Supreme Court Shuts Door on Midway’s Height Limit

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The Midway District’s 30-foot height limit is here to stay.

Last week, the Supreme Court of California declined to review a Court of Appeal ruling that overturned a decision by voters to remove the coastal height limit for San Diego’s Midway neighborhood. Since 1972, the building height limit there and everywhere west of I-5 is 30 feet.

San Diego residents have now voted twice (in 2020 and 2022) to remove the height limit in Midway. 

And twice the courts have said the city failed to study and disclose the impact of the change on the environment and views. 

Midway Rising is a plan to build 4,254 new apartments, 14 acres of public space and a new Sports Arena on 49 acres of city-owned land in the center of the Midway District. Many of the project’s buildings are set to be more than 30-feet tall, including a new arena. 

The appeals court last October ruled that the city failed to inform voters about the environmental impacts of raising the height limit in the neighborhood when they put Measure C on the ballot. 

The state Supreme Court also denied the city’s request to depublish the appeals court ruling, making the opinion a binding precedent for lower courts. The trial court will rescind Measure C and restore the height limit.

What the city is saying: “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,” Mayor Todd Gloria and City Attorney Heather Ferbert said in a joint statement.

“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.”

What we’re still waiting on: Read that statement closely. They still did not say some important things. Developers want to make Midway Rising the largest test of the state’s density bonus laws. These are laws that allow builders to circumvent local regulations if they build certain percentages of rent-capped apartments for people who earn less than the median income.

With more than 2,000 affordable units planned for Midway Rising, the project does qualify for density bonus.

But we’re still waiting for city officials to say affirmatively that they agree with developers that density bonus law is the path they support and that the project is still legal.

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