To help deal with the housing crisis, the city of San Diego has made it easier for developers to build accessory dwelling units, more commonly known as ADUs or granny flats.
And now critics of the city's rules on granny flats have filed a new lawsuit, saying the city loosened building requirements allowing developers to construct higher buildings with less parking, without reviewing the potential impacts on neighborhoods and the environment.
Dave Nicolai offered a tour of his backyard showing how he and his neighbors' view would change if a single-family home behind him on Adams Avenue is turned into a 9-unit, two-story ADU as planned.
“I feel sorry for my neighbor who's going to have at least six windows and the developer doesn't have to do anything about it," Nicolai said.
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Developers are just following the law. And that's just part of the reason why Nicolai and some of his El Cerrito neighbors are supporting a lawsuit against the city filed by a group called Livable San Diego.
The suit challenges what it calls the city's "Massive, dangerous and irresponsible upzoning of single-family neighborhoods." The policy allows multi-unit ADUs next to single-family homes in an effort to help solve San Diego's affordable housing crisis.
“We’ve had people leave the state because they can’t find affordable living arrangements, I get that, but don't make my neighborhood an apartment complex," Nicolai said.
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Victor Avina is a member of Yes In My Backyard Democrats of San Diego. He said the city’s ADU policy is about planning for future growth.
“Communities change all the time, often and most of the time, that's for the better. Ultimately, this policy that allows for more housing, more density is about equity. It's about creating more opportunities for people to live in the communities that they're already a part of and contributing to," said Avina.
The city is incentivizing developers to build in areas called Sustainable Development Areas, once called Transit Priority Areas, that now have been extended to a mile from public transportation stops instead of a half mile.
Neighbors of El Cerrito say they’re not anti-ADU, but they’re hoping the suit is a wake-up call for city leaders to listen.
“The issue isn't opposing every development, it's opposing irresponsible development,“ said Nicolai. “That’s what the issue is, we have designated traffic corridors through the city."
A spokesperson for Mayor’s Todd Gloria’s office said they don’t comment on pending litigation.
