Opponents of removing the 30 feet height limit in Midway District have filed a new lawsuit claiming the City failed to comply with updating an environmental impact report before the measure could be voted on.

The lawsuit was filed on Aug. 31 by Save Our Access. The suit responds to a second measure placed on the Nov. 8 ballot, which asks for a re-vote on lifting the current Midway 30-feet height limit.

“This (removing height limit) is not about the sports arena,” said John McNab, SOA spokesperson. “This is about cramming 150,000 to 250,000 (projected build-out of the sports arena, NAVWAR, and other housing projects) people into Midway, which will wreck traffic and the quality of life for everybody while denying people access to the coast. They’re (City) playing games and lying to the public. This is called getting Shanghaied.”

In November 2020, nearly 57% of San Diego voters supported Measure E, which would have removed the 30 feet Coastal Height Limit within the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan area. However, Judge Katherine Bacal ruled the City failed to do an updated Environmental Impact Report prior to placing Measure E on the ballot, which led to a redo of the ballot measure.

On its website at coastalaccess.org, the group states its mission “is to stand up for the public and defend our ownership of coastal public lands and our right to access our beaches and coast… a priceless national treasure that should be utilized for the greatest benefit and enjoyment of all citizens.”

In April 2020, Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group unanimously endorsed a proposal to eradicate the 30 feet height limit for the Midway District and Pechanga Arena San Diego.
“The 2018 Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan Update calls for ‘a vibrant, balanced, and pedestrian-oriented community that provides residential, commercial, office, industrial, institutional, military, and civic uses,’” said immediate past Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group chair Cathy Kenton. “This is in the best interests of not only the Midway community but the City. Everybody knows the 30 feet height limit was approved with Prop. D back in the ’70s, and it was intended to prevent Miami Beach-type high-rises erected along the waterfront. Midway is certainly not an (ocean) view corridor. What we’re doing here is basically correcting a mistake.”

McNab reiterated the position of SOA, which is that the November ballot measure asking voters to re-support removal of the height limit is not just about sports arena redevelopment, but the redevelopment of all of Midway and a large portion of coastal San Diego. He argued the new ballot measure includes not only the 48-acre sports arena site itself, but surrounding areas in the Midway District including the proposed redevelopment of NAVWAR adjoining the Old Town Trolley Station, MCRD, and proposed housing at the former post office site at 2701 Midway Drive.

“It is a huge area that goes all along the Interstate 5 corridor up to Interstate 8,” said McNab. “About 60% of the land is public land owned by the federal government, the City, and the County. And the City’s plan is to exterminate it all by privatizing it. And removing the 30 feet height limit is a part of it.”

McNab claims the City wants to do with Midway “exactly what they did Downtown, take all of our public lands and privatize it, which raises the value of the privatized land.” He added preliminary plans for NAVWAR’s redevelopment call for allowing high rises up to 34 stories, which, at 10 feet per story translates into 340 feet.

“They (City) want to maximize property tax revenue, and they want to sacrifice the quality of life of all San Diegans,” McNab argued adding, “People come to live here because of the coast. You get rid of the height limit – the public loses all leverage. We are doubling the population and decreasing our public lands. On the coast, that’s a recipe for disaster.”

Of sports arena redevelopment, McNab noted: “We have a publicly owned sports arena that was very well built. Yes, it needs upgrades. But the City is saying we have to have a privately owned sports arena. When you have a scorcher like we just had over Labor Day, the beaches are going to get clogged and people aren’t going to be able to get to the coast.”

What would SOA prefer to see done with the sports arena and environs in Midway, other than what is being considered now?

“What we’re saying is, ‘Here is an opportunity to increase parks in our area along the coast that the public can enjoy on these scorching days,’” concluded McNab. “Don’t let the City build a bunch of stacked boxes with no open space. There is no reason to build housing on public land when we have a park deficit. There is no reason to put more housing on the coast when we have a capacity problem.”