The regulations, building code, and project economics that determine what San Diego infill actually gets built — beyond what a zoning analysis tells you.
ADU
State ADU Law forecloses the most common reason cities deny permits on lots with older structures. The rule is bright-line; the enforcement record shows how often it gets ignored.
California Government Code §66314(d)(3) prohibits local agencies from denying ADU permits because of pre-existing nonconforming zoning conditions on the lot. The rule is broad, HCD interprets it broadly, and the enforcement record against non-compliant jurisdictions is documented. Practitioners working with older lots — particularly the multifamily lots that SB 1211 just opened up — should know what the rule does and doesn't reach.
May 3, 2026 · 9 min read
density bonus
The two mechanisms in §65915 are routinely conflated. They have different statutory tests, different limits, and different consequences when a city pushes back.
California's State Density Bonus Law authorizes two distinct departures from local development standards: concessions under §65915(d) and waivers under §65915(e). Practitioners use the terms interchangeably, but the statutory tests, the numerical limits, and the case law that governs each are different. Understanding which mechanism reaches which standard determines whether a project gets the relief it actually needs.
May 3, 2026 · 9 min read
sb 79
SB 79 takes effect July 1, 2026. The calculator currently sources eligibility from the City of San Diego's draft map. Here's why, and what swaps when SANDAG publishes.
May 1, 2026 · 4 min read
development fees
San Diego development fees — DIFs, inclusionary in-lieu, sewer/water capacity, school impact — routinely add up to a six-figure surprise on multifamily projects. The ones that catch first-timers and the rough orders of magnitude to underwrite to.
May 1, 2026 · 8 min read
building code
ADA, Fair Housing Act, and California Building Code Chapter 11A vs. 11B — three different bodies of accessibility law that practitioners commonly conflate.
Apr 28, 2026 · 1 min read
coastal
Two regulations, different sources, different jurisdictions, different traps. Treating them as one thing is where coastal feasibility analyses go wrong.
The Coastal Overlay Zone is a permit process. Prop D is a 30-foot height cap. Treating them as a single coastal regulation produces wrong feasibility numbers.
Apr 28, 2026 · 6 min read
density bonus
State Density Bonus Law lets developers reduce side setbacks through concessions and waivers. Three other codes and the realities of construction often mean those reductions deliver less buildable area than they appear to.
Density Bonus Law allows side-setback reductions — but CBC opening rules, fire access requirements, and construction realities often erase the gain.
Apr 28, 2026 · 6 min read
construction costs
Why two identical buildings on identical lots can cost very different amounts — and how pre-acquisition geotechnical due diligence reveals the variance.
Apr 28, 2026 · 1 min read
stormwater
How crossing the 10,000 SF impervious-area line activates San Diego's Priority Development Project regime — biofiltration, structural BMPs, and reshaped site planning that arrive together.
Crossing 10,000 SF of impervious area triggers San Diego's Priority Development Project requirements — biofiltration, BMPs, and reshaped site economics.
Apr 28, 2026 · 1 min read
building code
The California Building Code's term "interior exit stairway" describes a regulatory category, not a physical enclosure. Buildings throughout San Diego use exit stairs that are open along their walls, open at the top, or both — and the code permits it.
California's 'interior exit stairway' is a regulatory category, not a physical enclosure. San Diego stairs routinely qualify while open to outdoor air.
Apr 28, 2026 · 8 min read
site constraints
SDG&E construction-clearance setbacks and the 30-foot fire-access height cap that front-street overhead lines trigger — both routinely missed at feasibility.
Overhead power lines in San Diego's older neighborhoods create two separate problems: SDG&E setbacks that bind during construction, and a fire-access 30-foot height cap on front-street lines.
Apr 28, 2026 · 5 min read
density bonus
Why a state requirement designed to protect lower-income tenants discourages redevelopment in the neighborhoods where they live — and what developers need to check before buying.
California's §65915(c)(3) replacement rule penalizes redevelopment in lower-income neighborhoods — through a bedroom-mix constraint, not a unit-count one.
Apr 28, 2026 · 9 min read
building code
Why Type V apartment buildings often appear to have more stories than the four-story cap — mezzanines, what they require, and why they're underused.
Apr 28, 2026 · 1 min read
construction
Construction type, elevators, and accessibility — the three thresholds that bend most projects to four stories
Why most San Diego infill lands at four stories: the construction-type cap, the elevator threshold, and the building-wide accessibility cascade above.
Apr 28, 2026 · 4 min read
parking
Cost is only part of it — the ramp footprint, neighbor shoring, water tables, and construction sequencing each rule it out on their own.
Why subterranean parking almost never pencils on small San Diego infill lots: ramp geometry, neighbor shoring, water tables, and the cost stack most people miss.
Apr 28, 2026 · 5 min read