San Diego Planning Commission Rejects Voluntary State Density Law

The San Diego Planning Commission—the citizen advisory group on planning in one of the YIMBYest cities in California—won’t go so far as to eliminate single-family zoning throughout the city.

“San Diego’s Planning Commission unanimously voted against a key part of Mayor Todd Gloria’s housing plan Thursday that would have eliminated single-family zoning in much of the city,” reports Phillip Molnar.

That key part was the Senate Bill 10, a voluntary statewide bill that “[allows] a single-family home to be torn down and replaced with a new structure of up to three stories with up to 10 units in much of the city,” according to Molnar.

Before this setback for the pro-development rends of land use law in the city, San Diego had unbundled parking, removing minimums and setting maximums; expanded transit-oriented development zones; created its own density bonus program; removed commercial parking requirements; and launched an expedited community planning process intended to create more housing options in the city, among other actions.  

Though the San Diego City Council could still vote to approve the “Housing Action Plan 2.0,” as proposed by Mayor Todd Gloria in May, Molnar reports that “the mayor’s office confirmed Thursday that it will not be pushing for Senate Bill 10 to be part of the housing package going forward.”