By David Garrick : sandiegouniontribune – excerpt

The litigation argues that the city failed to analyze the new policy’s potential environmental impacts, and that the rule update will encourage sprawl and damage neighborhoods.

SAN DIEGO —

Local groups that advocate for single-family homeowners are suing San Diego in an effort to block a new city effort to jump-start production of high-rise housing and backyard apartments.

A lawsuit filed Friday by the groups seeks to overturn a 5-4 City Council vote in February to soften rules allowing taller apartment buildings and more backyard units when a property is near mass transit.

Developers of dense projects have been required to find sites within half a mile of mass transit, but the new rules double that distance to one mile — making thousands more acres eligible for projects that critics argue may change neighborhood character…

The two groups that filed the suit, Livable San Diego and Neighbors for a Better San Diego, contend the city policy will encourage dense projects too far away from transit for most residents to be willing to use it…(more)