Mid-City Communities Plan Update Working Group Meeting – September 18, 2026 (English)

The City of San Diego’s Mid-City Communities Plan Update Working Group met on September 18, 2026, to review the first draft of the long-range plan, released in early August. Staff presented proposed land-use and economic-development designations, mobility and urban-design concepts, parks and public facilities, and implementation measures. The draft would increase the area’s realistic housing capacity from about 62,600 units under the 1998 plan to approximately 95,500, while staff noted that actual development would depend on economic conditions. Proposed measures include transit-oriented density changes related to SB 79 and a community enhancement overlay requiring public spaces on qualifying development sites larger than 10,000 square feet. No contracts, purchases, procurement awards, or spending votes were identified.

Working group members and public commenters offered feedback on housing density and affordability, transit and bicycle corridors, traffic and parking, street trees, fire evacuation, libraries, and neighborhood parks. Participants asked staff to clarify park and housing capacity by community, study additional transit and mobility connections, and provide further detail on infrastructure and implementation. Freeway caps were discussed as potential projects that could require federal or state grants; a commenter also proposed studying an enhanced infrastructure financing district. These were funding ideas, not approved allocations or procurement actions. Staff said public input and additional mobility, parks, and urban-design studies would inform a second draft expected in January or February 2027; comments on the first draft are due October 2, 2026, with adoption targeted for June 2027.