OB Rag

Former top city planner Michael Stepner says more housing is needed but it should be compatible with existing communities

By Michael Smolens / San Diego Union-Tribune / May 9, 2025

The city of San Diego is downshifting on its permissive rules encouraging backyard apartments.

That raises the question of whether a desire for more “gentle development” will spread to some of the city’s other aggressive housing policies.

Last week, the city Planning Commission strongly supported an effort to roll back some of the extreme aspects of the backyard apartment program.

Several years ago, when the city began loosening restrictions on building accessory dwelling units, as they’re officially called, the idea seemed to be one or two apartments on a single-family-home property, possibly three in some cases.

Projects with double-digit units allowed under the laws aren’t what people had in mind. For example, one ADU development in Clairemont has 17 apartments, and even larger projects are in the pipeline, particularly in Encanto.

“This is not the way I envisioned ADUs would work,” Commissioner Ken Malbrough said, as reported by David Garrick of The San Diego Union-Tribune. “I want housing, but I don’t want to ruin neighborhoods.”

Edited From Neighbors for a Better San Diego

This is our best chance to right the wrongs of the Bonus ADU Program. Two remaining meetings will determine the fate of San Diego’s single-family neighborhoods.

The brand new San Diego Community Coalition also joins in this call.

• May 15th, 1:00 PM — Land Use & Housing committee (LU&H) meeting of San Diego City Council —
  City Administration Building at 202 C Street, 12th Floor
  San Diego, California 92101and
• June City Council meeting June 2 at 2pm

A Rag reader just recently noticed that the Blick Art Materials store in Little Italy (a large, two-story space at 1844 India Street) would be closing and relocating to the large space that was recently vacated by Joann Fabrics at 3633 Midway Drive in the Point Loma Plaza shopping center.

Blick will be opening on June 8th at that location in the Midway District.

See inside for specifics if  you plan on attending the meeting.

Before meeting: It’s time to flood City Council offices with messages before the Council’s Land Use and Housing (LU&H) Committee meets Thursday, May 15, 1:00 p.m. to consider Todd Gloria’s newest proposal to “reform” his Bonus ADU policy by tinkering with it but refusing to make significant changes.

There are two ways to send your pre-meeting comments:

1. Submit your comment through the LU&H Public Comment Webform

The meeting date is 5/15/2025. Comment type is Agenda Comment. Agenda item number is 4. Comments submitted via the webform will be officially posted.

2. Send emails directly to the LU&H Councilmembers

A 51-year-old male pedestrian died Saturday, May 10, after being struck by a car in the Midway District. The as-yet-to-be identified man was crossing the street outside of a crosswalk in the 3400 block of Sports Arena Boulevard.

Police responded to the scene just minutes before 11 pm and determined that the victim was walking from the south curbline to the north curbline. He was struck by a Toyota Camry driven by a 22-year-old man.

There’s a brand new community coalition in San Diego that is already making waves. It’s called the San Diego Community Coalition and it made its public debut May 1 at the San Diego Planning Commission when its members discussed proposed changes to the controversial “Bonus ADU” ordinance.

The coalition is a citywide network of neighborhood activists focused on two interconnected issues:

Overbuilding in residential neighborhoods — from mid-rise towers to giant multi-unit ADU complexes — which erodes our urban infrastructure and produces minimal affordable housing.

City Hall’s disrespect for constituents, its refusal to engage the public in open dialogue, and its suppression of community planning groups.

So far, the coalition includes activist leaders from at least 15 communities — from Bay Ho, City Heights, Clairemont, College Area, Encanto, Golden Hill, Linda Vista, Middletown, Mission Hills, North Park, to Point Loma, Pacific Beach, Talmadge and University City.

Guess which community is missing. Ocean Beach.

There was an armed robbery attempt at one of OB’s high-end restaurants Saturday night, May 3. Apparently, the robbery at Cesarina was unsuccessful and no one was hurt. Here’s how the restaurant described the event on Instagram:

On Saturday evening, around 10:30 p.m. as we were closing, something unimaginable happened. An armed individual entered our restaurant and demanded money before fleeing.

We are beyond grateful for the immediate and effective response of the San Diego Police Department, who apprehended the suspect shortly after. Most importantly, we are overwhelmingly relieved to share that no one was harmed during this terrifying incident.

By Colleen O’Connor

In the darkest of hours and sometimes despair, the Universe has produced great leaders. Rev. Martin Luther King amid the Civil Rights’ struggles. Mahatma Ghandi leading the fight for Indian independence. Lech Walesa conducting Poland vs. Russia over independence and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, deftly steering the globe through the Great Depression and the carnage of World War II.

Each leader a victor. Each possessed a moral compass, with convictions capable of overcoming defeat and cruelty to find a nobler path forward.

And now, from an unlikely, but equally providential source, comes the newly named Pope Leo XIV already shining an almost heavenly light on an increasingly dark era.
What a shock. The 267th Pope and the first ever American Pope. And a progressive with impressive credentials. He speaks four languages; English, Latin, Italian, Spanish, and reads German and French.

Robert Francis Prevost. Now Pope Leo the XIV.

By Marilyn, Ph.D. / Special to the OB Rag

May is Mental Health Awareness Month.  We have heard about the downsides to high density including increased traffic and the lack of parking. But an important factor that has been minimized is the impact of high density on our mental health.

When you see drastic changes that alter the fabric of our communities, it can feel overwhelming and disorienting. There are many reasons Protect Point Loma (www.ProtectPointLoma.com) was formed to protest the building of 1004 Rosecrans. For one, it has not been fully vetted by the professional experts as it relates to the impact on congestion, pollution or safety.

Other new projects in the area like the one on Lytton are larger scale and replace smaller buildings, which can change the neighborhood vibe from friendly to hostile. There does not seem to be anyone looking at the big picture as they approve multiple ADU’s in single family home backyards, huge apartment complexes and the high rises slotted to go in along Pacific Highway.

By Olivia Harden / SFGate / May 5, 2025

Ocean Beach is a ‘Hot Spot’ for Law’s Enforcement

Police in San Diego revealed they have written thousands of tickets in the last two months, fining drivers over $100 for a controversial law that other cities, including San Francisco, have decided is too difficult to enforce.

The San Diego Police Department’s Parking Enforcement team has issued 4,200 tickets to drivers who violated California’s new daylighting law, the department’s supervisor Erin Longen told SFGATE in an email. The law, Assembly Bill 413 that began being enforced on March 1, prohibits drivers from parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk. It applies to all crosswalks — including unmarked crosswalks without white lines on the street. Many curbs are not painted red to the full 20 feet, creating confusion for some drivers.

Longen told KUSI-TV that tickets are most commonly written in extremely popular neighborhoods like La Jolla. The beach is well-liked by travelers and among the most visited in the city. Other hot spots for ticketing include Normal Heights, North Park, Hillcrest, University Heights, Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach. Prior to the beginning of the enforcement period, the city gave out 1,500 warning tickets in an effort to educate the public.

By Steve O San Diego

I stopped by the brand new Doughboy’s Grill in the former D’Lish Express/ OB Kabob location on Bacon Street that is brought to you by the same team behind BBQ House OB so you know there’s already years and years of successful business experience from the get go. It will be great to watch this new creation grow.

This new location already has a wonderful story behind it. Davin Atallah aka “doughboy” has a lot of history in OB.  He started with his dad aka ”pops” when they first opened the BBQ House back in 1991 when it was next to the old Strand Theatre and he’s been doing bbq for the last 34+ years side by side with his brother Melvin and Pops.

Davin’s father built the BBQ House on customer relations and went out of his way to try and please every customer that walked through the front door and he plans on doing the same with his family and staff at the new location.

By Joni Halpern

Among the books of old, old stories, there is one that stands out to followers and non-followers of religion.  It is the story of a gentle, but firm adherent to a way of life so revolutionary that despite its call for compassion toward all, including our enemies, it was treated like an insurgency.  Its leader was condemned, its followers persecuted, its goal of fidelity to a God who loves us all still evading humanity more than 2,000 years later.

Today, people who claim to be ardent followers of this way of life have endorsed a new American leadership so bereft of compassion, so devoid of mercy, that it bears no resemblance at all to the life these followers say they want to emulate.  Instead, the followers of our  contemporary American Heathens embrace the promise of power and wealth, the hatred of all who cannot serve the goals of personal enrichment and political grandiosity, and the denigration of all who believe differently than they, no matter how decent those labeled as “liberal” or “woke” might be.  These followers of the new Deities of the Cold-Hearted have breathed deeply the gust of arrogance that arises from the condemnation and humiliation of others, filling their lungs with righteousness of a very different kind than that of the humble person crucified like a criminal so long ago.

Oddly, many of our New Charlatans’ followers believe they are acting out the mandates of the One Who Loved Us All, the ancient no-nonsense teacher who never claimed a denarius, never walked past a person in need, never turned his back on the unwanted or unwelcome.  Yet many of these followers have either endorsed or stood idly by