San Diego OKs 99 zoning changes to boost housing, business districts and behavioral health

San Diego City Council members approved a large package of new policies Monday that aim to boost business districts, spur ambitious housing development and clarify dozens of zoning rules.

The package of 99 changes would loosen rules for converting shopping malls into housing, simplify approval of sidewalk cafes and make it easier to open substance use and mental health clinics for homeless people.

It would also make it easier to open urgent care clinics in many neighborhoods and would require new arenas and stadiums to provide easy access to pedestrians, cyclists and mass transit users.

There are also two proposed policy changes that would make it easier to open child care facilities.

“It helps ensure we are responding to ever-changing landscape of issues related to local development,” Councilmember Kent Lee said of the package, before the council approved it 8-0.

Lee said the updates, which require Coastal Commission approval before they take effect in the city’s coastal zone, are important because they will help chip away at San Diego’s persistent shortage of affordable housing.

“The cost of housing in our region certainly continues to affect our quality of life,” Lee said.

Council members also highlighted the policy change that makes it easier to open substance use and mental health clinics for homeless people.

“These are facilities that help people get back on their feet,” Councilmember Raul Campillo said.

While the proposal would widen the areas in which such facilities could be located, it stipulates that applicants must get a rigorous conditional use permit if the site is within 500 feet of child care businesses, playgrounds or schools. And the rule change doesn’t apply to single-family neighborhoods.

Councilmember Joe LaCava said residents concerned a clinic will open near them should have compassion.

“Those who are using these facilities are people, too,” he said.

Of the 99 proposed policy changes, 72 would apply citywide and 27 would affect only downtown.

The changes proposed for downtown include incentives to develop underutilized sites like parking lots, build housing for middle-income residents and add public open spaces to large developments.

Another change proposed for downtown would create new incentives for development on C Street and for opening ground-floor commercial businesses on the street, which runs along a trolley line.

“These updates are going to make downtown even better,” said Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, whose district includes the area.

San Diego is the only city in the region that updates its zoning code annually with a large batch of policy changes. Other cities handle such changes one at a time.

Critics say adjusting significant regulations in such a large batch can shield the changes from the scrutiny they might receive if the council debated them individually.

City officials say comprehensively updating the zoning code each year allows them quickly to make small modifications that streamline regulations and adjust policies that may have had unintended consequences.

The Coastal Commission has approved the city package of reforms from 2020 and 2021, but the package from 2022 hasn’t been approved. City officials predicted the package OK’d Monday would get final approval from the commission late next year. There was no package in 2023.