OB Rag

Editordude: This is another post as part of the Rag’s response to a U-T commentary about lifting the coastal 30 foot height limit.

by Judy Swink

It’s ironic that the writer of the Op-Ed is from La Jolla given that the campaign to create a 30’ coastal height limit for the City of San Diego began in La Jolla with outrage over construction of 939 Coast Blvd., the high rise towering above the coast near the Children’s Pool. It was La Jollans who put out the “call to arms”, joined by many other San Diegans, resulting in Proposition D, the citizens ballot initiative approved in 1972 by 63.06% (186,007) of voters citywide. Votes against were just 36.94% (108,968).

According to a 2022 piece in the OB Rag, 80% of voters in Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach voted in favor of Prop D.

Several amendments to the Coastal Height Limit Overlay Zone have been put to voters since 1972. In 1988, an amendment to allow restoration of the chimney and rooftop cupola of the 1915 Mission Brewery (Hancock @Washington St), voters agreed by 74.10%. In 1998, a different Prop. D to enable Sea World to exceed the 30-foot height limit (to a height not to exceed ½ the height of the Sea World Tower), squeaked by with 50.73% following misleading claims that approval would enhance Sea World’s programs for research and rescue of sea life.

From San Diego 350

Young people called on lawmakers, including SD Council President LaCava, to pass the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act to protect schools and communities.

On Friday, October 24, over 1,000 students from 19 schools across San Diego and thousands from 50 California middle schools, high schools, and colleges walked out of class in a coordinated statewide action demanding that oil and gas companies be held accountable for the damage caused by their pollution.

Organized by youth climate groups and advocacy organizations including Youth v. Oil and SanDiego350 in partnership with the Make Polluters Pay campaign, the walkouts spanned San Diego County — with major events at Hilltop High School, Pacific Beach Middle School, University City High School, Eastlake High School, La Jolla High School, and Otay Ranch High School.

“Californians are already reeling from wildfires, floods, and extreme heat. We’re taking to the streets to demand passage of the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act to send a clear message that we won’t let Big Oil continue to destroy our futures,” said Diego Sandoval, senior at Eastlake HS in Chula Vista.

By Kate Callen

At an October 23 celebration of its legal win to suspend a 186-unit A Street project, the Golden Hill community received more good news: a 28th Street canyon parcel slated for development will remain open parkland.

The private owner has agreed to donate the property to Preserve Greater Golden Hill (PGGH), now incorporated as a 501c3. In exchange, he will receive a charitable tax deduction. San Diego Canyonlands is already working with the non-profit on a long-term rehabilitation and management plan to preserve the habitat.

More than 80 jubilant Golden Hill residents cheered the announcement at a PGGH fundraiser at Matteo’s at 30th and Juniper. Six months ago, as the Rag reported on May 22, the community felt blindsided by the two high-impact projects. Now, the canyon parcel is safe, and the eight-story complex is stalled.

In the wake of a Superior Court ruling that halted further construction at 2935-2961 A Street, PGGH will insist that Chicago-area developer CEDARst scale back the project to comply with the Greater Golden Hill Community Plan.

“The opposing counsel said the developer is open to negotiation,” said PGGH President Richard Santini. “We’re holding firm. We want three stories with 10 percent of the units affordable and some benefit to the community, like frontage and trees.”

Judge Joel Wohlfeil’s issuance of a temporary restraining order struck at the heart of Mayor Todd Gloria’s “Complete Communities” program, which allows massive “transit-oriented development” where planned transit stops do not yet exist and have not even secured actual funding.

By David Greenwald / Vanguard / October 21, 2025

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has moved to reconsider one of its most consequential rulings of the year, signaling potential full-court review in State of Oregon and City of Portland v. Donald J. Trump et al., a case testing the limits of presidential power to federalize a state’s National Guard over its governor’s objection.

On Monday, October 20, Circuit Judge Sidney R. Thomas, acting as En Banc Coordinator, issued an order stating that “a judge of this Court has sua sponte requested a vote on whether this case should be reheard en banc.”

The order directs all parties to file simultaneous supplemental briefs by midnight Pacific Time on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, addressing whether the case should be reheard before the full court. Each brief must not exceed 14,000 words.

The procedural move followed a divided three-judge panel’s decision earlier in the day lifting a lower court’s temporary restraining order that had blocked the Trump administration from deploying 200 federalized members of the Oregon National Guard to Portland.

By Francine Maxwell

Here we go again.

Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera has found another headline to chase — this time with a proposed ballot measure targeting homeowners who’ve managed to hang onto a second property in the very neighborhoods they grew up in.

He’s calling it “housing reform.” Let’s call it what it is: a grab for generational wealth.

Because here’s the truth — the families he’s coming for aren’t developers sitting on luxury condos in La Jolla. They’re working-class San Diegans — teachers, retirees, veterans — who bought a modest home decades ago, stayed connected to their roots, and are holding onto it as a legacy for their kids.

But now, because they can’t afford to live in it full-time, he’s labeling them part of the “housing problem.”

Make it make sense.

Instead of addressing the real drivers of our housing crisis — corporate speculation, short-term rentals, and the City’s failure to build truly affordable units — he’s coming for locals. The same locals who built the communities this city is now trying to rebrand.

From La Prensa San Diego News Desk / October 22-23, 2025

A local Superior Court Judge has ordered the City of Chula Vista to pay over $500,000 to the law firm that represented La Prensa San Diego in its successful lawsuit over the release of videos recorded by police drones.

The lawsuit, filed in May 2021 seeking the release of Chula Vista Police Department drone videos, was upheld for the second time by the California Supreme Court on August 14th, ending over four years of litigation.

On October 9th, San Diego Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal awarded attorney Cory Briggs all of the legal fees and costs his firm incurred in the case since May 2021, when the lawsuit was filed, plus she granted Briggs a 1.5 multiple on his fees as reimbursement for having taken the case on contingency.

Bacal also weighed the fact that the case created a new precedent as a matter of “first impression” that went before both the Court of Appeals and the California Supreme Court.

In 2018, Chula Vista’s police department became the first law enforcement agency in the country authorized by the FAA to fly drones beyond visual line-of-sight of the operator as part of a pilot program to help create a safe process for drones to be used as first responders to reduce emergency response times and increase officer safety.

Three years after the program launched, LPSD requested copies of police drone videos from just one month —March 2021— for an article on how the program was going and, specifically, to see how CVPD was using their drones.

Chula Vista’s then-City Attorney, Glen Googins, rejected the request for videos,

Developer claims state laws allow projects to exceed local restrictions if they include low-income housing

by Dave Schwab / Times of San Diego / Oct. 23, 2025

The developers behind a plan to transform the area around Pechanga Arena into a dense, urban nightlife district say a court ruling that retained a 30-foot limit on building heights there won’t stop the project.

Four years ago, they weren’t so sure.

Midway Rising, the proposal to build a new sports arena and 4,000 homes — with half reserved for low-income residents — includes buildings up to 85 feet tall.

Accommodating those taller buildings was part of why the city in 2020 and again in 2022 asked voters to rescind the coastal height limit for the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan area, which includes the 48-acre project area.

But a citizens group opposing that measure, and the taller, denser buildings it would allow, scored a legal victory last week when an appellate court ruled the city failed to follow the California Environmental Quality Act by not adequately informing the public of the environmental effects of removing the height restrictions.

In response, both the developers and Mayor Todd Gloria said the decision would not stop the project.

By Phillip Molnar / San Diego Union-Tribune / October 23-24, 2025 

Thousands of city of San Diego residents have flooded county offices over concern about increased property taxes but, in some cases, there is a simple explanation: trash.

After decades of offering trash collection for free, city of San Diego will now charge many residents for trash collection. Residents got their first-ever annual trash charge of $523.20 in property tax bills that went out in early October.

San Diego County Assessor Jordan Marks said his office, and the tax collector’s, have been inundated with in-person visits and phone calls about higher bills. He said there have been more than 2,000 inquiries over the charge, but it was hard to pinpoint an exact number because it’s been a steady stream for weeks. Residents who call the office, at 619-236-3771, get sent to an automated phone tree with the first option to ask about the trash fee.

“The city of San Diego levied and controls this trash fee on your property tax bills,” says a voice recording. “They are the only party that can answer your important questions and address your issues.”

Here is an update from the folks who organized the campaign, “Stop Columbia St. High Rise” from an email announcement dated Oct. 23.

Thank you for your support this past year to advocate for responsible development in our Middletown residential hillside neighborhood, and to specifically oppose the proposed 3677 Columbia Street high-rise.

Here are some highlights since our last status:

The 3677-3687 Columbia St high rise project is “paused”, according to the developer. The City also confirms there has been no recent progress on this project. After hiring several different firms over the last year, the developer’s geotechnical earthquake fault report is not completed and has outstanding actions. You may recall that the most recent California Geological Survey peer-reviewed official report accurately locates an active fault on these two lots.

Our August protest event was successful to draw much-needed attention to the issues for this ill-conceived project — parking, traffic, egress, fire safety, earthquake safety, airport obstruction, community character, little/no affordable housing. One result is that we have started to dialog our issues with the developer, Elda Developments,

From SanDiego350

Students will call on lawmakers to pass the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act to protect schools and communities, to force Big Oil to pay for climate damages.

San Diego students, including those at Point Loma High, will join others at 50 schools across California will walk out of classrooms to fight for their future. Youth are calling on decision-makers to hold polluters accountable for the climate damages they’ve caused. This statewide day of action, co-organized by Youth v. Oil, a part of SanDiego350, will bring thousands of students together to call for lawmakers to pass the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act — sending a clear message that California’s young people refuse to let Big Oil write the rules of their future.

19 Middle schools, high schools, and colleges across San Diego 50 across the state, with major hubs at:

Editordude: In the U-T today, Thursday, Oct. 23, they ran a commentary by Harry Bubbins entitled, “Opinion: Time to change San Diego’s outdated coastal height limit” . The Rag has called to our community for a response. Bubbins is a former president of the La Jolla Community Planning Association. Here’s the first rebuttal by Lisa Mortensen.

By Lisa Mortensen — My Rebuttal:

While I am not married to the 30ft height limit, there is the ability to apply for a variance in order to build a building that exceeds the 30ft height limit.

The development industry wasn’t born in 2020 when Todd Gloria became mayor.  Development has been part of our growing city for time and memorial.  However, the current local development industry has donated to the mayor and wants to cut regulations so that they can build unimpeded and increase their profits.  In the process, removing all stakeholder input.  That’s what this is really about.

The statement of a type of ‘redlining’ is a false assumption that everyone wants to live ‘West of highway 5’.  How narrow-minded but interestingly enough coming from a La Jolla resident.  Looking outside of one community, the adjacent communities are all a viable alternative for those who may not be able to purchase a property suitable for their needs in the beach area.  I can assure you, after 49 years as a Realtor, there are wonderful communities all over our city regardless of which side of a highway they are located.

The lifting of the height restriction is not about views, it’s about access.