City Council votes to change condo conversion regulations

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published June 12, 2006 at 9:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

San Diego city council has voted to change the regulations on condo conversions. The new regulations will require that low income renters receive clear advance notification if displaced by a condo con

San Diego city council has voted to change the regulations on condo conversions. The new regulations will require that low income renters receive clear advance notification if displaced by a condo conversion, and are given three months rent to help them find another home.

Condo units will be required to provide minimum parking spaces, though some exemptions will be allowed. And condo conversions with more than 20 units will be required to build affordable housing as part of the project.

Jim Waring, deputy chief of Land Use, says the mayor hopes the compromise will increase the stock of affordable housing, while compensating displaced renters.

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Waring: "There are some who will say to you that conversions should be banned or heavily regulated, we believe they are mistaken because if done properly conversions can turn quality rental properties into relatively affordable homeownership opportunities."

The new rules mean older apartments built before 1970 are less likely to meet the conversion requirements and more likely to remain rentals.

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.