings and its place in Ocean Beach history.

1. D.C. Collier built the school

Developer David Charles Collier, commonly known as D.C. Collier, bought the land and built Ocean Beach Elementary School in 1909. Collier was a major figure in the community’s early development, promoting residential growth and helping establish transportation connections. (Editordude: actually Collier is “the Father of Ocean Beach.”) The school was part of the infrastructure needed to support families settling in the neighborhood.

According to the City of San Diego’s historical-planning documents, D.C. Collier’s original two-room schoolhouse was located at the corner of Santa Monica Avenue and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard in Ocean Beach. The original building was demolished in 1923 and replaced by the current Ocean Beach Elementary School on the same site, at 4741 Santa Monica Ave., San Diego, CA 92107.

By Scott Lewis / Voice of San Diego / October 17, 2026

Friday, October 16 a committee of the San Diego City Council advanced the project that Midway Rising leaders have been working on for five years.

It was a moment that had been building for years. Union members who have advocated for it every step of the way cheered loudly in the City Council Chambers. But the Midway Rising hurried out and issued a simple written statement attributed to Brad Termini, from Zephyr Partners.

“We’re honored to receive a unanimous 4-0 vote in support of Midway Rising from the City’s Land Use and Housing Committee and look forward to presenting this transformational project to the full City Council in the weeks ahead,” Termini wrote.

They may be “honored” but, by several accounts, they were not pleased at all.

The committee advanced their deal with one significant amendment: It would require the Midway Rising team to ensure the affordable housing units built at the site are “net-new” – a reference to what we wrote about Friday. We revealed that city staff had preferred the deal prohibit the property from becoming a so-called “receiver site” for the affordable housing other developers in San Diego were going to have to deliver anyway.

The San Diego Neighborhood Project: Mapping San Diego

Make your voice heard San Diego!

A SDSU Professor is interested in knowing what San Diego residents think about their neighborhoods in a special online project.

All you have to do is fill out an online survey that will take no longer than 10-15 minutes in telling about your neighborhood and connection with local news and information.

By Rag Staff

The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members and the general San Diego public informed about important Council hearings and other city public meetings.

Monday, October 19: City Council, Closed Session, 10:00 a.m.

Agenda:

Item CS-6: January 22, 2024 Flooding Litigation

Why it matters: Two years later, as 57 civil cases against the city move slowly forward, and Southeastern San Diego victims are still struggling to rebuild, we have to ask: Is City Hall better prepared for flood control when the new massive El Nino arrives?

Monday, October 19: City Council, 2:00 p.m.

Agenda:

Item S400: Confirming Appointment of Bethany Bezak to Position of City Manager (Chief Operating Officer)

By Michael Hernandez

It was a night like any other for Ocean Beach resident Scott Martinez, who says he was playing Scrabble in the garage of his next-door neighbor in the 4600 block of Del Mar Avenue when another neighbor popped in with news that left their jaws on the floor. A single-family home in the neighborhood was put up for sale, with a proposal for the construction of a 12-unit ADU “farm” in the backyard. Almost immediately, neighbors began to organize, and Scott found himself swept up in the fight to stop the project in its tracks.

The property at the center of this issue is 4637 Del Mar Avenue. Neighbors say the house used to belong to an elderly woman who lived there for decades. After her death, her children sold the house, and up until recently, it was listed as a short-term rental. However, neighbors allege the property may not have had the proper notices required by the City of San Diego for Airbnbs and other short-term rentals.

Melissa Scherer, another neighborhood resident who has lived on the block for about four years now, is deeply involved in the fight against the potential ADU farm. She recounts how early one Sunday morning in September, a maintenance crew arrived and began to do some work on the lawn and the house. By that afternoon, the crew was installing the frame for a real estate sign.

By Lori Saldaña

On October 13 the San Diego city council voted to approve the Seaworld master plan and expansion update on Mission Bay, across the river from the Sports Arena/ Midway region. This includes plans for a hotel and below-grade parking

To the Park’s credit, they did an excellent Sea Level Rise (SLR) assessment and vulnerability analysis- but it’s already nearly 7 years old.

Also- the park is counting on the city to maintain adequate access roads as sea level rises around Mission Bay:

“Based on the information above, a SLR of 3.3 feet has been identified as the threshold for exposure in Planning Area 2 (Guest Parking). In order to maintain uninterrupted access to SeaWorld facilities, adaptation measures outside of the leasehold would be required. As impacts to public infrastructure (i.e., roads) are anticipated, it is likely that before SLR has reached 3.3 feet, adaptation measures that look to address inundation of the public roads will have already been implemented by the City.” [emphasis added] From here

The Council approved this plan – and if they had read this SLR analysis, they did so with the understanding the city will be taking “adaptation measures” to maintain “uninterrupted access to SeaWorld facilities.”

Does the city have an adaptation plan and money for maintaining these access roads? SeaWorld Drive is already showing signs of SLR stress. It’s in very rough shape. Groundwater pressure is already creating problems in this area. It has lifted up the road and stressed the asphalt and road bed on Sea World Dr.

Here’s a series of articles highlighting recent developments over the last few weeks in San Diego development.

 Another Lawsuit Emerges to Challenge Controversial Development at Emerald Hills – It Alleges Racial Discrimination

By Katie Hyson / KPBS / September 30, 2026

Another lawsuit is challenging the controversial development coming to Emerald Hills — 123 homes on a hilltop that neighbors have long hoped would be a park.

Andrea Hetheru was the community planning group chair in 2024. She didn’t understand how the development was allowed. The area wasn’t zoned for that density. It sent her down a long, complicated rabbit hole. “Did I think it was going to take two and a half years of my life? Hundreds of hours? You know, not going to sleep – for how many days have I not had any sleep at all over Footnote 7 and particularly this issue? Heck no,” she said.

The city council voted to add Footnote 7 to city code in 2019. It allowed for much denser development only in the mostly Black, Latino and low-income neighborhoods in southeastern San Diego.

by Drew Sitton / Times of San Diego / Oct. 9, 2026

“If the city’s not going to defend its $45 million investment (in the library), it’s up to us,” said longtime College Area leader Robert Montana.

The site of a monthly community meeting in the College Area was significant. It took place at a local union hall rather than the library, and the agenda only had one action item, to discuss ideas to keep the library accessible.

It was also significant who attended – and who didn’t – as residents grappled with the effect of a major construction project on the library.

The audience questioned a representative for Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera and the city’s library director. But no one from Mayor Todd Gloria’s office or the developer behind the project attended, an absence noted by both residents and Elo-Rivera’s representative alike.

Fears for future
The project is of particular significance to the community because of how much residents rely on the College-Rolando Branch Library, the only public space in the College Area, which has no parks.