Could an adaptive-reuse ordinance be a solution in the city of San Diego’s complicated — and sometimes conflicting — plan to update its housing regulations and preservation strategies?

One La Jolla resident thinks so.

During a June 10 talk at the La Jolla/Riford Library, local historian Diane Kane, former president of the La Jolla Community Planning Association, discussed the city’s ongoing update to its Heritage Preservation Program, areas in which development needs and preservation needs conflict, and how a change in policy could help achieve most of the update’s goals.

Through the Preservation and Progress initiative, announced earlier this year, the city is updating its Heritage Preservation Program to “streamline processes for new homes and other uses while protecting places of historic, architectural and cultural importance and encouraging their adaptive reuse,” according to the city.

Adaptive reuse, Kane said, involves conversion of larger properties such as vacant or underused office buildings into housing.

“As we look ahead and plan for our future growth and progress as a city, we also look back to the places, events and people that have shaped our city and its history in an important way,” the city states. “The primary purpose of the city’s Heritage Preservation Program is to identify and protect the places that matter to our collective history while allowing those places to evolve to continue to meet our needs as a growing city. In doing so, the program allows us to navigate change, not stop it, so places can evolve while keeping what makes them most meaningful.”

When the initiative was launched, critics expressed concern that it would stifle preservation efforts and be more developer-friendly.

So striking a balance, Kane said, is easier said than done.

“The city has a number of goals that are all intermixed,” she said.

Kane said creating an ordinance that codifies how the city can engage in adaptive reuse and another ordinance that looks at how to redevelop what she called “naturally occurring” affordable housing could help achieve the city’s housing goals while preserving older properties.

An ordinance would help the city because it currently “doesn’t have good tools to do this,” Kane said.

“We have a lot of vacant buildings, but our codes are not easy to deal with to make that transition,” she said.

Kane cited the Collins building at 6902 La Jolla Blvd. as an example of successful adaptive reuse. It was converted from an office building to mixed use with retail on the ground floor and residential units on the upper floors.

Other examples of properties that could be adaptively reused include shopping centers, motels, industrial buildings and parking lots, Kane said.

A second ordinance could create a framework for naturally occurring affordable housing, which involves letting properties age naturally.

“As properties get older, they get cheaper,” Kane said. “It might not have snazzy amenities or styling. We used to have a lot of this in San Diego until we started redeveloping the city. [Developers] went in and scraped and cleared that which was aging … and replaced the housing that was demolished.”

Some larger properties have been redeveloped into smaller units or multifamily housing, but without codified guidance, she said.

“I think about all the mega-mansions we have in La Jolla. In 30 years, they will all be multifamily because they are huge,” Kane said. “Quite often, the economy doesn’t support them. Going forward, we need to look at what’s working and what’s not working. We need to create more flexibility.”

The city is still collecting public input and developing draft amendments. Starting early next year, it will hold public hearings for feedback on the proposed changes.

To find out more or to weigh in, go to bit.ly/4aXCcnW. ♦