City Committee Meeting on CEQA Streamlining and Expedite Program - October 18, 2017
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City Committee Meeting on CEQA Streamlining and Expedite Program - October 18, 2017
The meeting began with approval of minutes from September 24, 2017, by unanimous consent. Two non-agenda public speakers addressed the committee, followed by a consent agenda passage. The primary discussions focused on two informational items: the Planning Department's CEQA compliance checklist (Section 15183) and Development Services' update on the Affordable Infill and Sustainable Expedite Program.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of minutes from September 24, 2017, was approved by unanimous consent.
- The consent agenda was approved unanimously upon a motion by Councilmember Alvarez and second by Councilmember Kate.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Martha Welch: Expressed frustration with the lack of family-sized housing (citing only one-bedroom and studio units in new developments like Talmadge and Cyprus), criticized the city for not using its own property (e.g., old library) for affordable housing, stated that the housing market is saturated with expensive units, and called for innovative solutions for homelessness.
- Kathleen Lippett (representing San Diegans for Safe Neighborhoods): Criticized the policy building process for marijuana cultivation/manufacturing permits as not open or transparent, noting a citywide cap of 40 with no district limits (disproportionately affecting areas like District 6 and Sorrento Valley). She argued that eliminating the 1,000-foot distance requirement from youth-serving institutions and other pot shops is problematic, and highlighted the nexus between marijuana-related businesses and increased drug abuse, homelessness, and hepatitis.
- Howard Blackson (public speaker on CEQA item): Supported the checklist work, recommended reviewing the city's significance determination thresholds (most defined in the 1990s) and creating two tiers (transit priority urban areas vs. suburban areas).
- Jeff Forrest (land use partner at Shepard Mullen, board member for Commercial Developers Association): Congratulated the city on the CEQA checklist, predicted San Diego would become an envied expediter in California, and cited housing crisis statistics: building permits for only 50% of allocated housing, average home cost over $600,000, average rent over $1,400, 41% of homeowners and 57% of renters spending over 30% of income on housing.
Discussion Items
CEQA Streamlining Checklist (Section 15183)
- Presentation by Jeff Murphy (Planning Director) and Alyssa Mudo (Deputy Director): The checklist is for projects consistent with recently adopted Community Plan Update (CPU) Program EIRs. It streamlines CEQA compliance by tiering off program EIRs, reducing processing time by several months and saving costs. Projects must be located within a CPU area (eight updated so far: Ocean Beach, Otay Mesa, Southeastern, Canto, San Ysidro, Golden Hill, North Park, Uptown, plus Grantville). The checklist is a new city-prepared document that determines if a project has no new significant impacts beyond the program EIR. Public review is not required, saving about three months. Mitigation measures from the program EIR are carried forward. The checklist also incorporates tiering from the Climate Action Plan Program EIR for greenhouse gas emissions.
- Councilmember Alvarez raised questions about density bonus projects (which are not automatically covered under 15183 because they exceed land use zoning) and the possibility of allowing temporary residential use of commercial ground floors in mixed-use zones. He suggested maximizing environmental review coverage in future CPU updates.
- Councilmember Gomez expressed concerns about balancing fast-tracking projects with community needs (e.g., parking deficits). Staff clarified that parking is not a CEQA impact but secondary effects are analyzed. The significance threshold update, especially for transportation (VMT), is planned for mid-2018, with other thresholds to follow. The checklist is separate from parking standard reductions.
- The item was informational; the committee considered itself informed.
Affordable Infill and Sustainable Expedite Program Update
- Presentation by Elise Lowe (Deputy Director, Development Services) and Jeff Peterson: The program has a 14-year history, aiming to reduce permitting time by 50%. Recent changes: new eligibility criteria reflect city strategic objectives (e.g., increased affordable housing, sustainability). Key updates: 100% affordable housing projects get fee waivers; projects in the Promise Zone (federal designation) qualify; minimum threshold increases from 4 to 5 units (starting October 20, 2017); sustainable projects must meet tier one and tier two measures of California Green Building Code (Title 24). Program performance: 419 applications since 2003 (20,534 proposed units, 3,351 affordable, 3,943 sustainable). Of 315 approved residential projects, 23% included affordable housing, 76% were sustainable. 2017 applications dropped due to reinstated minimum threshold of 4 units in December 2016. Average fee collected: $7,843; total fees $3.5 million. Processing time goal (50% faster) was met 69% of the time in a 2016 audit; the department is working to improve.
- Councilmember Gomez asked about sustainable tiers and how to shift focus toward more units. Staff noted the new eligibility is designed to increase affordable housing, but Development Services cannot control market demand.
- Councilmember Alvarez highlighted the Promise Zone eligibility (any development), asked about mixed-use projects (fees only waived for residential portion of 100% affordable projects), and noted the change from process four to process two for qualifying deviations (community notification still required). He requested that the chair consider reviewing affordable mixed-use incentives.
- Chairman Sherman commented that sustainable requirements are now standard, suggesting the program might better focus on affordable and market-rate housing. The item was informational; the committee considered itself informed.
Key Outcomes
- The committee approved the minutes and consent agenda unanimously.
- Both informational items were received without formal action; the committee considered itself informed. No votes were taken on the substantive matters.
- Next meeting scheduled for Wednesday, November 8, 2017, at 2 p.m. in committee chambers.
Meeting Transcript
You're watching City TV twenty four. Your access to City Hall. Hello, and welcome everybody. Jessica Lawrence, it looks like you're subbing for Jack Straw from the mayor's office. Chris Of Ada with IBA. Leslie Fitzgerald with the City Attorney's Office. And of course, Sarah German, our committee consultant, and welcome, Mr. Alvarez. Looks like we have a quorum and everybody's ready to go. We're gonna do a we need to begin this with our approval of the minutes from the September twenty-fourth, twenty seventeen meeting. Those will be done by unanimous consent unless anybody has any changes or questions. Seeing none, that's approved by unanimous consent. And we have two non-agenda public speakers today. Welcome. Good afternoon, Martha Welch. We don't have smart growth here because only build for um one bedroom and studio. All the that's all I see right now. Talmage, Cyprus, are one bedroom and studios only. And that's not for family. And also I know multiple bonds. I don't think that's right, also. Um also the old library sitting there going down, and you've had it for years, and it just sits there, nothing's going on, and it's your your property, and it's just going down, down, down. And remember, if you have property in the city, the first thing is affordable housing is the first thing you should do with property you own. All these buildings, and I like to know who did the permits because I can tell you there's about ten of them going up. And then they're very expensive. They're saturated right now because we have all these buildings go up. There's about the pinnacle, there's one in front and one in the back by the library up there in F Street. Um, the rays already built, um Pacific Gate. Um there's so many going up, it's saturated. I don't know who's gonna build these things, they're gonna be empty, and now seventh and brought uh markets going up. It's it's crazy. We can't fill these buildings, and then they were crying for affordable housing and we don't have it because all we build is studios and that. The housing give us the video, I think it's the meanest I've ever seen. Uh a father and a mother and a daughter and a baby, a one bedroom with a studio, um, a twin bed. If that's what you think is right, I don't think it's right either. They showed that video, I think it's the meaning thing I ever seen. Because you can't do this stuff. It's smart, it's not smart growth. We have all this property, and um, I'm giving the Avalros, the charger um practice would be a good place to use also. We've got to stick out of the box. But we have so many problems with homeless for years. We've dodged it for years, we kicked it down so long. We've got to do something else with housing, we've got to think out of the box. We have these properties, we should have more things going on with homeless because we have this uh because of the home. Another person died yesterday with um uh now, so it's going on worse and worse. If we don't do something with this, it's gonna get worse. Thank you, Ms. Welch. Next up would be Kathleen Lippett. Welcome.
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