Residents in West Uptown are fighting back to prevent developers from snatching up parcels occupied by small single-family homes and building massive high-rise apartment buildings, all without any public notice.
Residents have formed a new nonprofit, West Uptown United, as a check and balance on what they say is unfettered and unpopular development of parcels along canyons and deep into neighborhoods as part of the city of San Diego’s Complete Communities Program.
Residents formed the group after stumbling onto a plan to build a seven-story, 74-unit apartment complex where a single-family residence once stood on two parcels at 3554 and 3560 Front Street.
Residents learned about the proposal through word of mouth and the city’s development services portal. They immediately became aware of parking impacts as well as other potential effects, including more traffic, fire hazards, loss of sunlight and encroachments into the canyons.
“We could have potentially not found out until crews were demolishing the house next door,” said Ransom Hamrick, a West Uptown resident, who helped form the new group.
The lack of public notification is one of the reasons why Hamrick says he and his neighbors formed West Uptown United and why more than 50 others have joined in support.
Under the city’s Complete Communities Program, developers are allowed to build larger and more dense projects near transit without public notification or hearings, in order to expedite the permitting process and add to the city’s housing stock.
Neighbors along Front Street had no idea that a developer and a neighbor were working together to transform the two parcels.
“We’re not anti-development,” Hamrick said. “We understand housing is completely important. It’s making sure that the development is responsible. We’re here, we’re watching, and we want to do something about this,” he said. “We just want that progress to be done the right way.”
Hamrick says the city’s Complete Communities Program will continue to usher in high-density projects in neighborhoods such as Bankers Hill, Hillcrest and North Park. Hamrick believes community organizations such as West Uptown United will likely be needed to offset community impacts.
“A lot more people are aware of this strategy and are beginning to push back on it, not to stop it, but to reform the absolute freedom that this program has given developers to just do whatever they want without any say from the community,” he said.
The group says it is not opposed to housing construction but wants developments to better fit established neighborhoods and undergo greater community scrutiny.
More often than not, Hamrick says San Diego’s housing debate is framed as a choice between development and anti-development camps, which means the middle ground is left out of the equation.
“I don’t want to be lumped in with the NIMBYs,” he said. “I do encourage development, but I don’t want it to be irresponsible development, the project that’s going to create more harm in a neighborhood or a community than good.”
Times of San Diego reached out to developer John Citrigno and Councilmember Stephen Whitburn’s office for comment but did not receive responses.
