Condo conversions now face tougher regulations

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published January 24, 2006 at 9:00 PM PST

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

New regulations on San Diego's booming condo conversion market are only a first step toward protecting consumers. But a San Diego community group says the new administration at city hall is finally li

New regulations on San Diego's booming condo conversion market are only a first step toward protecting consumers. But a San Diego community group says the new administration at city hall is finally listening to their concerns that condo conversions are eating away at the supply of affordable rentals. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders says he'll sign new regulations passed by the city council to protect people buying condo conversions, and the renters displaced by them. The changes are minimal, but, Martin Akinfosile, co chair of the San Diego Organizing Project, says at least the community groups affected by condo conversions now have a place at the table.

Akinfosile: "We've had to fight to get to the table, it was, you know, inside deals and that our families and communities are represented at the table was a great victory for us, but we have to keep it up."

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Still under discussion are possible changes that would require developers to set aside some of their condos for sale to moderate income families.

However, Mayor Jerry Sanders says he is more in favor of incentives for developers to build more affordable apartment rentals. Alison St John, KPBS news.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.