The council voted 7-0 to add six more months to the Interim Height Ordinance, which will now be in effect until January 2012. The law prevents new construction and renovations from exceeding 50 feet in Mission Hills and 65 feet in Hillcrest.
Structures can only breach the 65-foot limit in Bankers Hill with special approval from either the Planning Commission or City Council, Uptown Planners Chairman Leo Wilson said.
David Alvarez was absent from Tuesday morning’s session and did not vote.
The original ordinance, meant to freeze building heights until the completion of a new community plan update, was set to expire early this year. However, the council approved an initial six-month extension in January. Tuesday’s second extension will be the last permitted under the law.
“It’s my personal hope that this will light a fire underneath all the stakeholders to make sure the community plan update is completed as soon as possible,” Councilman Todd Gloria said. “I want to seek consensus in these communities so that we can make sure that the development goes where it’s supposed to go.”
Despite the extension, it is unlikely the community plan update will be completed in the next six months. In fact, council members said Tuesday they don’t expect it to be done for at least 18 months.
Wilson said after the meeting that it could take even longer, and he anticipates a new ordinance will be drafted in the next six months to keep the height limits in place until the community plan update is finished.
One councilman, Kevin Faulconer, said his patience with the process is running out. Faulconer voted in favor of the extension but said he supported it, “reluctantly.”
“We want this done, and we want it done sooner rather than later,” Faulconer said. “It’s not an open-ended commitment. We need to bring this to a resolution.”
nathan.max@uniontrib.com • (619) 718-5252 • Twitter: @natemax
City's building height ordinance extended for 6 months - SignOnSanDiego.com
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Thank you for posting. I love Mission Hills!