On March 7, 2023, as part of Mayor Todd Gloria’s 2022 Land Development Code Update, five San Diego City Council members voted to adopt the “Sustainable Development Area” (SDA) to apply to local San Diego zoning programs, including the Bonus ADU Program and Complete Communities. The council’s declaration that housing built up to a full mile from transit is “transit-oriented development” is unique to San Diego and unsupported by any academic or professional research.

Before the creation of the Sustainable Development Area, the city used Transit Priority Areas (TPAs) to define transit-oriented development. Transit Priority Areas were mapped as one-half mile from major transit stops “as the crow flies.” This measurement was always problematic because it didn’t consider natural or manmade barriers, including canyons and freeways, and resulted in real-world walking distances up to three miles from transit stops.

In 2022, the Planning Department finally acknowledged this absurdity and invented the Sustainable Development Area, which is one-mile walking distance from existing or planned transit, and declared this a reasonable walking distance for transit-oriented development (TOD). But the real motive for substituting the one-mile distance is not to increase transit use — which it doesn’t — but to preserve and even increase the area eligible for the Bonus ADU Program.

Neighbors For A Better San Diego shared research with our elected officials confirming that truly “walkable” transit is located no more than one-half mile unimpeded from a major transit stop.

We presented SANDAG data showing that 92% of San Diegans who use public transit walk a half-mile or less to a transit stop. We also proved that San Diego would be ineligible for most transit-oriented development grants, which limit walking distance to transit to one-half mile. Still, the City Council embraced the discredited definition of “transit-friendly” as being a full mile from a transit stop.

The city is two years into its blind commitment to the “Sustainable Development Area.” Roughly half of permitted Bonus ADU projects are located more than a half-mile from transit, which makes their residents vehicle dependent.

And this one-mile-from-transit SDA policy is totally at odds with state and local definitions of transit-oriented development.

For example, California ADU Code 66322 prohibits local entities from requiring parking for tenants “where the accessory dwelling unit is located within one-half mile walking distance of public transit.” Clearly this establishes that the state considers one-half mile walking distance the appropriate measure of transit-oriented development.

To be eligible for California’s Transit-Oriented Housing Development Program, a project must be “within one-half mile from a Qualifying Transit Station… along a walkable route. The walkable route… shall be free of negative environmental conditions that deter pedestrian circulation, such as barriers; stretches without sidewalks or walking paths; noisy vehicular tunnels; streets, arterials or highways without regulated crossings that facilitate pedestrian movement; stretches without shade or cover; or stretches without lighted streets.”

In addition, San Diego adopted the following definition for transit access in its 2022 Transportation Study Manual:

“Access to transit is defined as transit being located within a reasonable walking distance (½ mile) from the project driveway.”

Finally, San Diego’s Draft 2024 Edition Street Design Manual defines Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) as 2,000 feet (0.38 miles) from transit:

“A mixed-used [sic] community within a typical 2,000-foot (600 m) walking distance of a transit stop and core commercial area. The design, configuration, and mix of uses emphasize a pedestrian-oriented environment and reinforce the use of public transportation without ignoring the role of the automobile.”

San Diego’s Transportation Study and Street Design Manuals concur that transit-oriented development is one-half mile or less from transit. This undermines the Planning Department’s unsupported contention that one-mile walking distance from existing or planned transit qualifies as transit-oriented development.

That’s why the bogus “Sustainable Development Area” should be deleted from San Diego Municipal Code. Instead, the “Transit Priority Area” should be updated to one-half mile walking distance from existing transit as the appropriate measure of transit-oriented development, consistent with city of San Diego, California, national and international standards, and plain old common sense!

Givot is vice chair of Neighbors For A Better San Diego and lives in El Cerrito.