SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A contentious development project in the midway district hit a big legal hurdle on how tall the project can get.
"I consider the end of round one. We've been around a long time, and we fought a lot of battles,” John McNab, President of Save Our Access, said.
McNab was joined by others to celebrate and detail what’s next in the future rounds of the battle over Midway Rising Project.
It’s a development project that was approved more than three years ago that would drastically change the area's landscape.
Late last month, the California Supreme Court declined to hear the city of San Diego's appeal to remove a 30-foot height limit on the project.
It follows an appeals court ruling that overturned a lower court ruling allowing a 2022 ballot measure to remove the cap on height restrictions.
"But the concern is that the city hasn't done the environmental analysis and the topography of this location,” Mandy Havlik, vice chair of the Peninsula Community Planning Board, said.
The current law for how tall a building can be in the coastal zone, which is the Midway area, is 30 feet, not very high.
Pechanga Area is about 77 feet, that is more than double the coastal 30-foot limit for new construction allows.
Midway Rising's proposed buildings are over 100 feet, so there's no way they'd fit within that range after this court ruling.
"There's a high-water table underneath the Midway District. It's, you know, historically it's tidelands and marshlands,” Havlik said. “And so there's concern about the heights and how high you can build, and we can't know that those potential environmental impacts if we don't do the analysis."
The ruling is another setback for the project that was already approved more than three years ago.
Mayor Todd Gloria and San Diego's City Attorney Heather Ferbert told ABC 10News in a joint statement that they're disappointed with the Supreme Court's decision, but it doesn't change the city's commitment to the project.
Their statement said: “While we are disappointed that the Supreme Court declined to hear the City’s appeal, this procedural decision does not change our commitment or our momentum to redevelop the Sports Arena site. We continue to disagree with the lower court’s ruling, but we are not standing still. The City is actively pursuing options that will provide a clear and durable path forward for this transformational project — one that will deliver thousands of new homes, including affordable housing, permanent jobs, a modern entertainment venue, and significant economic benefits for San Diego.”
ABC 10News also reached out to the Midway Rising for comment on the California Supreme Court ruling.
A spokesperson sent us the following statement: “Midway Rising is a fully integrated mixed-use housing development with a historic commitment to affordable housing for working families and has earned a unanimous recommendation of approval from both the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group and the San Diego Planning Commission. The outcome of the City’s legal challenge has no bearing on this transformative project because from day one, Midway Rising was intentionally planned and designed to use California’s density bonus law, which provides all necessary incentives and waivers to bypass outdated height restrictions and implement the will of City voters.”
One last option is the state density bonus law, which is a state mandate that encourages the development of affordable housing by providing developers with incentives and certain concessions.
"Keep the public land, the private land they can build, but it's got to be done in a way that makes sense. And what makes sense is for this to be a mecca for outdoor sports and recreation for all sorts of groups from all over the place to come,” McNab said.
