Almost a week after the county banned large gatherings and life-as-usual came to a halt, the air has changed. From Otay Mesa to Oceanside, the color-coded maps that show where air pollutants concentrate are green, …

In recent years, National City has made it a little harder to open a regular bar while making it a lot easier to open a craft brewery. The changes began long before. When the city …

Solana Beach seeks electricity options Last month, Solana Beach announced the hunt for a service provider to help launch the county’s first local power program, which aims to curb greenhouse gases. This month, a war …

On a scrubby sweep of land in Otay Ranch, home to the tiny Quino checkerspot butterfly, developers want to build a village. The small colony of endangered butterflies is among the last in the county …

It's everywhere, taking over like the weeds it's meant to kill. Now glyphosate, the bestselling weedbuster of all time, has become a pest. "Everybody in this room has glyphosate and other components in Roundup in …

At a glance, Ocean Breeze Ranch looks like sprawl. The sort of rural project that inspired an initiative on the March ballot to let voters decide if it belongs there. Measure A would apply to …

Jack's island: jewel of Barrio Logan Sometime this year, the city council is expected to decide whether to accept a low-ball $30,000 offer for the nearest thing Barrio Logan has to a flat iron building, …

San Diego may have reduced greenhouse gases by 24 percent over the past decade, but bad air and high disease rates plague certain zip codes, as a new report makes clear. For the first time, …

Every city in the county needs more trees. San Diego alone must triple its canopy to meet climate plan goals, which rely on trees as if they were banks, soaking up carbon in the air …

Urban farms have dotted the county for years, just not in the numbers that can fill every plate. Finding out how many there are, in which cities, and what they are turning out, isn't easy. …

Access to local food is among La Mesa's health, wellness, and climate goals. But for some residents, fresh eggs were just out of reach. While they live in single-family homes, and chickens are allowed in …

Del Mar officials want the trains off the bluffs. Transit officials want the people off the tracks. Neither side is succeeding, and with the number of trains increasing from 50 to 79 this year, the …

Valley Center farmers aren't alone when it comes to the high cost of water. But it could get lonelier and costlier if two neighboring water districts unyoke from the Water Authority to get a fresh …

Last year, San Diego opened the door wide for backyard granny flats, and not the tiny kind on wheels, but units as large as 1,200 square feet. This year brings an even bigger change. Triplexes. …

Lincoln Acres doesn't want to be National City. But sitting on the edge of a growing urban area means sooner or later, Starbucks is coming. To the county, it's a good time to "measurably reduce" …

San Diego beat its 2020 goal for slashing greenhouse gases by two years. But tucked in its climate action plan is one key strategy that barely budged. Boosting the tree canopy by 15 percent. Not …

An expected vote on a ban on natural gas in new buildings took a surprise turn last week, when the Encinitas Environmental Commission announced a change of plans. They would devote the meeting to public …

While other cities in San Diego have stopped using red light cameras, a photo enforcement tool meant to reduce accidents, Del Mar, Solana Beach and Encinitas, which installed the cameras in 2004, are keeping theirs. …

After many delays, the final environmental impact report for Harvest Hills, a hard-fought, high-end housing proposal in rural Escondido, is expected as early as this month. In November, 23 environmental, climate and community groups sent …

National City voters will decide in March if a new ordinance banning the retail sale of dogs, cats and rabbits should be overturned. Like a state law that took effect this year, the city's ban …

Where is a good location for a dog park in Coronado? After years of discussion between city officials and the public, of workshops, a survey, 1,285 written comments and 230 markers placed on a map …

San Diego isn't waiting around for proof that granny flats can fly. The state requires the county to add 171,688 housing units over the next decade, and small cottages can quickly tap infill in idle …

Where are the high paying jobs cropping up in San Diego? North County. And where are many of the big sprawl housing projects proposed? North County. The "two simple numbers" that really count in that …

It's La Mesa's turn to tackle 5G, which might as well be the I-5 coming down their street, as some residents see it. To build the network, AT&T, Verizon and Crown Castle want quick and …

As Del Mar sees it, they've worked tirelessly to amend their local coastal plan to account for sea rise. Flooding, beach loss, and coastal bluff erosion were all considered, and the adaptation plan put into …

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station may be retired, but to many area residents, it's a sleeping giant. In July, it stirred. That's when its operator, Southern California Edison, was allowed to resume loading spent nuclear …

In Barrio Logan, it's hard to know who to call when loud noises disrupt sleep. "Enforcement is always difficult but the first line of defense would be code enforcement at the City of San Diego," …

Imperial Beach has banned camping or sleeping in public with an ordinance that reaches into every last corner, from pavement to median, "including but not limited to dirt or landscaped areas." The new law prohibits …

National City passed an ordinance on September 3 to tighten a state law that requires pet stores to obtain all dogs, cats, and rabbits they sell from shelters or rescues. The ordinance will be the …

Coronado, one of the county's smallest cities, can't see how it will ever meet its share of the region's housing goals. Home to two large Navy bases, the land-locked, built-out, high-priced city was allocated 1,000 …

One of the last affordable housing niches along Palm Avenue in Imperial Beach is closing. Those living at Siesta RV, Trailer and Mobile Home Park are mostly low income, elderly, living on fixed incomes. Where …

On August 7, after months of meetings and tinkering with different plans for 5G regulations, county supervisors chose a path. The new rules will guide the placement of next generation technology in the unincorporated areas, …

Last Tuesday, July 23, the San Diego City Council heard from critics, loud and clear, before voting to approve 5G guidelines. While the city touts its stealth designs, techno-blight isn't the only thing opponents care …

Who knew back in 1977, when the Coastal Act was passed, that the sea would rise so quickly? Now, cities and the agency formed to protect the coastline, must deal with it - and with …

Time is ticking, deadlines loom. Del Mar needed affordable housing yesterday, and they will need it tomorrow. The city has until 2021 to fulfill their low-income housing allocation for the current housing element. That's 12 …

The city of San Diego has approved two new curbside recycling contracts, and they come with a twist. In 2017, recycling brought in four million dollars. The following year, three million. This year it's down …

La Costa Ave. missing time capsule found In the 1970s, Encinitas sheriff’s deputies would make the Leucadia rest area one of their first stops in their morning patrols, to kick out squatting hippies and camping …

Summer means sidewalk sales. And now, starting this summer, even more sidewalk sales. In January, a state law took effect that makes it easier for street vendors, whether stationary or roaming, to hawk everything from …

Port officials looking to expand local aquaculture heard some good news this month. A two-year project by federal scientists that mapped the potential for aquaculture in the U.S. found ample promise in San Diego. And …

Even where public safety may be at risk, seawall applicants are in for a fight. Armoring the coast has become the equivalent of overprescribing antibiotics. "It's gonna get ugly," said Maricela Morales of the California …

It's not all coasting as San Diego works out new rules for dockless rides. The city has to balance climate action goals with the needs of citizens who feel they've been pushed off the sidewalk …

As cannabis facilities grow, so does the traffic around them. Emissions increase, air quality degrades. Yet the San Diego City Council is ignoring those environmental impacts. That’s what several appeals of permits for three new …

What happens when toxic wastewater escapes cleansing, crosses an international border, picks up more pollutants, dodges treatment again, and finds its way onto beaches? Lawsuits. After decades of spills, of human and environmental health threats, …

According to a new report, San Diego is among the five California counties that have the most homes in high fire risk zones. The county has 254,400 housing units in brushy, steep, and hard to …

On June 19, the San Diego City Council took on a staff error made in 2015 that limited the growth of schools, assembly, entertainment, and religious uses. That code change has been hard on charter …

Smoking lounges, neighborhood grows, and pot dispensaries won't go on the ballot in Imperial Beach, but where exactly will they go? Anywhere? On April 27, a judge upheld the city's decision to deny a petition …

The lot is irregular, and so is the proposed housing model; developers see it as lemons to lemonade. Neighbors and some National City planning commissioners, however, see the four-unit communal living style project as a …

In 2004 Escondido passed an ordinance to charge an annual fee to register burglar alarms. When the program rolled out, affecting both homes and businesses, alarm owners were confused and frustrated by questions about their …

On January 1, when recreational pot became legal in California, so did its sale and consumption at county fairgrounds, where businesses can host events such as festivals. But first come the permits, and that's not …

It's a rule that small composters love, trash haulers dread, and the city can live with. On December 7, the City of San Diego’s Environment Committee voted in favor of a code change that will …