Lemon Grove will see more housing in the downtown under newly approved plan – San Diego Union-Tribune

Lemon Grove will see more housing in the downtown under newly approved plan  San Diego Union-Tribune

The plan would quadruple the downtown zoning area and allow up to 5-story, mixed-use buildings over the next two decades. After years of delay, the Lemon Grove City Council has unanimously approved changes to the Downtown Specific Plan that will transform the city’s center by allowing more housing and business opportunities. Today, Lemon Grove’s downtown is focused on the Broadway corridor, a stretch of mainly one- and two-story storefronts with restaurants, auto repair shops, retail stores and some small industrial sites. Under the plan, the city’s quiet business district will see housing stacked above ground-floor shops and restaurants. By increasing density and housing opportunities, officials hope to draw more customers to local stores while increasing appeal to potential developers.

The City Council adopted the plan Tuesday. It marks the first major shift in Lemon Grove’s downtown development blueprint in over two decades. The document, which seeks to add housing near transit and revitalize the commercial center, will quadruple the downtown plan area to about 245 acres on Broadway from Massachusetts Avenue to Washington Street. “Rather than allowing growth to occur, according to either state law or project by project, the specific plan will help the city to ensure future development follows a community-driven and a community-supported vision,” said Brooke Peterson, a planning consultant for RICK Engineering. The city brought in