"The City has failed to implement Program 1E." That is how the California Department of Housing and Community Development put it in an October 16 letter to Del Mar, as the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The letter gave the city until Nov. 16 to complete its north and south bluff upzones. After that date, the state will decide whether to revoke Del Mar's housing element compliance.
Program 1E was written as a contingency, required only if the fairgrounds housing agreement was not carried out in time. Del Mar's zoning for a stretch of land on Border Avenue now depends on how the state reads the city's answer this month. The city's own schedule doesn't call for a council vote until next fall. For anyone buying near the north end of Camino Del Mar, or weighing an infill project anywhere in the city, the timing has moved.
Ahead on total units, behind on the units that count
Measured by total housing, Del Mar is in fairly good shape. At a May 19 council meeting, city staff reported that Del Mar had reached 135 units, or 77%, of its goal of 175 dwelling units through 2029. Most of those units are moderate or above-moderate income. The state is enforcing the lower-income share.
| Housing element measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total units planned through 2029 | 175 |
| Units achieved as of May 2026 | 135, or 77% |
| Units that must be set aside for lower-income households | at least 113 |
| Units the fairgrounds project would have provided | 61 |
| Lower-income shortfall in the adopted sites inventory | 54 |
The housing element counts each income category separately. A city can be three-quarters of the way to its total and still fall short in the category where land costs make affordable units hardest to build. For Del Mar, the fairgrounds carried most of that weight. The city expected the fairgrounds project to cover about half of its 113 lower-income units.
How a fair board vote moved the obligation to Border Avenue
On August 18, the 22nd District Agricultural Association board voted 5–3 to end its housing agreement with the city. The agreement covered 61 affordable units at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. According to the city, $1.7 million in state Housing Acceleration Program funds had been allocated for feasibility and due diligence on the project. The 22nd DAA used about $800,000 of that for its own site studies. In a statement the city posted that day, the mayor said Del Mar "remains committed to its obligation to plan for affordable housing."
Program 1E was written into the housing element for this situation. The adopted Housing Plan says that if the fairgrounds agreement is not finalized, the city must rezone the North Bluff and/or South Stratford sites. The rezone would apply a Housing Element Implementation Overlay Zone to:
allow multiple dwelling unit development 20-25 dwelling units per acre "by right"
The document gave April 2024 as the deadline for the fairgrounds agreement. If that deadline passed, the City Council had 180 days to decide which sites to rezone. Any needed rezoning was to happen within 36 months of the housing element's adoption.
The current zoning shows how big a change this would be. In May the city described the privately owned North Bluff parcels on Border Avenue at Camino Del Mar as zoned for one dwelling unit per acre. The council directed staff to work toward a new "RM-North" zone at 20 units per acre on 6.2 acres of that land. In September, the council's consultant contract described the rezone as covering 11.7 acres on the North Bluff. Under either figure, the land would go from estate-scale density to multifamily density.
Two calendars, eleven months apart
The state's deadline is Nov. 16, 2026. The city's target for a council vote on the rezone is October 2027. Here are the dates in order:
- August 18, 2026. The fairgrounds board votes 5–3 to end the housing agreement.
- September 16, 2026. According to HCD's letter, the city responds in writing that it will carry out Program 1E by rezoning the North Bluff.
- September 22, 2026. On its consent calendar, the council approves a contract with Moore Iacofano Goltsman worth up to $169,295 for CEQA documentation and the North Bluff rezone.
- October 16, 2026. HCD writes that the city "has failed to implement Program 1E."
- Nov. 10, 2026. The council takes up the postponed 10th Street affordable housing item.
- Monday, Nov. 16, 2026. HCD's deadline to complete the bluff upzones.
- May 2027. Public drafts of the rezone are scheduled to be released.
- July 2027. The Planning Commission is scheduled to review the drafts and make a recommendation.
- October 2027. The city targets a council vote on the CEQA determination and the rezone.
The Del Mar-Solana Beach Record puts the gap between the state deadline and the rezone target at about 11 months. According to the Union-Tribune's report on the contract, the council agenda report described the 13-month schedule as "streamlined as much as possible" while meeting CEQA, Coastal Act, and Government Code procedures.
HCD also disputes how the city counts its lower-income capacity. The Union-Tribune's account of the HCD letter says the city did not confirm the "by-right" provisions Program 1E requires. It also says the city argued it had enough lower-income capacity on other sites that were not analyzed in its adopted sites inventory. HCD pointed to a December 11, 2024 letter saying a change of that size would require a housing element amendment. According to the same report, Mayor Tracy Martinez said the city "takes our certified Housing Element requirements seriously" and would provide "a formal and timely response."
Why by-right status is the core question
The Union-Tribune reports that if Del Mar loses compliance, new project applications would only have to meet objective criteria in state law, not local zoning requirements. HCD's Housing Accountability Unit says violations can lead to revocation of housing element certification and/or referral to the Attorney General. HCD's enforcement authority page says its review includes cases where a city fails to implement adopted program actions.
The question is already in court for one North Bluff parcel. In October 2022, the owner of 929 Border Avenue filed a preliminary application for Seaside Ridge, a proposed 259-unit project. According to the Union-Tribune's May coverage, it would include 42 lower-income units and 43 moderate-income units. The council voted 4–0 on May 19 to deny the application. City planners had found it incomplete three times. The applicant's team argues the project qualifies for streamlined approval under the state Builder's Remedy because the preliminary application came in before Del Mar's housing element was certified. The owner's petition in Superior Court is still pending, according to the October report.
In September, an attorney for the property owner wrote to the council. According to the Union-Tribune, the letter urged the city to "implement Program 1E as certified" with a CEQA exemption and said the owner remains "open to being a partner to the City."
This post reports what public agencies and news outlets have said about these rules. It is general information, not legal advice. Owners, buyers, and builders should check how any of this applies to a specific property with a land use attorney.
What this means in a market with very few sales
Del Mar's resale numbers show why a density change on a few acres matters. In September 2026, the North San Diego County REALTORS® local market update for 92014 recorded the following for detached homes:
- Five closed sales and a $4,450,000 median sale price
- 91 days on market until sale
- 33 active listings, or 3.4 months of supply
Attached homes also had five closings in September 2026. Their median was $1,099,900, with nine active listings. The report notes that percent changes can look extreme with samples this small. The longer view is steadier. In the 12 months through September 2026, 123 detached homes closed at a median of $3,969,365.
At that volume, Del Mar's housing changes mostly through lot-by-lot replacement and remodeling. Large shifts in density are rare. Most of the city's lower-income progress depends on a few sites. The commercial zones along Camino Del Mar and Jimmy Durante Boulevard were already upzoned to 20 units per acre after the 5th Cycle. A small city-owned parcel is also in play. The city says Del Mar must develop at least four affordable units on the vacant 0.10-acre site at the southwest corner of the Civic Center complex on 10th Street. On Nov. 10 the council will consider a negotiating and predevelopment funding agreement with Gangi Development. The agreement would not approve any specific project.
A buyer looking at homes near Border Avenue should treat the North Bluff zoning as unsettled. Today the land is zoned for one unit per acre, the city is drafting a 20-unit-per-acre zone, and the state's deadline falls this month. A builder evaluating an infill site should keep in mind that HCD's view of Del Mar's compliance affects which review process a project application goes through.
Questions readers are asking
Does the North Bluff rezone apply to existing single-family neighborhoods? The city's May 20 announcement describes the RM-North zone as covering 6.2 acres of privately owned parcels on Border Avenue at Camino Del Mar. The September contract covers 11.7 acres on the North Bluff.
Will the public have a say before anything is rezoned? The city says the rezoning will involve public outreach and noticed hearings before the Planning Commission, the City Council, and the California Coastal Commission.
What happens on Nov. 16? HCD has said it will consider the city's response before taking any enforcement action.
If you own on or near the North Bluff, or you're weighing a Del Mar purchase or infill site while this is pending, I'm happy to go through how the zoning timeline could affect a specific property and what to watch after Nov. 16. Let's Connect with Cynthia Monaco.
