County "Housing Unlocked" Push Would Loosen Zoning in Bonita-Sunnyside
San Diego County is rewriting zoning rules in unincorporated communities so lots can actually be built at General Plan density. Housing Unlocked is a roughly three-year effort, funded in part by a SANDAG Housing Acceleration grant, with webinars in February, March, and June 2026. Staff presented options to the Sweetwater Community Planning Group on April 7. Bonita-Sunnyside is on the county's potential housing streamlining map. Nothing is adopted yet.
What is on the table
On the table: aligning development designators with General Plan density, changing how floor-area and height are counted, and making large-group-home rules more objective. A companion Streamlining Pathways for Housing and Agriculture EIR is also in process. Neighbors still remember April 2025, when supervisors rejected an appeal and let a 1,000-plus-unit self-storage project proceed on Quarry Road instead of housing. Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors are the later stops, likely late 2026 or 2027.
Why it matters
- Bonita is unincorporated, so county zoning is the whole ballgame.
- If designators get aligned to max General Plan density, ADUs, townhomes, and extra stories get easier on lots that look rural today.
- Watch the Engage San Diego County page before you assume the horse-country feel is locked in. This is Bonita, not Eastlake HOA rules.
Sources: County Housing Unlocked page; Engage San Diego County; inewsource on the Quarry Road storage appeal; Sunnyside Common Sense on Bonita-Sunnyside density.
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