Why this matters
Residents say a controversial zoning rule that applies only to parts of southeast San Diego and nowhere else in the city amounts to discrimination.
Southeast San Diegans are just one step away from seeing a controversial footnote in city zoning laws officially removed from the books.
Councilmembers on Tuesday unanimously voted to remove the footnote that singled out certain southeastern neighborhoods. The action was the last vote needed and now heads to Mayor Todd Gloria for his signature.
The footnote allows developers to build homes at a higher density: While a minimum of 20,000 square feet is needed to build one, single-family home across the city with certain zoning designations, the footnote drops that requirement to just 5,000 square feet only in Encanto.
Some residents have claimed the rule amounts to discrimination, pointing to the area’s higher proportions of Black and Latino residents and lower household incomes than the rest of the county. City officials have denied that it was designed with a discriminatory intent.
Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, who was absent during the first vote, emphasized the need for transparency in city housing development.
“Slipping footnotes into complex policy ain’t the way,” Elo-Rivera said at the meeting.
Doing so, he added, “undermines our ability to make credible arguments to our communities about the importance of housing.”
City staff have said they have no updates five months after launching an internal investigation to determine the origins of the footnote.
In 2019, officials incorporated the footnote as part of a broader set of nearly 40 proposed revisions to the city’s Land Development Code. According to a staff report, these updates aimed to enhance the code’s adaptability in addressing the city’s evolving land use challenges. The report further characterized the footnote as a “clarification” regarding the minimum lot size in certain areas of southeast San Diego.
Councilmembers adopted the rule in 2020, though some residents have said they didn’t learn about it until last year.
The repeal of the footnote goes into effect 30 days after the mayor signs the amendment.
“We successfully removed Footnote 7, undoing the past administration’s zoning in Encanto,” Gloria posted on X on Wednesday. “When I became aware of the 2019 error, I got to work on its repeal. Thanks to the City Council for unanimously supporting this.”
The Chollas Valley Community Planning Group led a campaign against the footnote. Chairperson Andrea Hetheru has maintained that she and her group want the city to also apply the repeal retroactively. Doing so would reverse the progress of two housing proposals in the Emerald Hills and Encanto neighborhoods.
“We pray that those of you have the power and ability, also have the will to correct and to affect the land use that is subject to (the footnote), and that if you don’t have it, you quickly develop it today,” Hetheru told the council on Tuesday.
She told inewsource she and neighbors are fundraising money to pay for an attorney and future fees when appealing against the two housing projects.
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