The 12-story Capri by the Sea complex starkly stands out along Pacific Beach’s shoreline. The high-rise ignited a “tidal wave of citizen rebellion against unbridled development” in 1972 when residents rallied across San Diego to pass Prop D. The local citizens initiative mandated a 30-foot height limit that is reflected in this Pacific Beach image. What happens now that the state says its laws trump local citizen initiatives?
History / Laws / Reaction
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History
Prop D is the classic example of “Direct Democracy” at work in California. It passed with 64% of the vote across all of San Diego. Support was at 80% in beach communities.
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Laws
Oceanside recently lost a case challenging whether high-density bonus laws applied to its local citizens initiative - Measure L. However, legal challenges are still possible, as are amendments to laws.
Neighbors for a Better California believes a balanced approach to adding housing is key in the state’s housing debate. At the heart of that debate is respect for the Direct Democracy wishes of voters.
Reaction
Survey: Nearly 91% of citizens want Prop D honored
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90.7% say hands off Prop D
The NFABC poll found that citizens believe San Diego City Councilmembers who voted 8-1 to override Prop D recently are way out of touch with what communities want.
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Majority wants no exceptions for Prop D
Nearly three quarters of citizens (71%) want no exceptions for Prop D’s 30-foot height limit. Some 20% would allow an exception for 100% affordable projects limited to 60 feet.
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12 San Diego zip codes represented in survey
The majority of survey (63.2%) responses came from the 92109 zip code area. However, 11 other zip codes across San Diego were represented in the survey.
What People Are Saying
“This also means we live in a Sacramento headed dictatorship. The vast majority of eligible citizens voted for Prop D back in 1972. Now this developer, the state and the city have overridden the will of the people. We should not let that happen.”
— Gene M, P.B. North
“If Prop D isn’t upheld, it will transform San Diego forever, and not for the better.
— Douglas Bradley, Muirlands
“Carefully and considerately choose who you vote for in local, state, and federal elections. What does Congressman Peters’ consider is good for the neighborhood?”
— Carla Buff, Mission Hills North
“We Will Hold Them Accountable. We need to Stop this NOW! Tell Scott Peters that anything over the 30 ft is Unacceptable!”
— Larry Rutkowski, P.B. Pacifica
“Tell the young folks if they even care that they will not be able to live along coast in future. They may as well move back to home towns. … And start 2 Recalls. Governor and Mayor. We did it a few years ago and got rid of both. We can do it again.”
— Jeslyn Wynkoop, Kate Sessions
“30’ height limit was enacted for a reason and has worked well. Must be maintained.”
— Susan U., Village of La Jolla
“At five stories tall, this proposal (Rose Creek) will breach the 30-foot limit. On its face, this is a smart use of otherwise underutilized property, however, greater than 30 feet is greater than 30 feet. For more than 50 years, this project would not have been attempted nor approved. That is until California’s Department of Housing and Community Development gave the go-ahead to move forward, and San Diego voters were damned in the process.”
Email Mayor Gloria
Ask the mayor to honor Prop D and stop the Turquoise Tower. Email Mayor Gloria.
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NFABC’s view
Local initiatives should be part
of more balanced housing solution
San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava was right when he wrote in a San Diego Union-Tribune editorial:
“The will of the voters in the city of San Diego is absolute. … No city, state or developer has the authority to reverse the will of San Diego voters without seeking a vote by the public.”
Neighbors for a Better California agrees. So do citizens. Their support of Prop D in our survey exceeded even the landslide proportions of the city-wide vote in 1972 that legally created the local citizens initiative after that generation of citizen crusaders/voters stepped up to the challenge of their time when facing the prospect of unbridled coastal development.
Now, it is the turn of the generation of 2025 – young and old – to step up to the challenge of its time.
Stepping up to the challenge
And it is. Left with little to no options when a 238-foot-tall building was secretly proposed in what had been a Prop D protected coastal neighborhood, citizens took to the streets to protest. They are making their voices heard through groups like NFABC, social media, and emails to elected officials.
That is why NFABC is so encouraged by the response of several of those elected officials. They are mirroring the message often repeated by NFABC board members Marcella Bothwell, Scott Chipman and citizens. We need housing, including affordable housing, they say, but the voice of the community must be heard when those decisions are being made.
No local input = “unintended consequences”
Without that local input, we have seen the “unintended consequences” that occur. The 23-story Turquoise Tower is the poster child for what happens when local governments and citizens lose their voice because of overreaching state laws. The Pacific Beach tower is so bad that it casts a giant symbolic shadow on the state’s otherwise well-intentioned efforts to make needed housing available.
That is particularly troubling in communities that literally are already transforming themselves to provide housing. That includes the efforts of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and the Pacific Beach Planning Group.
“Pro-housing designated cities such as San Diego have gone above and beyond to do their part to address the affordable housing crisis,” Gloria wrote to concerned University City resident Kim Bustos on December 30.
State’s solutions are too extreme
Gloria has indirectly hit on exactly what is wrong with the state’s heavy-handed usurpation of the rights of local communities. That includes discarding the long-established and cherished collective right of “Direct Democracy” of California voters to pass initiatives – which, unfortunately, Gloria and LaCava’s City Council colleagues have themselves too cavalierly discarded in voting 8-1 to approve the Rose Creek affordable housing project.
What’s wrong is that the remedy proposed by the state is far too extreme. Saying a housing crisis exists as justification for taking away the voice of citizens - especially in cities already providing housing - is like pronouncing the death penalty for shoplifting. It is badly flawed strategy because other more reasonable, balanced and collaborative remedies are available.
Those should include local citizen initiatives, like Prop D.
As LaCava said about the 5-story Rose Creek project, this project would not have been attempted or approved - if the state were honoring Prop D. Neither would the Turquoise Tower.
Now, it is your turn
Please, take our Prop D survey
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