SAN DIEGO — A new eight-story apartment building approved for University Heights is coming under fire.
A town hall held Monday night focused on how communities can take back control over zoning for new projects.
But the city has said that because regulations have been updated to provide san Diego more housing, this project is already green-lit.
Many residents in University Heights said they appreciate the need for more housing in San Diego, specifically affordable housing, but question whether a project of this scale is the best solution..
"We definitely need more housing. but I think they need to be smarter about how they set it up," said resident Cassie Breeggemann.
The plan is to place an eight-story, 49-unit apartment building along Cleveland Avenue in University Heights, on a street where the tallest building currently is three stories high.
"It seems out of place," Breeggemann added, "so I think they need to be more thoughtful about how they go about doing it."
"Maybe consider parking structures instead of more housing?," suggested Evie Standquist.
"I am big on housing. but I'm not sure that the infrastructure is there to support it," said longtime University Heights resident Tiffany Monticino, who said that the community did not have a say specifically on this development before it got the green light.
"They haven't really communicated with the people in the neighborhood enough," she said.
Monday night, the group Neighbors for a Better San Diego held a virtual; town hall focusing on ways for local communities to shift control over zoning from the state back to local government.
"As you're well aware, there's an ongoing and unnecessary assault on single-family neighborhoods. And unfortunately for us here in San Diego, most of this is coming from our own city hall," said Lisa Sinclair of Neighbors for a Better San Diego.
CBS 8 reached out to the city about this development in University Heights which according to the city, already meets the approved zoning codes for the area, meaning that the project can move ahead without public hearings
The city said this brings "a streamlined approach to creating more affordable housing. It brings more certainty to a project, costs less for developers and allows housing to be created faster."
But some residents still have questions.
"Who knows if it's really affordable housing?," said Monticino. "Most of the housing we build around here is not affordable."
The city also pointed out that over the last several years, zoning and development regulations have been updated to provide more housing opportunities in the face of a housing shortage.
A city spokesperson said that community input was invited during that process:
"The City is undergoing a housing crisis due to a lack of adequate supply of housing. To address this, the City has taken steps over the past several years to update its land use plans and development regulations to increase opportunities for more homes in neighborhoods with a streamlined approval process. During the preparation of these land use plans and regulations, the City has held numerous public and community meetings to capture a diverse range of input. Once these plans and regulations have been adopted, the approval process is set up to ensure that new homes consistent with the regulations can be built to address the housing crisis."
"We encourage residents to take an active role in providing input when plans and policies are created. San Diegans can visit the City's Planning Department's website to learn how to get involved in providing public input," the city added.
WATCH RELATED: University Heights neighbors upset over mass development in residential area (March 2023).