Contentious Maple Canyon Medical Office Project Halted, Historic Structure Preserved

On behalf of Uptown community members, Chatten-Brown Law Group submitted written comments to the City of San Diego regarding a proposed medical office along the rim of Maple Canyon, which would have involved the excavation of steep hillsides in Maple Canyon to develop a six-story building and four-story underground parking complex. OB Rag covers CBLG’s comments and the proposed Project, reporting that the property owner opted to list the property for sale rather than proceed with the project.

​The project proposed to utilize incentives intended for affordable housing projects to seek waivers from the City’s zoning regulations for a medical office building, based on promises of housing in a later “second phase” of the project. Additionally, the City of San Diego’s Development Services Department originally concluded that the site contained steep hillsides, which would have required the project to undergo the City’s more scrutinous discretionary review as opposed to ministerial review and to adhere to the City’s Steep Hillside Regulations, which have long served to preserve San Diego’s canyons and hillsides. When the City attempted to later argue that the site was not subject to the Steep Hillside Regulations, CBLG provided extensive evidence, including the City’s own surveys, to demonstrate that the site was part of a steep hillside system, which would be compromised by the footprint of the project and the planned excavations. CBLG also raised community member’s concerns that the existing building on site was a historical resource, as it was designed by Lloyd Ruocco and Homer Delawie, two prominent architects who pioneered the local modernism movement.

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