Under the misnomer of Missing Middle Housing, the City of San Diego’s proposed implementation of SB10 allows for 10 unit apartments in single family lots within 1 mile of a transit stop. This proposal will allow even more housing than the City’s prior townhome proposal for south University City.
Importantly, the legislation provides that once a legislative body adopts this zoning ordinance, the legislative body cannot reduce the density of any parcel subject to this ordinance in the future. Thus, if this proposed implementation of SB 10 passes, it can never be changed.
Who’s Affected in South UC?
CA SB10 allows up to 10 units per parcel within a ½ mile of a major transit stop. The city’s implementation expands the scope to include premises within a Sustainable Development Area (143.1505 (a)(1)) which is defined as 1 mile walking distance of a current or future major transit stop.
How are single family lots impacted?
Most single family lots in South UC are zoned (RS 1-7) which allows 1 dwelling unit per roughly 1/7 acre lot. This is roughly equivalent to a density of 7 dwelling units/acre.
SB10 allows up to 10 units per 1/7 acre lot which is roughly equivalent to the density of 70 dwelling units/acre. This is the same density as what is being proposed for mixed use development at the Vons and Sprouts shopping centers.
To illustrate the potential impact we’ve created a series of images based on a typical UC single family lot of 6000 square feet with the standard front, side and rear setbacks of 15 feet, 4 feet, and 13 feet. This rendering uses a 2800 square foot home to show how much of the lot is left unbuilt (for comparison purposes). This is a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 0.46 which is well under the maximum allowed of 0.58.

Under SB 10 implementation, the FAR is raised from 0.58 to 3.0, allowing a total of 18,000 square feet (143.1510(g)). The maximum height is raised from 24/30 feet to 35 feet allowing 3 stories (143.1510(e)). Setbacks are decreased from 15 to 5 feet in front and 13 to 4 feet in the rear (143.1510(d)(1)). Parking spaces are not required for lots within the ½ mile of a transit stop (TPA) and for lots within the SDA, offsite parking spaces are not required for the first 2 units, and only 1 space per unit for the remainder. (143.1510(l)).
The illustration below shows a 13,500 square foot, 10 unit building with the new setbacks and height limit.

Assault on Community Character
In the Community Plan the City describes its responsibility to preserve and enhance the community character. The UC community plan goes through great length about the benefits of open spaces and requirements for public open spaces in new developments. San Diego’s existing zones for multiple units (RM and RT) have regulations requiring light wells for windows, open private space like balconies and adequate front and rear setbacks.
Front and backyards in single family lots help:
- Replenish groundwater.
- Reduce urban heat island effects with a green canopy.
- Allow sunlight for solar and passive heating.
- Provide air circulation for passive ventilation and health.
- Allow small interiors to expand into the outdoors.
In cities with multi-unit housing built before electricity, central heating and air-conditioning were common, planners learned through that experience that crowded buildings without adequate natural light and air circulation are unhealthy. But none of these lessons learned are considered under this program.
Under the City's implementation of SB10, our neighborhoods could end up like this:

What can you do?
Future development in San Diego should consistently preserve and enhance the community character citywide. If you oppose this plan, please contact your representatives to tell them not to adopt SB implementation at this time. Email addresses are provided below:
• Kent Lee (Our District 6 Councilmember): KentLee@sandiego.gov
• Dustin Nguyen (District 6 Director of Community Engagement & UC community rep): DVNguyen@sandiego.gov
• Joe LaCava (District 1 Councilmember): JoeLaCava@sandiego.gov
• Todd Gloria (Mayor): MayorToddGloria@sandiego.gov
City Planning is taking community input through links found within the draft code document or on the Housing Action Package 2.0 page.