Mini-dorms destroy family neighborhoods
What may be the most destructive force to the quality of life in Pacific Beach’s single-family neighborhoods is coming soon to our community.
The conversion of single-family homes into mini-dorms is occurring right this second at 1222 Chalcedony. A three-bedroom one-bath home is being turned into a nine-bedroom home with three baths.
It appears this is either a copycat builder or the same builder who did this in the San Diego State University (SDSU) area. It is hard to tell who is running the show, as they have bought properties under various names. This group has also been specifically targeting students for renters. Renee Earhart, who is listed as the owner of the Chalcedony house, admitted to a Channel 10 reporter that she is the boyfriend of Ian Sells, one of the people responsible for creating mini-dorms in the SDSU area.
At this time, no area of our fine city is exempt from these types of conversions except the College Area, where stricter parking requirements have been enacted for single-family homes due to the impact on parking from SDSU.
Consider what will happen when this place is rented out. If you think parking is problem in Pacific Beach right now, just imagine what it will be like if 19 people are living in a home next door to you. Up to 19 people could legally rent out this nine-bedroom home and the city codes only demand two- to four-hour off-street parking spaces be made. Assuming that each person only has one car, there could be up to 17 additional cars parked on your block per mini dorm that is built.
When their friends come to visit, good luck finding a place to park on your own block.
Next, consider what the noise, trash and condition of the property will be when these are completed and rented out. One tenant at a College Area mini-dorm admitted that the police have been called 30 to 40 times to his house. What a waste of our already thinly stretched police department.
A home on the 1100 block of Opal Street might be next. I’ve checked with the permit department and they said permits are being reviewed to add seven bedrooms.
Several residents of our neighborhood brought this problem up to the PB Community Planning Committee recently.
Councilman Kevin Faulconer attended this meeting and agreed that this was not what was intended for single-family neighborhoods. He visited the house with City Attorney Mike Aguirre, someone from the Code Compliance Department and someone from the City Inspector’s Office.
At this point there doesn’t seem to be any laws or codes to prevent this project from being completed even though these types of conversions clearly go against the 1995 Pacific Beach Community Plan and Local Coastal Program Land Use Plan.
The best solution to this problem is an immediate moratorium on these types of projects and to immediately halt this project until the city can decide the best way to proceed. The city has been aware of these problems for some time yet no new codes or laws have been passed to plug the loopholes.
We neighbors are banding together and will use every law and code on the books to keep our neighborhood peaceful and quiet.
Regardless of whether you own or rent, imagine another dozen or so cars trying to park on your street. Everyone has an interest in keeping mini-dorms out of their community and should let their city council representative know their feelings.
Please do what you can. E-mail, call or fax every councilperson, not just your own. Every person in the city could be affected by these mini-dorms.
Paul Martin, Pacific Beach