San Diego City Council will vote Tuesday whether to authorize $650,000 and several housing policy changes to settle a lawsuit blaming city policy for worsening segregation.
Federal law requires cities to actively undo segregation. The 2019 suit claims the city violated that by concentrating San Diego’s poorest residents in low-income, high-minority neighborhoods in the southeast.
Data from the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee that year shows most low-income housing projects were located there.
Some majority white neighborhoods — like La Jolla and Point Loma — had zero projects built using low-income tax credits.
The suit blames city policy — like community plan updates and funding decisions — for fueling that pattern and worsening unequal access to opportunities and basic needs.
The city council voted to approve the settlement in a closed session. District 4 Councilmember Henry Foster III was the lone vote against it. His office did not answer why.
The council and the housing authority will vote again in public meetings Tuesday.
The settlement includes seven changes to housing policy meant to increase affordable housing in wealthier areas.
The city would have to prove that at least 70% of affordable housing projects are permitted in moderate to highest resource areas by 2028.
A city staff report denies the lawsuit’s claims that city policy caused discriminatory impact. It says most of the changes were already planned by the city, and the settlement would avoid drawing out the six-year legal battle any longer.
City staff, claimants and their attorneys declined to speak with KPBS.
