University of San Diego

Valley B Complex at USD

The University of San Diego is preparing to increase the number of beds for full time students from 1,262 to 3,101.

Planning commissioners last week praised the private university for being "proactive" on housing, and voted unanimously to recommend the city council approve its Master Plan Amendment.

"I think we're seeing SDSU and UCSD both madly scrambling trying to keep up," said commission vice chair Matthew Boomhower of the huge need for student housing. 

Faculty and staff face unaffordable rents near the campus, located at 5998 Alcala Park in Linda Vista, four miles north of downtown San Diego. 

"I have particular constraints that make me unable to afford housing near the USD campus and must commute 80 miles to and from my home in Vista," said Hayley Milbourne, a nontenured faculty track member.

"I'm disappointed that the plan did not include a vehicle miles traveled traffic study that considered additional feasible measures that would further reduce these long commutes."

She asked that the commission add conditions of approval that include "robust vehicle miles traveled reduction measures," such as mandatory commuter programs and carpooling incentives.

Jordan Sisson, a land-use attorney for Local 721, a labor union representing non tenure track faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, challenged the commuting distances for non-students. 

"The [California Environmental Quality Act] consistency memo does not provide a [vehicle miles traveled] analysis," he said, but states that the average daily trips per full time student have dropped and that increased on-campus housing has the effect of reducing those miles. "However, this analysis does not address average daily trips and vehicle miles traveled from the non-student population, such as faculty and staff. Nor does the 2024 traffic study look at the non-student population." 

He also pointed out that USD's own website shows that full time equivalent faculty is currently at 691 — which exceeds the plan's cap of 677.

A staff report describes the additional student beds as "freeing up affordable off-campus housing for non-students."

The university now owns 11 student housing complexes containing 743 units which contain 2,549 to 2,674 beds for undergraduate students. In addition, it owns several condos just off campus used for housing faculty. Tenured faculty gets priority, "supply is limited" — and there's a wait list, their website notes. Rents for the units are $2,250 — $2,450. 

Xavier Del Valle, project manager with Development Services, said the 1996 Master Plan, which was updated in 2017, provided the phased buildout of the campus to 2030. The current proposal modifies six of the 30 previously approved project sites. There will be no changes to the approved on campus full time student population of 10,000.

Campus expansion under the Master Plan's growth period is expected to add 58 full time faculty appointments and 174 full time staff positions. 

"The campus does generate a surprising amount of traffic," Boomhower said, adding that biking on Linda Vista Road is "not for the faint of heart."

Even with more student housing, and despite mobility improvements, the bike lanes alone can't be counted on to ease traffic impacts, he said. "That's the issue the campus is still going to struggle with so I hope that's part of your long-range planning."