Today I went to the San Diego Development Services Office at 1222 First Ave downtown. I successfully obtained a verification card which shows the "Curb to Property Line (PL) distance" from the Zoning Office on the 2nd floor and a Parcel Information Report which shows the "Building Setback distance from the Property Line" from the Development Services office on the 3rd floor. For my lot, Curb to PL = 10', and Setback was also 10' (usu 15', but I live in a cul-de-sac, plus apparently somewhere they have established our Setback = 10' regardless of all the guidelines in the Municipal Code). So 10' + 10' + 18' for the parking space = 38' which means our charger installation is far enough from the street. I then left a message for Bill Blindell at Ecotality with the information so he could schedule an inspection for my installation.
In case there are others in San Diego who might have to do this for their exterior EVSE installation:
Go to the 2nd floor Zoning Office first, despite the sign on the 1st floor that says to check in at the 3rd floor Development Services Office - they just sent me back to the 2nd floor. I believe the Zoning Office is open M-Th 7am-4pm. You can call ahead (619) 446-5000 to make an appt, or just walk in and wait (must check in by 3pm). The first appts start at 8am so you might get lucky if you arrive at 7am. They said Monday morning is the busiest day. I went Wed at 9:15am - there were two people with 10am appts ahead of me so I waited an hour before being seen. The clerk was friendly and took about 15 min to get the microfiche for my lot and identify the correct information to write up my verification card (actually a postcard). She even volunteered to email me the survey schematic of my neighborhood. She then put me on the waiting list for the Development Services office, Area 2 (Development Permit Information), and I went up to the 3rd floor.
I checked in again on the 3rd floor and told the receptionist that Zoning had put me on the list for Area 2. She told me to go to Area 2 behind the elevator. There were 3-4 people waiting there, but only 5 minutes later I was called. This clerk took my address and found which zone my lot is in (RS-1-7, as I had previously found on their website), then referred to the Municipal Code, Chapter 13 (which she kindly emailed me).
http://docs.sandiego.gov/municode/MuniCodeChapter13/Ch13Art01Division04.pdf
In Article 1, Division 4, Page 32, there is a Table 131-04D which lists the "Min Front setback" for each zone - 15' for RS-1-7. Then in Section 131.0443 on Page 4, there are exceptions listed for a cul-de-sac which says the setback can be reduced 5' but cannot be less than 5'. In addition, she referred me to Chapter 11, Art 3, Div 2 on measurement:
http://docs.sandiego.gov/municode/MuniCodeChapter11/Ch11Art03Division02.pdf
Section 113.0243 (c) on Page 23 shows how to measure lot width on irregular lots like pie-shaped ones in a cul-de-sac. This is necessary for calculating Min Side setbacks which probably isn't relevant for my EVSE installation, but perhaps someone else on the forum will find it useful. In the end, she printed out the Parcel Information Report with an overhead view of my lot and the neighborhood. It identified the zone RS-1-7 but didn't actually list the Min Front setback. However, she or someone else had written in architectural lettering that there was an established front yard setback of 10' 0". My 3rd floor visit took a total of about 20 minutes. Interestingly, it looks like the Development Permit Information office is open different hours: M,T,Th,F 7am-4pm and Wed 9am-4pm. Their number to make appts is (619) 446-5300.
Overall this process took almost 2 hrs. I had parked on the street at Beech and 3rd where the meter allows a max of 2 hrs for $2.50 and got back just before it ran out. I think the Civic Center garage is $2 for 20 min.