Yes, it's that time again to let our elected officials know what you think!
We had a meeting with Councilmember's Whitburn's office on Monday July 14th, and were joined by San Diego Deputy Fire Marshal Tosca. We asked for their continued support to help negotiate with the developer to bring the A-Street project back to scope and scale for the neighborhood. We learned that Whitburn staff have already asked the planning department TWICE for traffic studies (they were denied per complete communities), and now with Deputy Fire Marshal's support they will ask again. Your letters are working!!
The District 3 staff let us know that they are working within their abilities, but it's the mayor's office that ultimately has the power to halt the A-Street project and bring it down to scope and scale per our approved growth plans. We need Whitburn to pressure Gloria's office.
For Assemblyperson Chris Ward, we're reacting to the news of his support for SB79 as you will read. This will allow for neighborhood towers in single family home zoned areas!
Like before, you can use our ideas as we call out specifics, and ask for a moratorium for this large scale A Street Development and others, and come to the table to negotiate a mutually benefit housing project- one that brings planning group directed growth that's truly affordable housing to our community and is in alignment with our community plan.
Lastly, if you're feeling inspired and having ideas, please let us know and join a team!
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Email to Senator Steve Padilla
Instructions: Please submit via web form
https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/contact
Paste the following message with your wording into the form.
Subject: Protect Local Planning – Support Golden Hill Against Unchecked Development
Dear Senator Padilla,
Thank you for standing with our community in Greater Golden Hill. We’re writing to ask for your continued and increased support to help stop the A Street project and ensure that developer-driven growth doesn’t override local planning and public safety.
This week, we met with Councilmember Whitburn’s team alongside San Diego Deputy Fire Marshal Tosca, who voiced deep concern over unchecked growth in our neighborhood. In just a 10-block radius, over 400 units are in the pipeline—but there are no infrastructure upgrades to fire response, hydrants, water, or roads. (See this video a neighbor made that highlights some of our safety concerns.)
We need your help to:
Prevent SB79 (or similar bills) from bypassing local planning and enabling towers in single-family areas
Pressure the Mayor’s office to halt the A Street project so that the project can be made safe for our community and more affordable
Protect working families from being priced out as developers tear down affordable homes to build luxury rentals
Support environmental and traffic impact reviews for high-density projects in vulnerable neighborhoods
Visit our site https://www.preservegreatergoldenhill.com/ we are organized and our teams are growing
Please continue to advocate for smart, locally controlled growth. Golden Hill is counting on you.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Neighborhood or Zip]
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Email to Assemblymember Chris Ward
Instructions: Please submit via web form
https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.php?district=AD78
Paste the following message with your wording into the form.
Subject: Stop Supporting SB79—Golden Hill Doesn’t Support Towers in Our Neighborhood!
Dear Assemblymember Ward,
We are deeply disappointed to hear of your support for SB79 (or related legislation), which would allow high-rise towers in single-family zoned neighborhoods under the false pretense that San Diegans support this. We do not!
We are your constituents in Greater Golden Hill, and we are calling on you to retract your support of SB79 and instead support:
Local planning decisions that protect historic neighborhoods and livable density
Pressure the Mayor’s office to halt to the A Street project, an example of development being fast-tracked without infrastructure, affordability, or community support.
Watch this video a neighbor made that highlights some of the safety concerns.
Support real affordable housing, not just minimum percentages that barely offset the destruction of existing, lower-cost homes
Visit our site https://www.preservegreatergoldenhill.com/ we are organized and our teams are growing
Developers are now outbidding homebuyers, tearing down Craftsman homes and ADUs, and replacing them with market-rate luxury towers that erase affordability, drive up prices, and strain city systems.
Please stop siding with developers over communities. Again, help us fix what’s broken—starting by pressuring the Mayor’s office to stop A Street, an example of unsafe and unaffordable development under Complete Communities.
Respectfully,
[Your Name]
[Your Neighborhood or Zip]
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Email to Councilmember Stephen Whitburn
To: stephenwhitburn@sandiego.gov, cgaffney@sandiego.gov, thornton@sandiego.gov, soliss@sandiego.gov, planningdirector@sandiego.gov,
Subject: Ask the Mayor to Stop A Street and Bring the Project Back to the Community
Dear Councilmember Whitburn and Team, and City Planners
Thank you for meeting with us this week. We appreciated the time with your team and the opportunity to speak alongside Deputy Fire Marshal Tosca, who strongly supports our call for traffic studies and a reevaluation of the infrastructure impact from the A Street project and similar projects.
As discussed, in just 10 blocks of Golden Hill, over 400 units are either proposed or under construction. Yet we have no new fire hydrants, no added water lines, and no meaningful mitigation planning. A Street is being pursued under Complete Communities, which blocks even basic traffic or environmental impact reviews.
We are asking for your help now to:
Directly ask Mayor Gloria to halt the A Street project so that a safe, affordable housing solution can be found
Negotiate with the developer to reduce height and scale, and to exceed—not just meet—the minimum affordable housing requirements
Support a temporary pause on large-scale projects in Greater Golden Hill so impacts can be assessed properly
Allow for traffic and EIR studies
Visit our site https://www.preservegreatergoldenhill.com/ we are organized and our teams are growing
Please continue to be our advocate and help restore community planning and safety. We’re ready to work with you.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Neighborhood or Zip]
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Email to Mayor Todd Gloria
To: mayortoddgloria@sandiego.gov, soliss@sandiego.gov, planningdirector@sandiego.gov,
Subject: Mayor Gloria—Stop the A Street Project and no on SB79
Dear Mayor Gloria,
Your constituents in Golden Hill are calling on you to stop the A Street project before it becomes another example of how Complete Communities is enabling predatory developer-led overgrowth that undermines public safety and community planning.
In just 10 city blocks, more than 400 new units are being built—with zero infrastructure upgrades to fire response, traffic management, or public services. We met this week with City Council District Three and with Deputy Fire Marshal Tosca, who confirmed that the city has no relevant traffic or emergency studies planned for this corridor given the aggregate effect of all the new growth—and that your building department has turned down such study requests twice so far! Even our city council is concerned, why aren't you?
Meanwhile in the A street project, three Craftsman homes and multiple ADUs were demolished—removing more affordable housing than the new project will create. This is going in the opposite direction!
We urge you to immediately:
Halt the A Street project to ensure community safety and affordability
Allow for Traffic and EIR studies
Work with Councilmember Whitburn to bring the A Street project back to scale and community benefit
We also ask you to take a broader picture of what Complete Community's and similar program means for the safety, affordability, and livability of our communities:
Review the aggregate impact of Complete Community projects in a neighborhood. This includes assessing if the immediate needs of the residents' affordable housing is being met, if the current infrastructure is sufficient to meet proposed increased population, and ensure fire and disaster safety.
Refine Complete Communities based on this evidence to align with adopted community plans—not developer interests
Do not support SB79, we do not want towers in single family zoned neighborhoods for the exact same reasons as A Street.
Your silence on this issue is echoing across the city, just as residents grow frustrated with new trash fees, unpopular budgets, and leadership that seems increasingly out of touch. We are giving you the opportunity to do the right thing—before this becomes another PR disaster.
We’re not against housing—we’re against policy that rewards profit over people. Be our Mayor again. Help us. Visit our site https://www.preservegreatergoldenhill.com/ we are organized and our teams are growing.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Neighborhood or Zip]
