What CCHS is:
The Complete Communities Housing "Solution" regulations [SDMC §143.10] were crafted behind closed doors during COVID and signed into law by San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer on the last day of his administration, December 9, 2020.
The regulations are unique in that they eliminate the most critical zoning limitations on a building: height and density, while reducing or even eliminating the opportunity for public review and comment, in exchange for a paltry promise of affordable housing.
Unlike normal zoning codes, CCHS does not depend on defined boundaries for its application. Instead, parcel eligibility is proposed by developers themselves and determined by bureaucrats, using complex formulas that only they understand.
Even this unprecedented gift wasn't enough; because developers always want more. Mayor Todd Gloria's administration took ownership of CCHS, recently amending it as part of the Housing Action Package 2.0. Now, the tiny fraction of affordable housing that CCHS requires will not even be required to be in the same neighborhood!
What it is not:
Don't be fooled; CCHS is not about providing more affordable housing. Providing for healthy growth can be achieved via normal, transparent processes that create well-defined, well-planned zones for development designed for the benefit of all San Diegans.
The random nature of the CCHS developments defies all respected planning practices. Meanwhile, the city keeps redefining and expanding the CCHS-eligible areas. This, plus eliminating the public review process, keeps the people of San Diego in the dark.
Developers want cheap land and maximum profit. The outrageous giveaways, determined behind closed doors, enable them to snatch property from unsuspecting land owners. This allows developers to obtain properties at prices that do not reflect their true development value.
Complete Communities is nothing more than a con, and San Diegans are the marks.
As long as CCHS is law, this is what
San Diego can expect:
Random high-rise development, wherever it is most profitable
"Vertical Sprawl"
Towers going up next door without any public notice or review
CHAOS