A development plan for a 20-unit apartment complex in Ocean Beach will not move forward without significant changes either to the project or the San Diego municipal code after the city Planning Commission upheld an appeal of the project.
The one-story commercial building now at the site at Point Loma Avenue and Ebers Street has been vacant as far back as 2009. Investment firm Takeoff Capital and partner KD Development intended to redevelop the property into a 16,126-square-foot, three-story apartment complex. Initially the plan called for eight units, but the number was bumped to 20 through a density bonus allotted by the city’s “Complete Communities” development initiative.
Three units were intended to be affordable for lower-income residents.
The San Diego Development Services Department approved a coastal development permit for the project in May, but nearby resident Patty Lewis filed an appeal, arguing that language in the Complete Communities regulations prevents use of a density bonus in designated historical districts.
The Ocean Beach Cottage Emerging District, which includes about 70 properties built between 1887 and 1931, is listed in San Diego’s historical resources database, and ers of the appeal argued that that means high-density housing could not be built through the Complete Communities program.
A city staff report responding to Lewis’ appeal argued that the historical district in question is noncontiguous and applies on a case-by-case basis for buildings for which historical designation has been sought. Because the building at the project site at 4705 Point Loma Ave., built in 1947, was not listed among those of historical significance within the district, staff contended the density bonus would apply.
Retired attorney Craig Klein, who presented in favor of the appeal at the Planning Commission’s Aug. 29 meeting, called the staff response a “tortured interpretation of the statute.”
A group of nearby residents organized under the name Coastal Caretakers also argued in favor of the appeal.
“I can’t face the concept of destruction of my neighborhood by these overwhelmingly dense apartment units that are going to be rented by people who haven’t grown up here,” Lewis said at the meeting.
Andrea Schlageter, chairwoman of the Ocean Beach Planning Board, said removing a commercial option at the site would increase the amount of vehicle miles traveled, going against the goals set in San Diego’s Climate Action Plan.
“It’s not NIMBYism to want the city to follow its own code,” Schlageter said.
The project is “gonna be a really bad thing for OB and the community that has worked so long to preserve its historic location as the last real beach town south of Point Conception,” Klein said.
Despite arguments questioning the project’s potential environmental and traffic impacts, the Planning Commission voted unanimously in favor of the appeal.
Takeoff Capital declined to comment, and project managers at KD Development did not respond to requests for comment.
Klein said the decision could protect similar properties within the historical district.
“We did something that was unexpected,” he said. “It shows that the Planning Commission seemed to be skeptical about the way the city is playing fast and loose with the language of the municipal code.”
Though it is uncertain what any new iteration of the project could look like, Klein said “I think the community has made clear before the Planning Commission that an acceptable alternative would include retail on the bottom floor — hopefully a food market — and then residential use on the top two floors.”
Schlageter echoed that sentiment, pointing out a lack of commercial real estate in Ocean Beach.
“There was a big push in COVID to convert old commercial property to residential, but it turns out, now that people are out and about again, that they do like to go to shops and grab a coffee,” she said.
Schlageter added that balancing commercial and residential properties helps meet the city’s climate goals of reduced vehicle miles by making markets and shops walkable.
Beyond the project proposed for Point Loma Avenue, Schlageter said high-density developments are still a possibility in the historical district, just not through the density bonus afforded by Complete Communities.
