SAN DIEGO — The run-down Department of Motor Vehicles in the heart of Hillcrest could be part of the solution for San Diego's housing crisis.
Plans to redevelop the site, which would include affordable units for low-income families, are shifting into high gear in Sacramento.
The move to redevelop the three acre DMV property in Hillcrest has continued to start, stall and stop for nearly 20 years now. A new bill currently making its way through the state legislature could finally change that.
This new legislation is introduced by Assembly Member Chris Ward. It would set a deadline of July 2026 for the state to sign a re-development deal with the San Diego Housing Commission, requiring at least one-fourth of the units built on the property to be affordable for low-income households.
Hillcrest resident Alana Watson moved to the neighborhood less than two years ago from a small town in South Carolina and said she experienced 'sticker shock' when she saw the average rents here.
"I had a budget already, but then I had to 're-budget' that budget to get with the real world out here," she told CBS 8. "Until you experience it, you really don't know!"
Watson is supportive of this move to redevelop this DMV property in the heart of Hillcrest into affordable housing.
"I do believe it would be a great addition for those that need it," she said.
She also has questions, though, as to who this housing would specifically be targeted toward.
"What do they consider 'affordable'?" she asked, "Because it is a spectrum."
While tentative, plans could also possibly include new scaled-back office space for the DMV. The deteriorating site has been there since the early 1960s. Previous plans to redevelop this deteriorating DMV site but never got off the ground.
"I am opposed," said Warren Ralph, who has lived in Hillcrest for the past four decades. He pointed out the thousands of new housing units constructed in the neighborhood just in the past few years.
"They're turning San Diego into another Los Angeles," he said. "And that's not what the people who live here want."
"I don't think we should have any more development for quite a while," Ralph added. "I think we have enough!"
In the meantime, Hillcrest resident Phillip McMulllen, who moved here eight years ago, has another issue.
"My main concern is the fact of losing the parking," he told CBS 8.
The DMV lot currently provides parking for the popular Hillcrest Farmers Market on Sundays and also free parking in the evenings for those enjoying the neighborhood's restaurants and nightlife.
"If those people don't have a place to park to come eat. then they won't come here to eat," McMullen added.
This new legislation is now making its way through the State Assembly, and from there it would go on to the State Senate. If ultimately approved, it could be on the Governor's desk for his signature sometime this fall.
WATCH RELATED: San Diego church breaks ground on new affordable housing project in Logan Heights