The San Diego City Council on Tuesday repealed a footnote in the city code reducing minimum required lot sizes for homes in Encanto and other Southeastern San Diego neighborhoods — again.
On Jan. 28, the council voted 8-0 to repeal the footnote and request city staff to return with an action item to remove the city's Accessory Dwelling Unit density bonus program. The only problem was that the item wasn't on the agenda.
As a result, just a week later, the city received a letter from attorneys alleging a Brown Act violation, California's long-standing law intended to ensure open meetings. Because the item was not on that late January agenda, the public did not receive enough time to participate in the meeting.
Tuesday's vote re-doing the same action was intended to clear the city from the Brown Act violation.
Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera, the sole council member not present during the January vote, expressed his frustration while also backing the repeal of the footnote.
"Obviously this is not the right way to do things," he said. "Obviously this was a poorly tailored attempt to receive a policy outcome."
Dozens of speakers — mostly from Encanto and adjacent neighborhoods — encouraged the council to once again move to repeal the footnoote and allow for greater development.
Councilman Henry Foster III, who proposed the action and who represents Encanto in Council District 4, admitted the city has had a lack of transparency in the past, particularly with underserved communities. He called large minimum lot sizes a "discriminatory and outdated" practice designed to keep communities more exclusive.
The footnote being repealed ushered in a second item for Tuesday's meeting, the repeal of San Diego's Accessory Dwelling Unit program. More than 100 people were in the process of offering comment on that item as of 1 p.m.
When the footnote was first repealed, Mayor Todd Gloria saw the writing on the wall as an attack against ADUs in the city.
"The ADU program, recognized statewide for creating affordable housing everyday San Diegans can afford without taxpayer subsidies, has helped San Diego build more homes and provide options for families and middle-income residents," Gloria said in an email to supporters in January.
"It was introduced transparently and has resulted in hundreds of new housing units since 2021, nearly half of which are rent-restricted affordable homes. The city attorney warned the City Council that its decision to restrict ADUs violated California's open meetings law, yet the council proceeded with the vote without public notice or proper debate."
Those opposed to the ADU program say it "does not mitigate unintended impacts such as additional density in Very High Fire Severity Zones, locations with restricted emergency access, and inefficient lot design and resource management," according to a city statement.
