Appeals Board Upholds Encinitas Building Official

A city board ruled the official acted properly in adding 2025 building code conditions to a Clark Avenue apartment permit extension.

Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Construction

Appeals Board Upholds Encinitas Building Official

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The Encinitas appeals board ruled that building official Joseph Romero acted appropriately when he added new conditions to a 90-day permit extension for the Clark Avenue apartment project. The board urged the city and developer Western National Group to craft a compromise adopting only life-safety 2025 building code standards.

Why it matters

The ruling affects a 199-unit apartment project on a 6.22-acre site on Union Street, where the new conditions require plans to meet 2025 standards including new fire alarm rules and all-electric building requirements. Romero said the code changes since 2022 are substantive, not merely administrative, including new fire and seismic safety standards.

The proposed project covers 6.22 acres and includes 199 units across 15 three-story buildings, with a 90-day permit extension approved in March. The developer's plans were submitted in late 2022, and the new conditions apply standards adopted since then.

The players

Western National Group

The developer behind the Clark Avenue apartment project, which appealed the building official's new permit conditions.

Joseph Romero

The Encinitas city building official who added the 2025 building code conditions when extending the project's permit.

Marco Gonzalez

An attorney representing the project's developers, who expects further legal action over the dispute.

The details

Romero added the conditions when approving the 90-day extension, requiring the project's plans to meet the 2025 building code. Western National Group appealed, forcing the city to form a special all-volunteer Board of Appeals, which ruled Wednesday after a special hearing. Grading work has already started at the site, and a city lawsuit is still working through the appeals process.

Original plans for the Clark Avenue project were submitted in late 2022.
Romero approved the 90-day permit extension with new conditions in March.
The appeals board heard the case and issued its ruling on Wednesday, November 5, 2026.

Permit Rules Under the Latest Code

The ruling shows how a municipal building official can apply the 2025 California building code to a project whose plans predate it. Romero's decision to require all-electric buildings and new fire alarm rules places the Clark Avenue project on the stricter side of that transition.

Residents near Clark Avenue and Union Street will see construction on the 199-unit project continue. Future apartments in Encinitas may need to meet the newer 2025 building code, including all-electric and fire alarm requirements.

The takeaway

Projects permitted under older building codes can face new requirements when their permits are extended, so developers should expect stricter standards during long approval timelines.