California legislators are moving bills to shield San Diego's 4,254-unit Midway Rising redevelopment from CEQA challenges ahead of an October lease vote.
The San Diego City Council on Monday repealed 2022's Measure C, which had exempted the Midway District from the city's 30-foot coastal height limit until a judge invalidated the measure on environmental-review grounds; Councilmember Jennifer Campbell said the city had to comply or face contempt fines after the California Supreme Court declined to take the case. The repeal affects Midway Rising, the plan to redevelop the 48.5-acre Sports Arena property with a new arena and 4,254 apartments, 2,000 of them affordable to low-income renters; a bill from state Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson to shield the project from future environmental lawsuits needs two-thirds majorities in both chambers by August 31.
A similar Midway height-limit measure approved by voters in 2020 was also overturned in court; in both cases judges found the city had not analyzed the environmental impacts of taller buildings.
State Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson gutted and amended SB 344, a dormant bill on scattering ashes at sea, to declare the Midway Rising redevelopment's environmental impact report in full compliance with CEQA, shielding the project from legal challenges under that law. The bill, co-sponsored by Mayor Todd Gloria and three construction trades councils, carries an urgency clause and awaits a final Assembly reading before the legislative session ends August 31. The project plans 4,254 residential units on 49.2 acres, including 2,000 units for households at or below 80% of area median income.
A companion bill, SB 958, barring building-height impacts from counting as significant under CEQA, is also on the Assembly floor; the city-developer lease deal is expected before the council's Land Use & Housing Committee on October 8.