SAN DIEGO – An anti-density housing movement is gaining traction.
A grassroots nonprofit, Neighbors for a Better California, has emerged to champion growing local opposition to developer-driven densification and overdevelopment throughout San Diego.
That battle is manifesting itself in numerous ways, from recent strident opposition to the city’s Accessory Dwelling Unit Bonus Program, to growing opposition toward local proposed high-density projects. Those include the Vela “Pencil” Tower, a 23-story high-rise at 970 Turquoise St. in North Pacific Beach; and 1004 Rosecrans St., a four-story, 56-unit mixed-use building next to Cabrillo Elementary School in Point Loma.
Marcella Bothwell, a former surgeon and chair of Pacific Beach Planning Group, founded Neighbors for a Better California in response to the 23-story Project Vela development proposed in PB, as well as other such projects in the development pipeline.
Beach & Bay Press conducted a Q&A with Bothwell to get a better idea of what Neighbors is all about.
BBP: How did we get to where we are now with these new high-rise projects being proposed in single-family neighborhoods?
Bothwell: Rent prices and land values have just been skyrocketing in a concept I’ve been referring to as the “financialization” of our housing market. Neighbors has no problem with developers making an honest income.
But since the 2008 housing crisis, [developers] have been more focused on making a quick buck financially, which is straining our housing market. These companies, which have no connection to the community, are raising rents and saying, “See you later.” That’s why I’m so passionate about this cause.
BBP: What is the goal of Neighbors?
Bothwell: Change is going to happen. We’re not opposed to change, not even opposed to more housing. But you have these corporations coming in and driving land values so high that people can’t get a leg up in the housing market. The short-term goal is to expose what these new state laws, like SB 79 and California’s Density Bonus Law (designed to encourage affordable housing construction), are doing.
It sounds good to put more housing near transit. But when you combine these two bills, you end up with projects that are too tall in single-family neighborhoods. This is going to inflate land values and prices.
BBP: What’s the answer to curbing this inflationary housing pricing cycle?
Bothwell: It’s got to be a state process where they don’t allow these laws to combine. [The state] used to pass laws that required accountability. But now they’re not even doing scenario analysis. At some point, you have to have guardrails. We do not have guardrails. The Building Industry Association is funding a lot of these state legislature bills. This is just nuts. [Developers] can make money, but once you start hurting people, that’s when I get angry.
BBP: What would Neighbors like to see happen in the future with affordable housing?
Bothwell: [Developers] hijacked a good and decent movement for affordable housing, and corrupted it into a money grab. We’d like to see ourselves living in a society where people gain (home) equity, and they don’t have to work to death until they’re 100. We’d like to achieve a society that cares about people.
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