The large project going up on the corner of Pacific Beach Drive and Mission Boulevard places high-density condominium/rental housing with inadequate parking in an area where parking is already very difficult. The Pacific Beach Planning Committee unanimously rejected the plans for the development – in large part due to parking concerns. It was appealed to the City Council which approved it with a resolution that stated “parking will be according to code.” We measured the spaces on the working construction plans: 29 spaces were almost a foot-and-a-half narrower than code requires. The city employee who had signed off on the parking stated that he had the power to change or waive the code, even after the City Council resolution. He also said the builder could not have built this project if the city hadn’t allowed the spaces to be narrower than permitted by the code because they wouldn’t have been able to fit all the spaces needed. That is precisely the point. This project was shoehorned in and should not have been built to this density. It would have been better to have fewer bedrooms and the correct number of full size parking spaces. “Parking according to code” was not an incidental part of the approval process. It specifically reflected the concern of the neighborhood over chronic parking problems, which it seems this project will make even worse. Parking is a critical problem in the beach area. The oversize vehicle ordinance has been put on hold and the neighborhood parking task force has been suspended. These undersize parking spaces will drive everyone who has a larger vehicle onto the neighborhood streets where we already have a major parking problem. I would also suggest that these proposed condos will end up as winter mini-dorms. Do the math. Three students (at least) per unit in 17 units with 51 cars plus commercial parking and visitors fighting for 48 spaces, almost half of which are undersized. It’s also peculiar that this project was approved when the previous structure, Mission Bay Market, was subject to periodic flooding. The plans show that the Mission Bay Market floor was higher than the proposed floors of the new commercial structures. This area floods every few years and we have photos showing it deeply flooded. Look at the pad of the house behind it. This is the elevation needed to prevent flooding. A heavy winter rain and high tide will also put their entire parking lot underwater. I’m feeling pretty frustrated because we haven’t gotten a clear answer from the city explaining how they can violate the building code and a City Council resolution. Apparently the city engineer does not have to follow the parking code or a City Council resolution but he can go ahead and make “reasonable accommodations” as long as the project is “substantially conforming” to the building and parking codes. Parking codes are not technicalities and exist for a good reason. The fact that the city has arbitrarily waived its own rules about parking in the beach impact area will have a definitive, real-world adverse effect on the quality of life in this part of Pacific Beach. I would expect the developer to want to maximize his return and bend the rules wherever he can. I’m most disappointed in the fact that no one in city government takes responsibility for decisions that run contrary to the interests of its own neighborhoods and citizenry.