If the City of San Diego's new Mid-City plan raises density on both Adams Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard, why does a lot on one corridor carry so much more near-term development potential than a lot on the other?
The answer depends on what each upzone rests on. The draft plan the City released in August 2026 ties Adams Avenue's new density to "high-quality transit, including the planned Rapid 211." SANDAG has not funded that bus for planning. El Cajon Boulevard's density rests on a bus that already runs and on the City's Complete Communities overlay, which already applies to parcels there. A buyer underwriting a small apartment building in Normal Heights is looking at one draft map that runs on two different timelines.
The map is the part of the plan with teeth
The draft covers about 8,000 acres. It includes City Heights, Normal Heights, Kensington, Talmadge, Rolando and nearby areas. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, it could raise the number of homes in that area from 54,000 to 96,000. The City prefers to describe the change as 32,900 net new units. That is the difference between the 62,600 homes allowed under the 1998 plan and the 95,500 the update would allow.
The size of the change shows up in the density caps. The adopted 1998 plan set maximums of 29 units per acre in residential zones and 73 units per acre for commercial mixed-use projects. The draft's residential bands go much higher. The two High bands run from 110 to 145 and from 146 to 218 units per acre, and the four Medium bands cover 30 to 109.
Neighborhood leaders quoted by the Union-Tribune made the point that matters most for underwriting. The only binding part of the plan is the zoning that raises density. The parks, libraries and other amenities are, in their words, a wish list that may never be built without funding. The Normal Heights items on that list are specific. The City's draft park inventory proposes three new parks and one expansion:
- a 4.48-acre Eugene Place Neighborhood Park at the Eugene Place cul-de-sac overlooking SR-15
- a 0.24-acre Cromwell Court Pocket Park with canyon views
- a 0.30-acre Postal Pocket Park on the Adams Avenue post office site, only if the post office stops operating
- an 11.88-acre Teralta Neighborhood Park North Expansion between Orange and Monroe avenues
Paul Coogan chairs the Normal Heights Planning Group. He told the Union-Tribune the plan would be "a seismic shift" for the neighborhood. He said his neighbors are fine with more density, especially on major roads like El Cajon Boulevard, but he called the amenities side "underwhelming." So the zoning is the part an owner can count on, and the zoning comes into effect on very different schedules across the neighborhood.
El Cajon Boulevard's added capacity already exists
On the neighborhood's southern edge, the plan is mostly confirming density that already exists. MTS runs Rapid 215 as a one-seat ride between SDSU and Downtown via El Cajon Boulevard and Park Boulevard. The draft calls the boulevard a Transit Corridor, with mixed commercial, office and residential development at "very high, high, or medium" densities.
California's SB 79 adds a parcel-specific layer. The law took effect July 1, 2026, and requires the City to approve qualifying multifamily projects within half a mile of mapped transit stops. The City's SB 79 page lists the local standards:
| Distance from qualifying stop | Density | FAR | Height |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within 200 feet | Up to 140 homes per acre | Up to 4.0 | Up to 85 feet |
| Within 1/4 mile | 100 homes per acre | 3.0 | 65 feet |
| 1/4 to 1/2 mile | 80 homes per acre | 2.5 | 55 feet |
The City phased that rollout. About 24 percent of affected areas took effect July 1. Other areas wait for the City's Transit Village Plan, and all Low Resource Areas are deferred to 2031. Whether a given El Cajon parcel sits in the active tranche is a question for the City's maps.
A different program carries more weight on the boulevard. In its June 17 letter to the City, the Normal Heights Planning Group wrote that parcels along El Cajon Boulevard fall within the Complete Communities Housing Solutions overlay and "qualify for FAR greater than the maximum SB79 FAR." The City's Information Bulletin 411 makes that program optional. Eligible sites need zoning that allows at least 20 units per acre and must sit within a Sustainable Development Area. FAR tiers reach 4.0 or 6.5 in Transit Priority Areas, depending on mobility zone.
The group's own minutes explain why that matters. Because Complete Communities already raises allowable density on El Cajon, the group concluded that "SB79 really only impacts density in the SE corner of Normal Heights." On the boulevard, then, the community plan update describes capacity that Complete Communities already provides, with SB 79 eligibility decided parcel by parcel.
Adams Avenue's upzone depends on Rapid 211
The draft treats Adams Avenue differently. It calls the avenue a Main Street. It proposes high- and medium-density mixed-use development near the planned Rapid 211, "while respecting the area's small lots and existing development pattern." Height and density would face Adams, with missing-middle housing stepping down to the single-family blocks behind it. The Union-Tribune reported that Adams would see denser housing but "somewhat less dramatic" changes than El Cajon, University Avenue or Fairmount Avenue.
The bus is the weak link. SANDAG's 2025 Regional Plan lists "Arterial Rapid 211, SDSU to Downtown via Adams Avenue" with a 2035 phase year and a $101 million cost. SANDAG's Rapid planning page lists six routes the board has funded for planning: 277, 483, 625, 640, 688 and 880. Route 211 is not one of them. The same page says planning and launching a new Rapid route "could take four years or more," depending on funding at each stage.
For an owner, this matters because the plan's own case for height on Adams rests on a route still waiting for funded planning. State-law density follows a separate test. The City's Information Bulletin 479 applies the state law only to parcels on its SB 79 Eligible Sites layer that also meet the zoning and tenant-protection tests. Whether any Adams parcel appears on that layer is a parcel-by-parcel lookup, and neither eligibility nor ineligibility should be assumed.
In practice, the Adams upzone works more like an option than an entitlement. It has value, because it signals where the City wants height to go on the Main Street. But the transit project behind it has a phase year and no funding for planning.
The Planning Group has already pushed density toward El Cajon
Local positions are on the record, and they point the same way:
- June 2, 2026. The board voted unanimously to advocate for limited density only in the southeast corner of Normal Heights, "as Kensington has done." A board member said density "will still increase along El Cajon Blvd."
- June 17, 2026. The group asked the City to adopt a transit-oriented alternative plan. The plan would adjust FAR across the RS-1-1, RM-1-1, RM-2-5, CUPD-CT-2-3 and CUPD-CT-2-4 zones, and the group also asked the City to opt out of phased implementation. The letter says a resident of the affected area spoke in favor of seeing redevelopment.
- September 1, 2026. The group's agenda scheduled a City presentation of the first draft and the group's own gap analysis.
The opt-out request would have removed the waiting period the City's phasing created for areas outside the July 1 tranche.
What happens between now and adoption
Every milestone on the near-term calendar is a planning step, and the bus for Adams Avenue sits about a decade out:
- October 2, 2026: the public comment window on the first draft closed.
- Winter 2026: a second draft with environmental analysis is due, per the City's September 18 working-group presentation.
- Spring/Summer 2027: adoption hearings are expected. KPBS reported the plan is expected at City Council in spring 2027.
- 2031: SB 79 takes effect in Low Resource Areas.
- 2035: the phase year SANDAG lists for Rapid 211.
The second draft could still change the designations on either corridor, and nothing in the plan is adopted yet. Rapid 215 already runs on El Cajon Boulevard. The Adams Avenue designation depends on SANDAG funding Rapid 211.
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Owners and buyers should confirm how SB 79, Complete Communities or the draft plan applies to a specific parcel with the City and with qualified land use counsel.
A few questions owners are asking
Does SB 79 cover every parcel in Normal Heights? No. It applies within half a mile of qualifying stops on SANDAG's map, to parcels that meet the City's eligibility tests in Bulletin 479, and on the City's phased schedule. The Planning Group's minutes identify El Cajon Boulevard and the southeast corner as the affected areas.
Is any new housing actually moving forward in the neighborhood? The San Diego Foundation lists Bridge Deck as 345 workforce homes in Normal Heights, currently in predevelopment.
Could Adams Avenue get Rapid service sooner than 2035? SANDAG lists 2035 as the phase year and says a new Rapid route takes four years or more once funding is secured. As of now, Route 211 is not on its funded planning list.
Folio underwrites a site by checking what can be built there today: which program applies, what transit backs it, and when it takes effect. If you hold or are pricing a Normal Heights building on either corridor, Folio Real Estate can map its current entitlement against the second draft as it comes out this winter. Build Your Folio With Us.
