The Del Mar City Council unanimously voted May 19 to deny the application for Seaside Ridge, a proposed 259-unit residential project on the north bluff, which had been deemed “incomplete” by city planners three separate times.
There was no council discussion before the motion to deny the project and a 4-0 vote. The decision follows a February letter from the state attorney general admonishing the city of Del Mar for keeping the Seaside Ridge application in “administrative limbo.”
Property owner Carol Lazier submitted a preliminary application in October 2022, followed by three applications throughout 2023. Each one was deemed “incomplete” by the city because it did not include relevant documents to change the zoning and seek coastal approvals for multiunit housing on the north bluff property.
Lazier filed a petition in Superior Court two years ago asking a judge to allow the development to proceed. But Judge Wendy Behan ruled last year that she couldn’t make a decision unless the city formally rejected it.
Attorney General Rob Bonta wrote in the February letter that the incomplete designation, which stopped short of a formal rejection, put the project in “administrative limbo” and obstructed Lazier from pursuing a legal challenge.
Lazier filed another petition in October 2025, after the City Council voted against considering an appeal. A hearing is scheduled for September.
City planners have said they’re willing to accept the additional zoning and environmental documents that would move the application forward. But Lazier and her team have said the project should be eligible for streamlined approval under a state law known as the Builder’s Remedy, which supersedes local zoning if a project application is submitted while a city does not have a state-approved housing element. The Seaside Ridge preliminary application and first application were submitted months before Del Mar received certification for its housing element, which outlines plans for the city to accommodate 175 new housing units for all income levels through 2029.
Del Mar Principal Planner Matt Bator reiterated the city’s reasons for labeling the applications incomplete and now denying its processing.
“Without the necessary and required application materials, staff cannot analyze the proposed project in relation to the city and state regulatory framework, which is why the application is and has remained incomplete,” Bator said.
Joseph Smith, a former Del Mar planner working with Seaside Ridge, said Lazier could have pursued single-family housing on the property, but “it would not have delivered the type of public benefits and affordable housing that she actually envisions for her property.” Seaside Ridge would include 42 lower-income units and 43 moderate-income units.
“You have an opportunity to approve this project and do something considerable for this city and the region,” Smith said.