Media Advisory
Press Conference: How the California Coastal Commission is Blocking Affordable Housing
When: Friday, June 14, 2024 - 9-10 a.m. PT
Where: Spanish Landing Park, 3900 North Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101
The press conference will be held at the westernmost end of Spanish Landing, Parking accessible by turning south onto Spanish Landing West from North Harbor Drive. Please see the map with parking details below.
Speakers:
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- Assemblymember David Alvarez,California 80th District (Bilingual in Spanish)
- Will Moore,Policy Counsel, Circulate San Diego (Lead Report Author)
- Marcela Escobar Eck,CEO of Atlantis Group, former Director for the Development Services Department for the City of San Diego (Bilingual in Spanish)
Media Contact: Sandy Young, J. Walcher Communications, 619-295-7140, [email protected]
California faces a housing crisis, and the California Coastal Commission is not helping. In a new report, Circulate San Diego investigates how the Coastal Commission, which is supposed to be one of California’s great progressive institutions, continually opposes affordable housing and climate-friendly transportation projects.
This has had major ripple effects on housing markets statewide, as more people are forced to move away from the coastal areas where they have previously lived and worked, driving up prices in traditionally more affordable inland communities. Ironically, in doing so, the Coastal Commission (which was created to “protect and enhance California’s coast”) is also hindering California’s attempts to cut greenhouse gas emissions by forcing longer car commutes and blocking projects that aren’t car-friendly.
Multiple case studies in the report highlight how this has happened with specific planned projects in San Diego and Encinitas, as well as other coastal communities in Los Angeles and Santa Cruz. The report also offers solutions that the Coastal Commission can embrace to do better, fulfill its mission and match its words to its actions.
The report, “A Better Coastal Commission,” will officially launch publicly on Friday, June 14, during a press conference at Spanish Landing Park in San Diego. The park is near the site of a case study highlighted in the report: West Point Loma Blvd., where Coastal Commission officials denied a bike lane, which resulted in a major accident this year that gravely injured a 41-year-old cyclist.
A downloadable pdf of this Media Advisory is available here.
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