SAN DIEGO — Driving down Turquoise Street Saturday morning, it'd be hard to miss dozens of passionate residents gathered with signs. It'd also be hard to miss a 22-story housing complex that would reach nearly 240-feet tall.
The proposed development would be at 970 Turquoise Street in Pacific Beach. The developer, Kalonymus, told CBS 8 it would have 213 units total, with market-rate units, 10 affordable rent-restricted units and visitor accommodation units. Kalonymus said there would be 300 on-site parking spots.
"We're really afraid that it's going to be a safety issue for all of our community pedestrians," Marcella Bothwell, Chair of the Pacific Beach Planning Group said.
While traffic, overcrowding and safety are big concerns, people are most upset over how the building could be allowed in a restricted- height zone.
"To have the state of California mandating that cities can no longer control their own growth is outrageous, and that's got to change," Bird Rock resident Steve Lord said.
California's density bonus law can allow waivers on certain restrictions if a proposal meets affordable housing requirements. This includes the 30-foot height limit in San Diego's Coastal Zone.
"When you give away waivers of a 30-foot height limit or 60-foot height limit, the height limit is unlimited," Scott Chipman, President of San Diegans for Responsible Planning said.
Kalonymus told CBS 8 in a statement:
“San Diego has a well-documented shortage of homes that is making life increasingly expensive, so we need ambitious projects to truly move the needle. The goal is to make this beach community accessible to a lot more San Diegans who otherwise wouldn’t have the ability to live here. We’re talking about making hundreds of units available in a desirable community where the barrier to entry has historically been very high. It will bring market rate as well as affordable rent-restricted units — built with no taxpayer subsidy — to a community that doesn’t see a lot of new housing even though the demand is very strong. This project alone will nearly double the total affordable housing units that have been built in this area in the last several years – with these rents guaranteed under the deed to be affordable to low- and middle-income households. This project is made possible largely through new state laws that encourage home building on a scale that acknowledges California’s housing crisis. The project team has been working with experts for quite some time to craft a building that complies with all applicable housing laws. This is a locally-designed project that’s backed by people who believe in San Diego and want to create the new generation of homes that our city needs."
This goes beyond Pacific Beach. Nearby residents worry of similar projects coming to their neighborhoods.
"If this building gets built, then we will see high rises all over San Diego," Chipman said.
If the project is fully approved, the group said it has a strong case to take legal action. Last month, the Mayor's office told CBS 8 there are concerns about the project's scale and if it'll qualify for the Prop D waiver. The City of San Diego did not provide any additional comment.