San Diego Land Use and Housing Committee Meeting – February 12, 2025
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San Diego Land Use and Housing Committee Meeting – February 12, 2025
Note: The transcript indicates the meeting was convened as "February 6, 2025," but the dataset metadata specifies the date as February 12, 2025. This summary uses the metadata-provided date.
The Land Use and Housing Committee met under Chair Pro Tem Lee (attending remotely due to contagious illness). Vice Chair Moreno, Councilmember Campillo, and Councilmember Elo Rivera were present. The meeting covered routine consent items, a land donation for open space, and a performance update from the Development Services Department (DSD).
Consent Calendar
- Item 1: Approval of committee minutes from December 12, 2024 – passed without discussion.
- Item 2: Relinquishment agreement between Caltrans and the City for ~2.5 acres along Interstate 5 (bounded by Boston Avenue, 29th Street, and 32nd Street) to create the future Boston Avenue Linear Park in Barrio Logan. Community advocates (Environmental Health Coalition) and Councilmember Moreno highlighted 50 years of community effort. Approved unanimously (4-0).
- Item 3: Letter of relinquishment acceptance from Caltrans for land beneath the Rose Creek Bikeway at Santa Fe Street and I-5. Approved unanimously (4-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Non-Agenda Public Comment:
- Cesar Javier: Claimed ongoing health hazards from a residential ceramics kiln (operating since 1984) and criticized city inaction.
- Andrew Malik (San Diego Council of Infill Builders): Supported the ADU bonus program; urged the committee to consider broad coalition input (YIMBY Democrats, BIA, Circulate San Diego, etc.).
- Devin Rapp: Requested policies to protect cannabis dispensary employees from secondhand smoke.
- Speaker (phone 8700): Thanked the Office of Child and Youth Services for migrant/refugee support; deferred full comments on refugee homelessness.
- Doreen Diaz: Questioned equity in the Habitat Acquisition Fund (favoring higher-income districts); opposed bonus ADUs due to risks to Kuneyaay artifacts and infrastructure.
- Sally Small (Emerald Hills Neighborhood Council): Opposed bonus ADU loophole that allows up to 40+ units per lot, citing fire safety and parking concerns in high-fire zones.
- Becky Rapp: Expressed concern that mixed-use “villages” in Blueprint San Diego could weaken protections for youth from tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana.
- Judy String: Called for a county report on mental health/addiction beds; cautioned against for-profit addiction industries.
- Kelly McCormick (public health educator): Urged smoke-free multi-unit housing and workplace ordinances; noted marijuana smoke contains carcinogens.
- Consent Agenda Public Comment:
- Cesar Javier: Criticized lack of transparency in minutes; questioned purpose of land transfers.
- Amy Castaneda, Maritza Garcia, Julie Corrales (Environmental Health Coalition): Supported item 2; emphasized the park is a 50-year community priority backed by a $22 million state grant (Transformative Climate Communities).
- Speaker (phone 8700): Supported items 2 and 3 for mobility and systemic safety.
- Sally Small: Thanked for the Boston Avenue land transfer.
- Item 4 Public Comment:
- Bob Allen (East Elliott property owner): Opposed the donation; argued land is zoned residential and CCNRs require residential development; claimed the city lacks authority to convert it to open space amidst a housing crisis.
- Cesar Javier: Skeptical of the “no cost” claim; alleged the city acquires land at low cost and later uses it for high-cost purposes.
- Jack Zarr (adjacent property owner): Opposed, citing trespassing and vandalism on his properties; demanded the city enforce regulations against illegal trails north of Highway 52.
- Doreen Diaz: Opposed, citing maintenance costs to the Parks Department; argued the land could instead host 2,279 bonus ADUs.
- Blair Beekman: Supported, recommended tech accountability models from Davis, California.
- Phone 8700: Supported, praised collaborative effort.
- Item 5 Public Comment:
- Saad Assad: Praised DSD’s increased permit throughput and affordable housing permits; encouraged continued funding.
- Phone 8700: Praised DSD but flagged potential overefficiency; requested collaboration on ADU issues.
- Sally Small: Noted lack of progress on permanent supportive housing (1260 units promised); opposed bonus ADUs for safety and environmental reasons.
- Jeff Hoyer (Neighbors for Better San Diego): Requested greater transparency on ministerial projects via the Acela portal (site plans, fire marshal reports); questioned validity of SDA maps used for some projects.
- Doreen Diaz: Accused the city of fraudulently using SDA maps (based on police beats, not transit plans); raised ADA access issues (walkways too narrow).
- Blair Beekman: Suggested the city initiate negotiations to relocate the problematic pottery business.
Discussion Items
- Item 4: Accept 53-Acre Land Donation in East Elliott for Mission Trails Regional Park
- Staff (Robin O’Day, Supervising Property Agent) presented: The Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation acquired the parcels using a $2 million grant from the San Diego River Conservancy. The 53 acres are in Council District 7 (north of SR-52), adjacent to existing city open space. The donation qualifies for CEQA exemption (Class 13 – land acquisition for wildlife conservation). No hazardous conditions found; clear title. Maintenance will be covered by the existing Mission Trails operations budget. Motion by Councilmember Campillo, seconded by Chair Lee. Passed 4-0.
- Item 5: Development Services Department Process and Permitting Updates
- Gary Geiler (Assistant Director) and JC Thomas (Assistant Director) presented. Key statistics: 40,000 homes permitted over five years (6,651 ADUs); ~8,500 homes in 2024 (2,100 ADUs). Affordable Housing Permit Now program: 30 projects, ~3,400 units, first review in under 10 days. Professional certification and self-certification programs saved over 2,100 staff hours. Average permit review duration: 75 working days (city portion ~25 days, customer portion ~50 days). New initiatives include permit extensions, upcoming code updates, and a website refresh. Councilmembers asked about expanding rapid review to larger tenant improvements and best practices from other cities (Phoenix, LA, San Francisco). Information item only; no vote.
Key Outcomes
- Consent agenda passed unanimously (4-0).
- Item 4 (land donation) passed unanimously (4-0). The 53 acres will be added to Mission Trails Regional Park and incorporated into the Multiple Species Conservation Program.
- Item 5 (DSD update) received as information. DSD will continue exploring expanded self-certification and rapid review programs, with stakeholder outreach planned.
- Next regularly scheduled meeting: Thursday, March 6, 2025, at 1:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
In pursuant to the Brown Act, I am Chair. Can you please pause for one moment? Thank you. We're going to begin the Land Houston Housing Committee meeting now. Thank you. Chair? Thank you. We'll start over. So good afternoon. Welcome to the land use and housing committee meeting of February 6th, 2025. I'm notifying the land use and housing committee that I am attending today's meeting remotely to the just cause related to contagious illness. And pursuant to the Brown Act, I am disclosing that there are no individuals 18 years of age or older present in the room with me. Um I will update this disclosure if it changes during the course of the meeting. Our committee liaison that Kessler will go over instructions for today's meeting. Thank you, Chair. While members of the public are able to attend the meetings in person, this meeting is being televised and live streamed on the city's website, and the council administration will continue to make arrangements to the public to comment using the Zoom webinar platform. Members of the public who wish to provide virtual testimony must enter the virtual queue by raising their hand before the virtual queue closes. The queue will close when the last virtual speaker finishes speaking or five minutes after in-person testimony ends, whichever occurs first. This will allow for better meeting management between the two platforms and ensure the committee is able to manage and conduct city business. We appreciate the public's cooperation. I'll now call the land use and housing committee meeting of Thursday, February 6th, 2025 to order. Natalie, please call the role. Vice Chair Moreno, present, Councilmember Campio. Here. Councilmember Ila Rivera. And Chair, Council President Pro Tem Lee. Here. Also attending the meeting today, Emily Piatanesi with the mayor's office, deputy city attorney Noah Brazier with the city attorney's office, Amy Lee with the independent budget analyst office, and Madison Coleman, committee consultant. If you're in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of the committee room and place it on the top of the box indicated at the speaker's lecture and at the front of the room. Please do so in a timely manner to ensure proper meeting management. In-person testimony will conclude before virtual testimony begins. Members of the public can join the webinar by computer, tablet, or smartphone by accessing accessing the link which is listed online in the preamble language of the agenda on the city's webpage. To join the Zoom webinar by telephone, please dial 1669-2545252. The webinar ID is 160-683-0623 pound. This information is also available on the agenda and will appear on the screen during the public comment period for each agenda item. Please note that if you are watching via City TV 24 or online, there may be a delay. Please participate via the audio on your phone and mute your TV or computer when it is your turn to speak. And if you wish to speak on a particular item, wait for that item to be called and then raise your hand to speak by tapping the raise your hand icon. Or if you are a call-in participant, press star nine on your phone. If you raise your hand during a non-comment period, your hand will be lowered. Chair. Thank you, Natalie, for reviewing those instructions for the benefit of the public. A quorum is now present. Uh we'll go ahead and take up non-agenda public comment. The council members respect and appreciate the public's input and are fully committed to protecting every participant's free speech rights at council and committee meetings. Natalie, will you please proceed with non-agenda public comment? Parole 2.7, non-agenda public comment is an opportunity for members of the public to comment on items that are not on the agenda, but within the subject matter jurisdiction of the committee, each speaker will have two minutes. As a reminder to our speakers, if there are eight or more speakers on a single issue during non-agenda public comment, the maximum time for the issue will be 16 minutes. And Chair, we currently have three speakers who have submitted speaker slips in the committee room, and there are five hands raised in the virtual queue. We will begin with those in the committee room.
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