The Carmel Valley Community Planning board has raised some concerns about a handful of proposed changes to the city’s land development code that they believe could negatively impact local neighborhoods, such as relaxing parking requirements and removing discretionary approval to add more housing density.
San Diego updates its development code annually in a large batch, making changes to regulations for the development and use of property including zoning and subdivisions. The 2025 update includes a total of 142 proposed amendments, including 36 that are meant just for downtown.
Many changes are meant to streamline permitting processes, bring the city in line with state and federal regulations and to eliminate barriers to add housing. Among the changes are proposals to raise fines for violating vacation rental rules, allowing for more sidewalk dining in Old Town and permitting more housing near MCS Miramar.
At the planning board’s Oct. 23 meeting, they discussed several of the proposed changes and narrowed it down to the four they were most in opposition to. The board voted to send a letter to the city urging caution in allowing ministerial approval of higher-density projects and targeting higher resource areas like Carmel Valley and Pacific Highlands Ranch.
Among the changes the board took issue with was number 43, which would allow for the ministerial approval for subdivisions of up to 10 dwelling units on vacant lots of 1.5 acres or less in single-dwelling unit zones, provided the land is not located in a “High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.”
“The 10 units on 1.5 acres or less seems a little dense for single-family neighborhoods,” said planning board member Jeffrey Heden.
They also opposed downgrading the definition of a major transit stop to include large intersections and removing the affordable housing requirement for transit priority areas.
The board had several issues with number 60, which streamlines the approval of multi-dwelling units in single-family zones by eliminating the impact on the physical environment as a reason to deny a project and removing a requirement for developers to provide street trees.
In their discussion, the board expressed frustration that many of the city’s proposed changes are in order to comply with a state law. As an example, number 60 is proposed to comply with Senate Bill 9 and Senate Bill 450, which eliminated single-family zoning by allowing homeowners to split their lot and build a duplex on each new lot.
The board felt the state laws have essentially tied the hands of local planning: “The fight’s already been had and it wasn’t here, it was in Sacramento,” commented board member Kevin Jasper.
Members of the public are invited to comment on any of the proposals online before changes are presented to the San Diego Planning Commission. To view the changes, visit sandiego.gov/planning/work/land-development-code