Proposal for dense housing near Morena Boulevard trolley stations heading to San Diego council

A proposal to allow high-rise housing near new trolley stations along Morena Boulevard is headed to the San Diego City Council.

The council’s Land Use and Housing Committee voted 3-1 Wednesday to send the full council the proposal, which would also revamp the street grid between Interstate 5 and the University of San Diego.

“It’s a very good, well-thought-out plan,” Councilman Scott Sherman said. “We have a housing crisis in this city. We haven’t kept up with the demand of people being born here or moving here.”

Many nearby residents oppose raising the limits on building heights, which they contend would damage the character of Linda Vista and parts of southeastern Clairemont.

The plan would lift the height limit from 45 to 65 feet near the existing Linda Vista/Morena trolley station and up to 100 feet near the new Tecolote station.

Councilwoman Dr. Jennifer Campbell criticized the proposal and cast the vote against forwarding it to the full council.

She said city planning officials have treated nearby residents poorly, noting that the city retreated last fall from the higher building heights before reversing course and reinstating them.

“The Planning Department is asking this community to quintuple the number of dwelling units while reducing the lanes on the main thoroughfare (Morena Boulevard) in this area,” she said. “To see a community’s next 30 years laid out against the wishes of the hard-working residents is utterly disappointing.”

Campbell and some community leaders are lobbying the city to delay approving the proposal, called the Morena Corridor Specific Plan, until the city follows through on a plan to require new housing projects to include subsidized units for low-income residents.

Sherman said he’s confident developers will include low-income units near the new trolley stations, noting that a similar plan the city adopted three years ago for the Grantville area in eastern San Diego has prompted construction of hundreds of new low-income and market-rate units.

The Morena plan covers a 280-acre that follows the path of the new trolley line in Clairemont and Linda Vista, then extends east to include the existing Linda Vista/Morena trolley station on the green line.

The two new trolley stations included in the plan will be where Morena Boulevard crosses Clairemont Drive and where Morena Boulevard crosses Tecolote.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick