Ahead of Tuesday’s City Council meeting, City Council President Pro Tem Joe LaCava announced that he will vote against two loans that would help fund the Rose Creek Village housing development because of height limits in the area.
The $36 million project is part of Mayor Todd Gloria’s Bridge to Home initiative, which helps finance affordable housing projects for families and individuals who are at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness.
The five-story Rose Creek project would include 59 affordable rental housing units and one manager’s unit on the site of a former restaurant at 2662 Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach. Eighteen of the units would offer permanent supportive housing for veterans experiencing homelessness.
LaCava said he is opposing the development because it is in the city’s Coastal Height Limit Overlay Zone and exceeds the 30-foot restriction. The height limit was approved by residents in 1972 under Proposition D to preserve the coastal environment west of Interstate 5.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the council will be voting on approving two loans totaling over $4 million for the housing project.
“Council may not have the authority to interfere with the permitting of this Prop.-D busting project, but we are under no obligation to use taxpayer dollars to support it,” said LaCava.
In an op-ed published in the San Diego Union Tribune, LaCava expressed concern over not seeking residents’ input before making an exception to the 30-foot coastal height limit. He noted that there is a process for changing the limit, citing the passage of Measure C in the Midway district.
“My position is not a statement of merit but of process. We must and can do this right. We can produce and plan developments that also respect voter mandates, or proponents can seek the support of the electorate to modify the 1972 ballot measure,” said LaCava in the op-ed.
The City Council’s hearing on the loan agreement will begin at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 30.