San Diego is forging ahead with plans for a sprawling new community featuring more than 5,100 affordable homes — despite fierce pushback from private landowners who warn the rezoning could slash the value of their property.
The massive Southwest Village development in Otay Mesa will span nearly 490 acres, most of it city-owned, and be built by Tri Pointe Homes.
The City Council has already signed off on the ambitious project, which will also include market-rate homes, a school, parks, 175,000 square feet of retail space and more than 200 acres of open space, according to project documents.
The proposal has received heat from nearby landowners, who say they were largely shut out of the planning process and denied a meaningful chance to weigh in before the project advanced.
The development would also require portions of the area to be rezoned because it overlaps with protected habitat. Tri Pointe is now working with federal wildlife officials to determine how the massive housing project can move forward without violating environmental laws, NBC San Diego reported.
Landowners are terrified that the city’s new lines on the map will kill future opportunities on their own turf. But supporters of the plan argue it would add housing units that San Diego very much needs.
During the City Council meeting Monday, longtime landowner Tony Blas, made it clear he isn’t about to surrender his property without a fight.
Blas, who has owned his piece of Otay Mesa for four decades, said he’s spent years trying to develop the land. His troubles began after San Diego annexed the area from the county and ordered several buildings on the property demolished for violating city building codes.
“Where is the law where the city has the right with the developer to change and down zone our properties? That is not right,” he said, according to the news outlet.
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Another person, whose father bought a piece of land 40 years ago, said that their father has waited patiently for far too long to “plant seeds of generational wealth” for the family.
“I think it’s really sad that San Diego natives are being pushed out and aren’t able to even build one home for their families, let alone 5100 for people to come to San Diego and make it more competitive for us natives to be here. I think it’s really important that you see the faces of the people being affected,” said another property owner attending the meeting, NBC reported.
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