SANDAG Nears Deal to Develop Clairemont Trolley Station Site After Threatening to Seize Property
“For months, San Diego’s regional planning agency, SANDAG, has been threatening to seize a valuable piece of land at the site of a planned trolley station in Clairemont.
The agency wanted to build a parking lot there, instead of the transit-oriented development – residential and commercial development designed to maximize access to transit – developers who own the property had planned and which had won support from a community group and two elected officials who represent the area.
The developers are now optimistic they’ve reached a deal with SANDAG, after the agency held the threat of eminent domain over their head for months. The development would include roughly 40 condos, retail space and commuter parking for a new trolley station on three and a half acres at Clairemont Drive, on the new $2.1 billion Mid-Coast Trolley line set to open in 2021.
It could mark the end of years of fights over developing around the new station. City leaders previously proposed allowing far more development there before backtracking in the face of fierce community opposition.”
Keatts, Andrew. Voice of San Diego 29 November 2016.