In San Diego, single-family zoning reigns supreme. So supreme, in fact, that in a whopping 70 percent of the land where it’s legal to build housing, only single-family housing is allowed.
That jaw-dropper and how we got to it was the subject of a deep dive into the origins of San Diego’s single-family zoning laws by Andrew Keatts this week.
On the podcast, he gave a rundown of how San Diego’s original single-family zoning law came to be and how it’s defined life in San Diego ever since.
KPBS, VOSD Join Forces in COVID Lawsuit
Speaking of how life in San Diego is being defined, we have new updates on our effort to force San Diego County officials to provide more detailed information about coronavirus outbreaks locally. KPBS has joined our lawsuit to compel the county to provide records under the California Public Records Act.
County Public Health Officer Wilma Wooten drove home the importance of that effort when she was pressed for details about how the county addresses community outbreaks. She said only, confusingly, that the county would “monitor and continue doing the same thing we’ve always been doing” to address them.
Drama in D9
Also on the podcast this week, we broke down the scandal that bubbled up this week involving Kelvin Barrios, a City Council candidate hoping to replace his former boss, Council President Georgette Gómez, in District 9.
Barrios is the subject of a criminal investigation through the DA’s office and previously paid a fine levied by the state Fair Political Practices Commission related to his spending of campaign funds. Gómez told us this week she’s “pausing” her endorsement of Barrios’ campaign, which is a tier of endorsement that’s new to us.