L-shaped structure steps up from six to 17 stories.

Two appeals of a permit for a mixed-use high-rise in Banker's Hill were heard on Sept. 28 by the San Diego city's planning commission, which voted unanimously to approve the project.

The Quince Apartments at 301 Spruce Street – among the first projects to make use of the city's Complete Communities program to add density – is described as an “L-shaped structure with building heights stepping up from six to 17 stories at 194 feet in height."

It will have 266 parking stalls, 5,631 square feet of commercial space, and include a spa, gym, community kitchen, dining area, pool, deck, and more.

Neighbors say it will overwhelm the residential areas and historic feel of the community, while casting a long shadow over Maple Canyon where it overlooks a project to restore a fragile slope.

"It will be the tallest structure on Spruce Street and on Fourth Avenue between downtown and Hillcrest," a petition by Concerned Neighbors of San Diego argues.

Although the project meets the criteria for by-right development under Complete Communities regulations, a neighborhood development permit is required due to its height (over 95 feet).

"I didn't envision quite this height difference under Complete Communities," said planning commission chairman Bill Hofman. "It's a pretty staggering difference. As a resident in that area, it would be very alarming. But for me the need for more housing opportunities outweighs my height concern."

The owner, Quince Commercial, and Works Progress Architecture will squeeze in far more units than the nearly one-acre, four-lot parcel is zoned for, in the process demolishing several old buildings the city found ineligible for historic designation.

Despite intense neighborhood opposition, supporters welcome the 262 new units it will bring to a city that has failed to meet its share of housing allocations for all income categories, as a grand jury report found in May.

Enough housing has been created in the city for above moderate income households, but not for the very low, low, and moderate-income, according to the Fifth Regional Housing Needs Assessment (2010-2020) established by the state.

The new project adds homes for a broad sweep of incomes – though critics point out that only 22 will be income restricted, which they say does little to address affordable housing.

Proximity to jobs and transit is a key element of the location on Spruce and Fourth Avenue, near downtown and the medical district. A transit stop just north of the complex can take building dwellers downtown, while Fourth Avenue is built out with a Class II bicycle lane, walking corridors, and two vehicle traffic lanes to downtown.

Appeals of the project were filed on July 18, 2023 by the Uptown Planners and July 21, 2023 by Citizens Committed to Preserving Maple Canyon. They claim the project fails to meet the conditions for a neighborhood development permit, threatens the urban cayon to the south, and is out of compliance with the Uptown Community Plan, in which Banker's Hill and its architecture is a distinct neighborhood.

City staff disagreed, saying the design maintains the character of uptown and preserves Maple Canyon, a neighborhood resource, while providing public views from a plaza that will open into the canyon.

The commission agreed with Uptown Planners' claims that environmentally sensitive lands would be disturbed, even though the site has no native habitats. The project would disturb the entire .81-acre site, including a small area of southern slopes, as well as .23 acres off-site within the public right-of-way.

However, the environmentally sensitive land at stake – .02 acre of non-native grassland – "is surrounded by existing urban developments" and being less that .1 acre, no mitigation is required.

A biology report noted that Maple Canyon “has little natural remaining habitat."