Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

College Area mini-dorm crisis in full swing

More trash, more code enforcement, more calls for police...

"We are getting eight, nine, even ten bedrooms in houses..."
"We are getting eight, nine, even ten bedrooms in houses..."

College Area residents are shepherding new rules against mini-dorms toward the city council, rules that would set a limit of five or six bedrooms on lots smaller than 10,000 square feet.

City employees agree with residents' estimate there are more than 800 houses converted to mini dorms within a few miles of San Diego State University.

"We are getting eight, nine, even ten bedrooms in houses — there are so many kids packed into even five bedrooms," said College Area resident Rhea Kuhlman. "There are so many cars parked on front lawns, or they build a massive parking [lot] in back."

The issue even made it to the California Coastal Commission Thursday, August 11, where commissioners were expected to approve San Diego's new rooming-house ordinance. The agenda notes that the ordinance primarily targets the neighborhoods near San Diego State University.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The rooming houses — where every square foot of space except for the kitchen and bathroom has been converted to bedrooms — are prolific in the neighborhoods around SDSU and cause problems for neighbors, starting with blight and parking loss.

"It is legal to park behind the setback in the front yard, so people park in front of the front door, in front of the picture window, every place you can think of," Kuhlman said.

The mini dorms consume a lot of extra public resources, generating more trash, more code enforcement, and more calls for police and fire service than their neighbors, city officials say. And the properties are not maintained the way most homeowners take care of their homes. San Diego isn't the only California city dealing with mini dorms.

"Santa Barbara is one of our models," Kuhlman said, noting that residents near UC Riverside and UC Berkeley have also found themselves trying to regulate mini dorms. Area residents have been fighting mini dorms since before 2008, when the San Diego County Apartment Association published a fact sheet.

Ordinances passed in 2008 have helped, but not enough, Kuhlman said.

The College Area planning group is now trying to create a zoning-enforcement area that includes Rolando and Talmadge residences. But a review by the city council's rules committee came back with the recommendation that the zoning overlay is too clumsy, and the planning group should look for an existing overlay it can use in the plan, Kuhlman said.

Tim Taylor, the land-use guy in councilwoman Marti Emerald's office, says the ordinance is still being crafted. "We share the concerns of the community that is suffering impacts from the mini dorms," Taylor said. "There's a tipping point where you may not ever have the community character of a family neighborhood again."

The ordinance is targeting the extra-large mini dorms springing up, where owners have converted every possible inch of space to bedrooms — as many as ten — and then put two students in each bedroom.

"The extra-large mini dorms by necessity have to have a lot of parking, and usually they convert the lot to a parking area where we don't want to have huge lots," he said.

Code enforcement is looking for higher penalties for violations, he noted, because "some violators consider the fine as the cost of doing business."

David Moty, a member of the Kensington-Talmadge planning group, said he sympathized with College Area residents. "What the mini-dorm owners do is make money by grinding these homes down," Moty said. "They're also downgrading the value of neighbors' homes while they're using these homes in a way they were never meant to be used."

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Half Hour Late lives up to their name at the Template

Deadhead-inflected band right at home in Ocean Beach
"We are getting eight, nine, even ten bedrooms in houses..."
"We are getting eight, nine, even ten bedrooms in houses..."

College Area residents are shepherding new rules against mini-dorms toward the city council, rules that would set a limit of five or six bedrooms on lots smaller than 10,000 square feet.

City employees agree with residents' estimate there are more than 800 houses converted to mini dorms within a few miles of San Diego State University.

"We are getting eight, nine, even ten bedrooms in houses — there are so many kids packed into even five bedrooms," said College Area resident Rhea Kuhlman. "There are so many cars parked on front lawns, or they build a massive parking [lot] in back."

The issue even made it to the California Coastal Commission Thursday, August 11, where commissioners were expected to approve San Diego's new rooming-house ordinance. The agenda notes that the ordinance primarily targets the neighborhoods near San Diego State University.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The rooming houses — where every square foot of space except for the kitchen and bathroom has been converted to bedrooms — are prolific in the neighborhoods around SDSU and cause problems for neighbors, starting with blight and parking loss.

"It is legal to park behind the setback in the front yard, so people park in front of the front door, in front of the picture window, every place you can think of," Kuhlman said.

The mini dorms consume a lot of extra public resources, generating more trash, more code enforcement, and more calls for police and fire service than their neighbors, city officials say. And the properties are not maintained the way most homeowners take care of their homes. San Diego isn't the only California city dealing with mini dorms.

"Santa Barbara is one of our models," Kuhlman said, noting that residents near UC Riverside and UC Berkeley have also found themselves trying to regulate mini dorms. Area residents have been fighting mini dorms since before 2008, when the San Diego County Apartment Association published a fact sheet.

Ordinances passed in 2008 have helped, but not enough, Kuhlman said.

The College Area planning group is now trying to create a zoning-enforcement area that includes Rolando and Talmadge residences. But a review by the city council's rules committee came back with the recommendation that the zoning overlay is too clumsy, and the planning group should look for an existing overlay it can use in the plan, Kuhlman said.

Tim Taylor, the land-use guy in councilwoman Marti Emerald's office, says the ordinance is still being crafted. "We share the concerns of the community that is suffering impacts from the mini dorms," Taylor said. "There's a tipping point where you may not ever have the community character of a family neighborhood again."

The ordinance is targeting the extra-large mini dorms springing up, where owners have converted every possible inch of space to bedrooms — as many as ten — and then put two students in each bedroom.

"The extra-large mini dorms by necessity have to have a lot of parking, and usually they convert the lot to a parking area where we don't want to have huge lots," he said.

Code enforcement is looking for higher penalties for violations, he noted, because "some violators consider the fine as the cost of doing business."

David Moty, a member of the Kensington-Talmadge planning group, said he sympathized with College Area residents. "What the mini-dorm owners do is make money by grinding these homes down," Moty said. "They're also downgrading the value of neighbors' homes while they're using these homes in a way they were never meant to be used."

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Next Article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.