Pacific Beach residents rally to block high-rise development plans

Yahoo

12-02-2025

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — It's been a staple of the Pacific Beach community for decades now. But according to the group Neighbors for a Better San Diego, The French Gourmet restaurant has been sold to a developer for $6.5 million.
That same developer wants to bypass local laws and the will of the people, to build a 240-foot tall high-rise building, in a 30-foot coastal zone.
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'We learned that a week-and-a-half ago, Michelle, the owner of French Gourmet, accepted a developers check for $6.5 million to sell the property. Developer asked him to stay on for a year here at least while the application is being reviewed,' said Tom Coat, Neighbors for a Better San Diego.
As soon as residents in PB heard about the developer's plans to buy the building and disregard the voter approved 30-foot height limit, different community groups formed a coalition to fight back.
As of today, that fight takes a major step forward. They are lawyering up for a fight.
'If the city denies the project, the developer who has enormously deep pockets will sue, and will come in and support the city with an amicus brief. If they approve the project, will sue the city. If they get an unacceptable modification — like a 12-story instead of 20 — will come in and sue the city also,' Coat continued.
While no one really knows what the proposed high-rise tower would look like, an artist's vision shows what 240-feet would look like in a 30-foot zone.
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The developer is attempting to take advantage of a state housing law designed to create so-called affordable housing.
State Senator Catherine Blakespear says this is an abuse of what the law was intended to do. 'It's 139 hotel rooms, this project. And only five are for moderate-income households, and then there are five that are deemed restricted for very low-income households.'
According to the developer's plans submitted to the city, they're trying to use the state's Density Bonus laws and bypass local laws to build 22-stories high, with more than 200 units.
Of those, most would be hotel rooms, with 74 market rate apartments, and up to 10 so-called affordable units.
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As a result, Senator Blakespear has now written Senate Bill 92, with the support of Mayor Todd Gloria and Congressman Scott Peters to stop the unintended consequences of the housing laws.
'What the Bill is aimed at is preventing a project like the Turquoise Street project, which is essentially a luxury hotel project that is able to be proposed in that location because it is exploiting a state housing law,' Blakespear continued.
If you look around this community, the public uprising has begun. A sea of protest signs are popping up, much like a political campaign.
At stake — the will of the people and the character of their community. Both of which are being threatened by a developer, who's been empowered by state law.
'It's so bad because the laws from Sacramento have enabled developers to come in and disregard the will of the voters as expressed in direct democracy by [bypassing] local initiatives like Prop D. All the other buildings here are 30-feet high. This will be almost 10 times that height,' said Coat.
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