By Jennifer van Grove / San Diego Union-Tribune / December 17 - 18, 2024
San Diego could potentially deny the 239-foot-tall, mixed-use tower proposed for 970 Turquoise St. in Pacific Beach that has not only outraged community members but catalyzed elected leaders to seek reforms to state housing laws.
Last week, the city of San Diego received a technical assistance letter from California’s Department of Housing and Community Development, or HCD, that gives the municipality a little wiggle room during the staff-level approval process.
The letter, which makes the case for either approval or denial, states that the city can reject the height-limit-busting project on very specific grounds related to the application of State Density Bonus Law.
“The (State Density Bonus Law) permits the city to approve the requested incentive and associated waiver or to deny the requested incentive and associated waiver by making a written finding, based on substantial evidence, that the incentive does not result in identifiable and actual cost reductions to provide for affordable housing,” Shannan West, HCD’s housing accountability unit chief, wrote in the letter.
In other words, the city must be able to prove that some or all of the developer’s requested bonuses, waivers and incentives — collectively allowing the Turquoise tower to stretch well beyond the neighborhood’s 30-foot height limit — are not necessary to create the project’s 10 affordable housing units.
By Jennifer van Grove / San Diego Union-Tribune / December 17 - 18, 2024
San Diego could potentially deny the 239-foot-tall, mixed-use tower proposed for 970 Turquoise St. in Pacific Beach that has not only outraged community members but catalyzed elected leaders to seek reforms to state housing laws.
Last week, the city of San Diego received a technical assistance letter from California’s Department of Housing and Community Development, or HCD, that gives the municipality a little wiggle room during the staff-level approval process.
The letter, which makes the case for either approval or denial, states that the city can reject the height-limit-busting project on very specific grounds related to the application of State Density Bonus Law.
“The (State Density Bonus Law) permits the city to approve the requested incentive and associated waiver or to deny the requested incentive and associated waiver by making a written finding, based on substantial evidence, that the incentive does not result in identifiable and actual cost reductions to provide for affordable housing,” Shannan West, HCD’s housing accountability unit chief, wrote in the letter.
In other words, the city must be able to prove that some or all of the developer’s requested bonuses, waivers and incentives — collectively allowing the Turquoise tower to stretch well beyond the neighborhood’s 30-foot height limit — are not necessary to create the project’s 10 affordable housing units.