Category: San Diego

By Janet O’Dea / SOHO Newsletter / March-April 2025

The City of San Diego Community Forest Advisory Board (CFAB) held a crucial meeting regarding the designation of heritage trees along Sunset Boulevard in on Hills in February 2025. It was the latest chapter in an ongoing battle to preserve the iconic trees planted by pioneering nurserywoman Kate Sessions that have defined the neighborhood for generations.

In 2009, after the establishment of the Mission Hills Historic District, I nominated the Kate Sessions California pepper tree and palm trees along Sunset Boulevard for heritage tree designation. According to City Council policy 900-19, trees qualify for heritage designation if they are “50 years or older or have a connection to some historic event, building, district, or were planted by a historically significant individual.” The CFAB in 2009 approved this heritage tree nomination.

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.

Parallels and pushbacks from national and local politics — Comments on Ready, Set, Grow San Diego, City of San Diego

By Anne S. Fege, Urban and Community Forester / March 27, 2025 

The first 60 days of this Administration have diminished and dismantled equity, science, and respect, and there are parallels to the local “Ready, Set, Grow San Diego” (RSG) project.   Even as the $10 million urban forestry grant will contribute modestly to climate action, it could have gained so much more in community engagement and equity. Seeing and hearing the national impacts in these 60 days now shows me great parallels. I will continue offering suggestions and advising community groups and I will not be silent, afraid, or withdrawn.

Diminished equity. 

• As this Administration attempts to “erase DEI,” I am reminded that “climate equity” was approved and celebrated by the Mayor and Council, yet this RSG grant falls short in several ways.

By Tammy Murga / The San Diego Union-Tribune / March 27, 2025

A large South County development in a fire-prone area, stalled in a yearslong legal battle, will be allowed to move forward with changes aimed at boosting the housing stock while mitigating wildfire risk.

On Wednesday, March 26, state Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that he and several environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, Endangered Habitats League and the Center for Biological Diversity, reached a settlement in their lawsuit against developer Baldwin & Sons over the Otay Ranch Village 13 project, proposed for a site that has repeatedly burned.

In November 2020, the county Board of Supervisors approved the development despite objections that it threatened wildlife and would put too many people at risk of wildfires.

Environmental activists sued the county over claims it violated the California Environmental Quality Act. The Attorney General’s office later joined the lawsuit.

On Monday, March 31, the City of San Diego’s administrative offices and other services will be closed in observance of César Chávez Day. The following is a guide to which services will be impacted by the holiday closure next week and which will still operate on a normal schedule.

 WHAT’S CLOSED

•  All City of San Diego administrative offices.
• All?City libraries?will be closed Monday, March 31, and will reopen at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 1.

The following is from a report by Ann Jarmusch in her San Diego Historical Resources: Designations and Board Reports in the March-April newsletter from SOHO.

During their January 2025 meeting, the City of San Diego Historical Resources Board considered a 1912 Point Loma house on Fernando Street. It is currently boarded up and the owner has a 90-day permit for demolition. The Board expects to rehear the case at its April meeting.

Regarding designations, an interesting case of history and change over time occupied the board with three lengthy reports and public comment on the nomination of a 1912 Prairie style house at 310 San Fernando Street. An early and rare example of the style in San Diego, historic photos depict the two-story, square home as an outpost seven miles from the city and rising from Point Loma’s nearly vacant La Playa area. Neighbors noted that it is one of La Playa’s oldest remaining house and an important touchstone for the community.

In 2023, the City of San Diego began a $13.2 million project to improve University Avenue and the surrounding roads while ostensibly increasing safety for pedestrians in City Heights.

And now we’re told the University Avenue Complete Street project is nearing its completion. This will bring much relief to local businesses along University Ave as many have had to chain their doors during the construction that seemed to have many delays, and for residents who’ve had difficulty finding parking. Fox5 San Diego is the latest local media to give voice to the frustrations among those business owners. (See this report by David Garrick of the San Diego U-T in early February 2025)

For San Diegans on a 9-to-5 work schedule, visiting a museum during their usual operating hours can make it seem like weekend trips are the only option. Most museums closed their doors at 5 p.m. and some as early as 3 or 4 p.m. Even the weekend operating hours at local museums can make it difficult to plan an evening date or other late-night outings. But this isn’t true for every place.

Here’s the latest in late-night hours from local museums.

Fleet Science Center

Hours: Fleet After Dark takes place every fourth Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m., except April when the museum will be preparing for a new exhibit.

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.”

By Lisa Mortensen / March 23, 2025

See this first — From inewsource:

The city of San Diego may soon charge one of the highest trash fees in Southern California. But there is one way homeowners could stop it.

Proposition 218, a state law passed in 1996 to require approval from those facing a rate increase by government agencies, includes a property owner’s right to cast a written protest against a new fee or increase. It’s called a majority protest: If more than half of eligible property owners submit a written, “valid” protest, then the City Council would not be able to implement a trash fee. Councilmembers will discuss new reports on the fee schedule on April 14, city officials said.

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 Karen Pearlman / East County Magazine / March 20, 2025

Photos by Karen Pearlman

More than 100 residents who would be most affected by the proposed Cottonwood Sand Mine gathered in force Tuesday, March 18 at the Rancho San Diego Library to let the Valle de Oro Community Planning Group know they don’t want it in their neighborhood.

After listening to more than two dozen people share their concerns, the community planning group voted 11-0 to recommend opposing the project that would see 214 acres of the former 280-acre Cottonwood Golf Course along Willow Glen Drive in Rancho San Diego turned into a digging site for sand mining for at least 10 years.

The group also voted 10-1, with one abstention, to not agree with a design exception review to waive the undergrounding overhead utilities along Willow Glen Road.

Next step: County Planning Commission hearing April 18