San Diego approved new growth blueprints Tuesday for Clairemont and the College Area that could bring tens of thousands of new residents to both neighborhoods by allowing mid-rise and high-rise housing in more places. While city officials envision the changes taking place slowly over the next 30 yea rs, the new blueprints are still considered major milestones for both neighborhoods that will be key to guiding future development. Officials say updating them with new zoning is one of the fastest ways to get developers to build much-needed new housing. The City Council approved both new blueprints — formally called community plan updates — in 7-1 votes. Both replace plans approved in 1989, two of San Diego’s most outdated community plans. The changes to the College Area — which could roughly triple the population there to close to 77,000 — are more aggressive than those in Clairemont, where the population would rise more modestly, by just under 50%, to 119,000. Council President Joe LaCava, who voted for the College Area plan but against the Clairemont plan, questioned why the difference was so stark. “What a contrast between those two plans,” said LaCava, criticizing city officials for rejecting a Planning Commission request to allow taller high-rises in parts of Clairemont. “I continue to think that there is a missed opportunity. We could have done better.” He stressed that Clairemont has three new trolley stops, is close to multiple vibrant job centers and has been deemed a higher-resource neighborhood than the College Area by state officials. The city is required under a legal settlement it agreed to earlier this year to concentrate affordable housing in those higher-resource areas. The relative lack of resources in the College Area was the reason Councilmember Raul Campillo cited for casting the lone “no” vote on that neighborhood’s new blueprint, pointing out the city’s commitment under the settlement. LaCava said the city’s contrasting approaches to the two neighborhoods were highlighted by the contrasting reactions from neighbors to the new growth blueprints during separate public hearings Tuesday. Many residents from the College Area passionately opposed their new blueprint, contending the neighborhood lacks the infrastructure and amenities needed to support existing residents — let alone thousands of new ones. But most Clairemont residents who spoke expressed relative satisfaction with their new blueprint, limiting their complaints to more minor issues like the zoning of the city’s Rose Canyon Operations Yard along Morena Boulevard. Of the last seven growth blueprints approved by San Diego, Clairemont would see the smallest percentage increase in potential new homes — and the College Area would see nearly the largest, according to city data. A 38-unit apartment complex is being built at the corner of Clairemont Drive and Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, shown on Dec. 16, 2025 in San Diego. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune) The number of housing units in Clairemont would rise by 59%, from 33,300 to 52,800, while the number of units in the College Area would more than quadruple, from 8,200 to 34,000. Other recently updated growth blueprints boosted the number of homes planned for Kearny Mesa by sixfold, more than tripled the number in Mission Valley and more than doubled them in Mira Mesa, University City and Hillcrest. LaCava said both Clairemont and the College Area could potentially expect even more growth than is included in the growth blueprints because of new state laws encouraging homebuilding in cities and a city initiative to allow more duplexes and townhomes in single-family areas. But he also said he expects the College Area to “really struggle” to realize the density its new plan proposes. Even if the density expectations aren’t reached, residents question why the College Area was selected to take on such growth in housing and population. “Why is the College Area, the stepchild of San Diego, getting the bulk of the density in an area with huge infrastructure deficits?” asked Danna Givot, vice chair of the anti-density group Neighbors For a Better San Diego. Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, whose district includes the College Area, acknowledged the area’s infrastructure deficits Tuesday and vowed to work with Mayor Todd Gloria to solve them. Elo-Rivera said it’s difficult to gain consensus on new growth blueprints. “It is just so unlikely to have a full community agree on the specifics of any plan,” said Elo-Rivera, letting residents know he heard their calls to make the area safer and more prosperous. The College Area near San Diego State University is seen on Dec. 16, 2025. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune) A coalition of residents also raised concerns about fire safety with the planned-for population boom. “The last thing you want to do is increase density in an area that is going to put more people at risk,” said Robert Montana, chair of the College Area Community Planning Group. “And the plan being proposed by the Planning Department does that. It puts future residents, young families and children at risk.” The College Area is served by three fire stations in the surrounding neighborhoods, but residents want to see more focus on fire safety in the immediate area, an issue that became more pressing after a fire late last year. There is now one neighborhood park, the 1.6-acre Montezuma Park. And neighbors have pursued a years-long effort to improve parking access to the College-Rolando Library. Of infrastructure in the College Area, LaCava said he’s worried the city has started to approve new housing plans without fully considering the community needs that come with them. “I’m really concerned that our community plans’ updates are becoming housing plans and not fulfilling the original vision of how we’re going to develop a community,” LaCava said. The College Area blueprint includes some higher-density mixed-use development near current and planned transit corridors, such as bus routes along Montezuma Avenue and trolley stations at 70th Street and the SDSU Transit Center. Medium- and lower-density housing would be concentrated on residential streets farther from campus. Councilmember Jennifer Campbell, whose district includes Clairemont, said the new growth blueprint there balances the city’s need for more housing with what she called “the uniqueness of Clairemont.” Single-family homes line Mount Gaywas Drive in Clairemont on Dec. 1, 2025, in San Diego. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Clairemont is the oldest and largest of San Diego’s suburban neighborhoods. Its new blueprint would transform its nine sprawling shopping plazas into densely built mixed-use villages with mid-rise housing above the shops. The area’s neighborhoods of single-family homes would remain mostly untouched. That plan also includes a new fire station, new parks and a possible new trolley station at Jutland Drive and Morena Boulevard. It also shrinks vehicle lanes on Morena Boulevard and Genesee Avenue to make way for bicycle-only and bus-only lanes. There are also some ambitious goals like aerial tramways over Interstate 5 to connect Clairemont to coastal areas, and a missing link hiking trail that would connect Marian Bear Park and Tecolote Park. And the neighborhood’s 30-foot building height limit would be wiped out in many areas to allow high-rise and mid-rise buildings that would range in height from 40 feet to 65 feet. Much of the new housing would also be built along the new trolley line, which runs along Clairemont’s western edge near Morena Boulevard on its way from Old Town to UC San Diego. City officials say the new growth blueprint would bring a much wider variety of housing to Clairemont, allowing people of all incomes to live in one of the city’s most appealing and prosperous neighborhoods. Councilmember Kent Lee stressed to residents in both Clairemont and the College Area that the changes in their new blueprints could take years — and might never happen — because of hurdles the development community faces when pursuing housing projects. “Despite the amount of housing capacity we continue to add, the actual production we see year to year still remains fairly low in comparison because of how difficult it is,” Lee said. ...read more read less