OUR MISSION
At San Diego United Communities, our mission is to empower neighborhoods to come together under one roof to communicate and discuss San Diego policies. We are San Diego neighborhoods united—a powerful communication hub that amplifies our collective voices. Together, we support one another, share knowledge, and collaborate to preserve our heritage, strengthen our communities, tackle shared challenges, and champion growth rooted in integrity, transparency, and genuine respect for the people who call these neighborhoods home.
URGENT: Stand With Encanto and Emerald Hills
important protest rally 07/07/26 @ 12 noon at city hall
Dear Neighbors and Concerned San Diegans,
Our city’s planning process is at a breaking point, and we need every voice to speak up next week. It is super crucial now more than ever that we stand together once again and united to speak up with one strong voice. We have won many recent battles with San Diego United Communities and with your involvement. Whether you live in Encanto, Emerald Hills, or across the city, what happens in our neighborhoods sets a precedent for all of San Diego. San Diego United Communities is so POWERFUL.
Today, we are facing critical decisions regarding zoning, accountability, and the protection of our communities. Despite the repeal of the controversial "Footnote 7" zoning provision, which previously allowed for high-density development in our neighborhoods by reducing mini minimum lot sizes, ongoing projects and zoning loopholes continue to threaten our local infrastructure and character.
It is time to make our voices heard. Please join San Diego United Communities again as we demand transparency and fairness in our city planning. Please share this email with your groups and neighborhoods.
Mark your calendars for Tuesday, July 7, 2026. @ 12 noon then at 2pm
We will be hosting a "Footnote 7 Protest Rally" outside the City Hall building to show our unified opposition to these unchecked development practices and to demand that our communities are treated with the same standards as the rest of the city. Immediately following the rally, there will be a hearing where your presence is vital to show the City Council that we are watching and that we are united.
Event Details (as shown on the attached flyer)
Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Time: 12:00 Noon
Location: Outside City Hall, 202 "C" Street, San Diego, CA 92101
Action: Please bring your own signs and wear your neighborhood shirts to show our strength in numbers!
Getting There: Take the Trolley! The Orange Line drops you off at the Civic Center Station, right in front of City Hall.
Parking: Free parking is available at 62nd Street or the Euclid Ave Trolley Stop.
This is about more than just one neighborhood—it is about the future of our city, the protection of our parkland, and ensuring our voices are not buried.
Together, we can make history. We look forward to standing with you on July 7th.
In community,
IMPORTANT please find attached the new procedures for City Council meetings.
New Rules on Public Comments at City Hall Hearings:
While the new policy passed by the city council appears to provide some favorable changes, such as allowing more virtual public comment, it limits presentations to 15 minutes and speakers must provide materials and the names of time-ceders a minimum of 24 hours before the hearing date. Meanwhile, city council decorum has not changed. Council members can come and go as they please from the dais and obfuscate as long as they wish. There is also no limit to organized presentation by city personnel. It is obvious we are going in the wrong direction. We must elect council members in November to create a majority who will provide us with a seat at the table to take back our city.
The letter below was written by the Community Planning Committee Chair to all the City Community Planning Groups:
Hello CPC Members,
Many of you have received the City's notice regarding the new City Council public comment procedures that take effect on July 1 and have asked for my thoughts on how they affect Community Planning Groups (CPGs) and the Community Planners Committee (CPC).
After reviewing the final procedures, I believe the changes include several positive improvements.
Most notably, the City has created a process that allows virtual organized presentations. Under the previous rules, virtual participants could not combine speaking time. This will be particularly helpful when a CPG is unable to send representatives to City Hall. That said, I continue to believe that in-person presentations should remain the preferred method for delivering official CPG and CPC recommendations to the City Council.
The new procedures also establish a more predictable process by hearing organized presentations immediately following staff presentations, rather than having speakers called in a more random order. In addition, presentation materials may still be submitted up to two hours before the meeting, allowing flexibility for last-minute revisions to slides or supporting materials.
The new 24-hour registration requirement for organized presentations is also understandable. Because the City is now coordinating both in-person and virtual organized presentations, additional advance planning is likely necessary to manage the meeting effectively.
While these are meaningful improvements to the mechanics of public comment, they do not address the issue CPC has been working to solve through our "A Seat at the Table" initiative.
The challenge for Community Planning Groups has never simply been obtaining additional speaking time. Our goal has been to ensure that the City's officially recognized community advisory bodies have a meaningful opportunity to present their recommendations as part of the Council's deliberative process.
The new procedures still require CPGs and CPC to coordinate speakers in order to maximize presentation time. They do not provide a dedicated opportunity for official Community Planning Group recommendations, nor do they recognize the unique role of the City's 41 Community Planning Groups and 636 elected volunteers who already provide structured, transparent, Brown Act-compliant community input throughout San Diego.
Yesterday, during the Rules Committee meeting, Kate Callen, Paul Krueger, and I also spoke on the City's Public Engagement report because we believed it missed an important opportunity to recognize Community Planning Groups as one of the City's greatest existing public engagement resources. Councilmember Raul Campillo stated that our concerns are "not falling on deaf ears," and I appreciated hearing that acknowledgment.
While the new public comment procedures represent progress in several areas, I believe there is still important work ahead. CPC's "A Seat at the Table" initiative remains focused on meaningful participation in the decision-making process. While these new procedures improve how groups present to the Council, our goal remains to improve how Community Planning Groups participate in the development of policies before they reach the Council.
Thank you for your continued support and for the countless volunteer hours each of you contributes to your communities.
--
Victoria LaBruzzo
Scripps Ranch Planning Group, Chair
Community Planners' Committee, Chair
Here is an email from the Encanto Group:
Fellow neighbors,
I hope you are all well. Our City has issued a public notice on the appeal of the Radio Towers project in Emerald Hills. This project relies heavily upon Footnote 7, which was repealed last year but is absent from the notice. This project is requesting around 250 waivers from zoning law EVEN WITH FOOTNOTE 7 applied.
If you need a refresh on Footnote 7, please read or watch the KPBS article which has over 63,000 views.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gkg2664e5xQ
This land was specifically identified as parkland expansion to account for Environmental Justice and our parks deficit in our community. Instead of working to acquire the land for Environmental Justice, the City actively worked to exploit maximum profit of this land for a multi-billion developer, help property tax revenue and score political talking points.
The housing affordability crisis is not our community's burden to bear alone in the City. The City applied Footnote 7 only to our community under the guise of "Housing Crisis." We are not ignorant. We know the modification of land use targeted only in Encanto neighborhoods was done as a surgical strike against us. No affluent areas of our City are being told to absorb housing the way we are, with special laws written just for them the way they wrote Footnote 7 for Encanto. Our own City miscalculated our ability to defend ourselves.
Together we must stand against this project that reaps huge financial rewards for a multi-billion developer and eliminates the largest lot of land left to help us fight towards cleaner air quality, less pollution, less stormwater runoff, and the Environmental Justice that we are worthy of.
The City is allowing the transfer of protected grasslands found on this lot to a location of new protected land north of interstate 8, where land is already protected in abundance. Enough is enough, we are just as worthy as our affluent neighbors north of us.
Please share this notice and the impact we can have if we all come together on July 7th at City Hall. There is not a more powerful message than we, as neighbors who love our community, sit together, filling our City hall. The multi-billion developer will be out in force with their suits and ties, filling the center of the room with at least 15-20 of their employees to ensure they have a strong chance of winning the windfall profits they seek from us.
Their play will be to cater to the heartstrings of the Housing Crisis, which is a crisis, but exploiting us is not how we solve the crisis. We solve the crisis with respect to land use and environmental justice. Those who have the most, bear the most burden in solving the crisis, not those who already have the least.
I ask that you make every effort come in support of our community on Tuesday, July 7th, 2pm. City council chambers, 12th floor, 202 "C" Street, San Diego. Take the time off work now. Bring the kids. Bring your friends. Bring your whole extended family. Bring people who love our neighborhood.
You can even take the trolley directly to City Hall. The orange line drops you off directly in front of the building at the Civic Center stop. It can't be any easier to access. You can park a car for free at the 62nd street or Euclid Ave trolley stop.
We only have a few opportunities in our lives to make significant change in the world. This is one of those opportunities for our community. You will be surrounded by neighbors and friends who are there to support our own self respect and dignity.
We are writing San Diegan History. We can do this.yone has access to the resources they need to thrive. Our mission is to create positive change in our community by providing support, education, and advocacy.
protecting our san diego senior citizens!
Press conference at balboa park to repeal the fees 01/24/26
Emerald Hills & Encanto press conference rally 01/10/26
Ocean Beach is following our tagline
latest updates
SAN DIEGO UNITED COMMUNITIES IS CALLING ALL NEIGHBORHOODS TO SHOW UP AGAIN TO SEND SAN DIEGO CITY LEADERSHIP A MESSAGE.
Greetings Neighbors.
Hope you are all enjoying the New Year.
Hope this email will help clarify and shed some light as to why showing up to a press conference for another neighborhood in San Diego in 2026 is more than just a nice gesture; it is a strategic move that strengthens the entire city’s advocacy landscape. In a city where land use, housing, and infrastructure decisions are often made at the citywide level, neighborhood isolation can be a weakness. 2026 is our election year so it is crucial and imperative that we hit up every neighborhood bringing awareness regarding all of our issues which includes the ridiculous policies that don’t make sense for our Coastal City.
Here is why your presence matters this upcoming Saturday January 10, 2026, at 10am for our 2nd San Diego United Communities Press Conference.
Address: 5643 Bethune Court, San Diego, CA 92114
1. Strength in Numbers (The "Visual" Impact)
Press conferences are designed for the media and for City Hall. A small group of five people from one street can be easily dismissed as "NIMBYs" or a local grievance. However, when 50+ people from Point Loma, Barrio Logan, North Park, and Mira Mesa all stand together, for Encanto and Emerald Hills this weekend it signals to the Mayor and City Council that the issue has broad political consequences. It transforms a "neighborhood issue" into a "voter issue."
2. Breaking the "Silo" Effect
The City of San Diego often handles issues neighborhood by neighborhood (through Community Plan Updates or specific project permits). By supporting another area, you prevent the city from using a "divide and conquer" strategy.
- Shared Precedents: If a controversial policy or "reckless development" is approved in Preserve Greater Golden Hill, it sets a legal and administrative precedent that can be used later in your neighborhood. Donating to their appeal legal process will help us all in the long run.
- Coalition Building: Groups like San Diego United Communities have shown that when neighborhoods join forces, they can pool resources for legal fees, expert speakers, and media outreach.
3. Mutual Reciprocity
Advocacy is exhausting. When you show up for a neighborhood like Barrio Logan or Mission Hills today, you are "depositing" into a bank of goodwill. When your neighborhood faces a crisis—whether it’s a park closure, a high-density project without infrastructure, or a safety concern, those residents are much more likely to drive across town to stand behind you at your press conference.
4. Influencing Media Narratives
Journalists look for a "hook." A story about one neighborhood complaining is routine; a story about citywide solidarity is a headline.
"Neighborhoods across San Diego unite to demand better infrastructure" is a much more powerful narrative than "Residents in Clairemont upset about new bike lane."
5. Increasing Accountability
Elected officials are sensitive to optics. Seeing representatives from multiple Council Districts at one event reminds them that the community is watching—and communicating—with each other. It makes it harder for a Councilmember to say "my hands are tied" when they see a unified front of educated constituents from all over the city.
It is crucial that everyone start showing up to our press conference events folks. The power is in bodies present at these events whether its your neighborhood or not especially wearing your community shirts.
Our next lineup for press conferences will be for the following neighborhoods:
· Jamacha Rd.
· College Area
· Pacific Beach
· La Jolla
If you are interested in having San Diego United Communities, come speak at one of your meetings, please reach out. We have a large collection of contacts, along with a strong social media presence and can also help organize a rally in your community. We have been gathering emails, phone numbers and bridged the gap amongst communities fighting over the same bogus policies. We are all officially in this fight together at this point.
Our group is not only going to focus on responsible development, but we will also tackle other San Diego Tax paying issues coming our way and will be holding a press conference to support Repealing the Parking Fees later in January at Balboa Park. Save the tentative date of 01/24/26 at 10am for the Rally. Exact location in Balboa Park will be sent soon.
Many more events are coming down the pipeline; all we ask is to share and help us spread awareness but most importantly help us build this movement and show up to our events before elections. Help us Reform our San Diego Government.
Thank you!
San Diego United Communities
COMMUNITY RALLY on 12/16/25 was a huge success!
San Diego United Communities is rallied the troops to ask San Diegans to please show up in massive forces in your neighborhood shirts and signs or wear color blue to this event.
December 15 2025
1pm
202 C Street 12th Floor
Many people showed up, sending a stronger message to San Diego Leadership.
Many in attendance did not live in this neighborhood but were part of this massive movement. It will eventually come to your neighborhood soon.
Enough is Enough!
Bogus policies need to be stopped by San Diego Citizens.
United as One!
Spread the word
Help us raise awareness about San Diego United Communities and the work we do. Share our website, social media pages, and information about our events and programs with your family, friends, and colleagues. Most importantly attend these events, we must show the power in numbers.
REPEAL THE FEES
WHY REPEAL THE TRASH FEE...
Voters approved a 2022 measure based on misleading estimates of $23-29/month, but now face new trash fees of $43.60/month and rising to $55 - the highest in the county. San Diego should contract with private trash haulers like every other city in the county to save the City and taxpayers.
THE STORY OF PAID PARKING
WHY PARKING FEES SHOULD BE REPEALED...
New paid parking at Balboa Park. New paid parking at the Zoo. Increased parking at meters throughout San Diego. "Surge" pricing to $10/HR in the Gaslamp. Paid parking on Sundays. Attempts for new paid parking at beaches...when will it end?
The City estimates these new parking rates will generate nearly $30M annually in new revenue.
These increases aren't primarily about encouraging transit use or improving parking turnover; if that were the goal, the city would have raised rates years ago.
This is fundamentally about addressing a staggering $250 million budget deficit, driven by years of overspending, excessive staffing, and financial mismanagement, all passed onto workers, visitors, and residents through higher everyday costs.
Paid parking is not meant to be a city profit-center. At most, the public purpose of paid parking is to recover the nominal cost of parking stall maintenance and generate turnover to create better access to desirable public spaces.
But these news fees are bailing out the city's poor spending and management decisions while making access to the best part of San Diego more expensive for everyone.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRH3oG0Eeif/
CLICK AND SIGN TO REPEAL THE FEES TODAY
"Testimonies"
Eric Law
In our struggle, I cite Benjamin Franklin often: "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."
Margaret Virissimo
Fighting against the destruction of a city is important for preserving human life, cultural heritage, economic stability, and environmental health. The reasons span humanitarian, social, and practical concerns.
Jane Rodrigues
Grass Root Efforts seems to be the only way to be heard in San Diego. I hope this group can get through and mke a huge difference with some wins.
mark inglewood
The destruction of one's home and neighborhood causes significant psychological trauma and disrupts social networks. Restoring the original environment can help minimize this trauma.
james kennedy
Grassroots efforts can succeed against city governments primarily because they derive immense power and credibility from authentic community engagement and a deep, localized understanding of the issues. This focus on the "lived experience" of everyday people creates pressure that elected officials, who are accountable to voters, find difficult to ignore
albert jones
I am so thankful for this group, uniting San Diego neighborhoods through one platform.