Solana Beach has a new Planning Director: Noah Alvey, a 25-year veteran of municipal planning across San Diego County.

The city announced the appointment Thursday, Aug. 27. Alvey will oversee zoning, development review and housing policy for the coastal city at a time when state mandates are pushing Solana Beach to build far more housing than it has permitted so far.

Alvey comes to Solana Beach from El Cajon, where he served as deputy director of the Development Service Department. In that role he managed planning, building, code compliance and housing programs. Before El Cajon, he was community development manager for Lemon Grove, where he directed planning and building operations and supported policy work including the city's Climate Action Plan.

Earlier in his career, Alvey held several positions with San Diego County, including county zoning administrator and land use/environmental planning manager. He earned a bachelor's degree in urban studies and planning from UC San Diego and received certification from the American Institute of Certified Planners in 2011.

State housing targets

The hire matters now. Solana Beach has permitted only 215 housing units this decade, roughly a quarter of the 875 units the state requires by 2029, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported in July. Zero of those units have gone to very low-income residents, a category where the state mandate calls for 316 units.

Mayor Lesa Heebner told the Union-Tribune in July that state law does not account for the difficulty of building in a small coastal city. "We are not an anti-housing city by any way, shape or form," Heebner said. "We've approved every single project that's come forward to us."

The city's announcement did not name a start date for Alvey or identify who previously held the position.