Council Sets Height Limits for Mission Valley Towers

The San Diego City Council voted Tuesday to protect the view of the southern slopes of Mission Valley when it unanimously approved an ordinance limiting to 40 feet the height of new buildings in the area.

However, the new ordinance allows for exceptions. With the city planning director’s approval, a structure could reach 65 feet. This would occur only after the developer agreed to several stipulations, such as landscaping at least 30% of the building site.

And another exception may be made for the Radisson Hotel, which plans to build a second 13-story tower next to its first one on Camino del Rio South. Lawyers for the city and the bankruptcy trustee for the hotel, which in August filed to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, are attempting to negotiate a compromise.

The new height ceiling, shepherded through City Hall by Councilman Ed Struiksma, whose district encompasses Mission Valley, attempts to save the view of the southern hillsides from the valley floor.

For several years there has been concern that the beauty of the slopes south of Interstate 8 was in danger of being obscured by a wall of high-rise buildings.

“I think this ensures there is some continuity to the bulk and development footprint while maximizing the aesthetics throughout that part of Mission Valley,” Struiksma said in a telephone interview. Struiksma also said the height limit will decrease the amount of traffic that would have come with high-rises.

The new ordinance is part of the overall Mission Valley Community Plan, a City Council-approved blueprint governing future development in the valley, which now consists of a wide variety of structures including homes, hotels, large shopping malls, freeways and San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

This is not the first time the city has imposed a height limitation. For example, there is a 30-foot ceiling on buildings west of Interstate 5. And there is a height restriction in the Old Town area.

“This is kind of the final act in a very long process,” said Struiksma, noting his four-year involvement with the Mission Valley Community Plan and the height ordinance.

But it isn’t the end of the line for the Radisson Hotel, which is in the area covered by the new ordinance. Carroll Davis, president of San Diego Diversified Properties, which owns the hotel, wants to build a twin 13-story tower and 500-car parking garage next to its existing tower.

The hotel has received city permits to build the garage and the foundation and steel structure of the twin tower, but nothing more, according to Larry Marshall, whose law firm is representing the bankruptcy trustee, attorney C. Hugh Friedman.

Marshall maintains that the hotel has the right to build its new tower without being constrained by height limits. But the city says that isn’t so. “The only thing they have a right to build right now under their permits is a giant jungle-gym,” Struiksma said.

What the city wants, according to Struiksma, is assurances that the hotel will participate in an assessment district being established for Mission Valley. Anyone who wants to build in the valley would have to pay a fee to help fund public improvements in the area, such as new or expanded streets.

“We don’t want to go to court over this,” Marshall said in a telephone interview. “We’ve been meeting with the city attorney” in an attempt to work out a solution. “You can say we’re open to discussions.”

Under the new ordinance, which becomes effective at the end of November, a building as tall as 65 feet would be allowed if “anyone agrees to jump through a lot of hoops,” in Struiksma’s words.

Those hoops include setting aside at least 30% of a development for landscaping; preserving existing hillside vegetation and topography; designing buildings to have “an open view corridor,” so that hillside views are still possible from streets and freeways; constructing, when possible, rooftop terraces and gardens, and enclosing mechanical rooftop equipment.