Seaside Ridge, a proposed 259-unit housing development in Del Mar, California, is currently facing significant hurdles as its developers seek approval from the city’s planning staff.
In a letter dated July 10, attorney Brooke Miller, representing Seaside Ridge from Sheppard Mullin, requested that Del Mar’s Principal Planner Matt Bator either deem their proposal complete or outline steps for it to be presented to the City Council within the next 10 days.
The developers argue that this timeframe is reasonable, pointing out that local governments have a statutory obligation to respond to Public Records Act requests within the same period.
Seaside Ridge’s development plan includes 43 units designated for households with moderate incomes and 42 units for households with lower incomes, which aligns with California’s push for increased affordable housing.
The project proposal was originally submitted to the city in October 2022 but has faced repeated setbacks. Del Mar city staff has labeled the proposal as incomplete three times in 2023, specifically in April, June, and September.
Miller expressed concerns regarding the city’s handling of the application in her letter, emphasizing that the city cannot require the project to seek discretionary approvals nor reject the application based on incompleteness without violating state law.
“In short, the city cannot require the project to apply for discretionary approvals and cannot refuse to process the project application as ‘incomplete’ for failure to do so,” wrote Miller, arguing that the city’s ongoing inaction represents a breach of applicable housing regulations.
Previously, in reaction to the city’s repeated designation of the proposal as incomplete, Seaside Ridge filed a lawsuit against Del Mar, accusing the local government of neglecting state housing laws.
A San Diego Superior Court judge ruled in June that the lawsuit would only proceed if Seaside Ridge exhausts administrative remedies with the city.
According to a press release from Seaside Ridge, they can move forward with their legal actions should the city continue to delay or classify the application as incomplete.
In its evaluations, the city staff has not provided any path for the project to be brought before the City Council for a vote. The developers are now demanding that city staff either confirm the application as complete or detail a process for directly appealing the ‘incomplete’ status to the City Council, a procedure that does not currently exist within Del Mar’s municipal code.
The lawsuit also hinges on the implications of a state housing law known as Builder’s Remedy. Under this law, if a housing proposal is submitted with sufficient affordable housing units before the state’s housing department approves the city’s Housing Element, the city is mandated to approve the proposal.
The Seaside Ridge project qualifies under this statutory provision, as approximately one-third of its units are designated as affordable, and its application was submitted prior to the California Department of Housing and Community Development ratifying Del Mar’s Housing Element in May 2023.
The state has previously criticized Del Mar for failing to propose a compliant Housing Element ahead of an initial deadline on April 15, 2021.
The Builder’s Remedy fact sheet from the Association of Bay Area Governments stipulates that municipalities may only reject affordable housing developments protected under this law under specific conditions, including nonconformance with local zoning laws.
In her correspondence to city planners, Miller contests that Seaside Ridge does not fall into any of these five categories that could halt the Builder’s Remedy application, particularly regarding zoning requirements.
Miller further argues that Del Mar failed to complete a necessary rezoning of the Seaside Ridge area within the required one-year timeframe, while the developer fulfilled its obligations in this regard.
She added that, starting in 2025, reforms to the Builder’s Remedy would hinder the city’s ability to seek rezoning in the Seaside Ridge area.
Del Mar’s inaction on processing the housing application represents a breach of state housing law, according to Miller.
Among the designated affordable units in the Seaside Ridge proposal, 42 are for lower-income households, inclusive of two extremely-low-income units and two very-low-income units. The remainder are classified as low-income units. Additionally, the project plans to include 43 moderate-income units.
Households in San Diego County designated as extremely-low income earn an annual income between 15% to 38% of the county’s median income, while those in the very-low-income bracket earn between 38% to 63% of the median. Low-income households earn between 63% to 101%.
As calculated by California’s housing department, the median income for a family of four in San Diego County is $130,800, surpassing the average median income for metropolitan areas across the state.
Del Mar is mandated to construct 31 moderate-income units, 64 low-income units, and 37 very-low-income units within the ongoing Regional Housing Needs Assessment cycle that extends from 2021 until 2029.
So far, Del Mar has only permitted 55 moderate-income units, while there has been no progress on low-income or very-low-income units.
The Seaside Ridge housing project is proposed to be built at 929 Border Avenue in Del Mar, which is currently up for sale.
image source from：timesofsandiego
