Judge Orders Halt to Controversial Pacific Beach ADU Project

Media
Jan 15
2 min read

Chalcifica ADU Project in Pacific Beach is halted by California Superior Court judge | Photo by Madeline Nguyen, Times of San Diego — Chalcifica ADU Project in Pacific Beach is halted by California Superior Court judge | Photo by Madeline Nguyen, *Times of San Diego*

A California Superior Court judge in December granted a preliminary injunction on a 136-unit accessory dwelling unit project in Pacific Beach, pausing construction and marking a step forward for concerned residents.

The preliminary injunction came just four months after a group of neighbors banded together to file a lawsuit against the city and developer SDRE Homebuyers. In their suit, Neighbors for a Better Pacific Beach argue the project was approved with little oversight, despite posing environmental risks and sitting on historically significant Kumeyaay land.

“The entire hillside breathed a sigh of relief once the preliminary injunction was put into place. Because all of us were extremely fearful of this project, it created a huge emotional stir throughout the neighborhood.”—Merv Thompson, Neighbors for a Better Pacific Beach Chairman

The project, named Chalcifica, is planned for a three-acre site on the intersection of Bluffside Avenue and Pacifica Drive. The project includes six three-story buildings and 70 parking spaces in a neighborhood of mostly single-family and military housing.

City planners approved the 136-unit project under the city’s previously unlimited bonus ADU program, before it was reformed in June.

Neighbors for a Better Pacific Beach argues the city’s automatic project approval violated its own development codes. They claim the project should have been held to a subjective review process under the California Environmental Quality Act, and a tribal consultation due to the project location.

According to case documents, the city did not respond to requests made by the Kumeyaay Cultural Repatriation Center last spring for tribal consultation, despite acknowledging the project’s presence on historical Kumeyaay land.

“It would truly be outrageous if the City were to approve such intense development at our traditional village, the last largely undeveloped Kumeyaay village site along the San Diego coastline.” Steve Banegas, Kumeyaay Cultural Repatriation Center spokesperson in a May 1 letter