San Diego Smart Growth Committee Meeting Summary - January 31, 2018
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San Diego Smart Growth and Entities Committee Meeting Summary - January 31, 2018
The City Council Smart Growth and the Entities Committee met on January 31, 2018, to discuss several items including the sale of city-owned properties, updates to the Land Development Code, and amendments to affordable housing density bonus regulations. The meeting included public comments, committee discussions, and votes on multiple agenda items.
Consent Calendar
- Committee Records of Action (December 7, 2017): Approved by unanimous consent without discussion.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Non-Agenda Public Comment:
- Anne Faggy (Chair, Community Forest Advisory Board) expressed support for trees as infrastructure, noting that trees provide shade, stormwater retention, and support for climate action. She highlighted staffing shortages in the tree program and urged the committee to include trees in infrastructure discussions.
- Martha Walsh commented on new tower developments, expressing concerns about high rents and the need for affordable middle-income housing. She noted that many new units remain empty and are too expensive for workers and teachers.
- Item 3 – Sale of Former PB Reservoir: Multiple speakers from the Los Altos Road neighborhood opposed the sale at current zoning, citing safety concerns due to narrow roads without sidewalks, traffic congestion, and the rural character of the area. They requested a density reduction (larger lot sizes) and noted the historical significance of the Kate Sessions area. A petition for rezoning with 278 signatures was presented.
- Item 6 – 11th Update to Land Development Code: Several speakers supported the update:
- Representatives from charter schools (KIPP San Diego, Thrive Public Schools, City Heights Prep) supported item 15 (school use changes), stating it would reduce costs and allow them to focus resources on education.
- Infill developers and urban designers supported lot consolidation and live-work changes, citing improved housing production.
- Claire Crawford (public interest) opposed item 15, arguing that reduced public process would harm neighborhoods and that charter schools are not required to serve local students.
- Ann Faggy raised concerns about tree planting distances (change from 6 to 4 feet) and urged careful tree placement.
- Item 7 – Affordable Housing Density Bonus Amendments:
- Mariana Bustamante (Build Better San Diego) opposed the amendments, arguing they give developers more without requiring enough on-site affordable housing.
- José Rodriguez (SDOP) stated the amendments do not address the housing crisis and called for inclusionary housing requirements of 20-25% on large projects.
- Colin Parent (Circulate San Diego) supported the amendments, noting they incentivize on-site affordable housing and are proven successful.
- Other supporters included the San Diego Housing Federation, Circulate San Diego, and the Building Industry Association, who highlighted the program's effectiveness and the need to reduce regulatory costs.
Discussion Items
- Item 1 – Sale of City-Owned Property at Imperial Avenue & 32nd Street: Staff presented; committee members expressed comfort with the recommendation. Approved unanimously without further discussion.
- Item 2 – Second Property Sale: Similar to item 1; approved unanimously.
- Item 3 – Sale of Former PB Reservoir (4.7 acres, zoned RS1-4):
- Staff presented the history: the city followed Council Policy 700-10, offered the property to other agencies (including the Housing Commission, which declined due to cost and zoning), and the appraised value is $8.8 million. A previous buyer backed out.
- Committee discussion focused on the possibility of downzoning versus upzoning, the city attorney's memo warning that downzoning could require compensating the water fund, and the Housing Commission's explanation that single-family zoning made the site unsuitable for affordable housing.
- Councilmember Sherman moved staff recommendation; Councilmember Alvarez seconded. The motion passed 3-1 with Councilmember Staff voting no.
- Item 4 – San Diego Square (Sale for $100 to Housing Commission): Staff explained the property is ground-leased for a 155-unit senior affordable housing project. The sale would transfer administrative costs and deed-restrict the property in perpetuity. Approved unanimously.
- Item 5 – La Jolla Marine (Similar Sale for $100 to Housing Commission): Eight townhomes on Cuvier Street; same rationale. Approved unanimously.
- Item 6 – 11th Update to Land Development Code (50 issue items):
- Staff summarized key changes: repeal of Zone and Use Certificate, elimination of Site Development Permit for lot consolidation in RM zones, commercial signage in residential zones, ground floor height clarification, paleontological resource monitoring thresholds, school use expansion (up to 600 students by right), live-work expansion, and historic resource parking and floor area relief.
- Committee discussion raised questions about lot consolidation and consistency with recently updated community plans (North Park, Golden Hill) that discourage consolidation. Staff noted that all development regulations still apply.
- Councilmember Sherman expressed support but requested further work on live-work provisions (parking ratio, ground-up construction, square footage) and committed to a standalone item in June 2018. He moved approval of staff recommendation.
- Councilmember Alvarez wanted to move without recommendation to allow further discussion on several items (signage, parking reform, affordable housing processing). Councilmember Gomez stated she could not support item 15 (school use) due to reduced community input.
- After debate, a motion to forward the item to council without a committee recommendation (no recommendation) passed unanimously. The committee did not adopt a position.
- Item 7 – Affordable Housing Density Bonus Amendments (Housing San Diego):
- Staff presented changes to comply with state laws (AB 2501, AB 2556, AB 2442, AB 1934) and city-proposed incentives: additional density for not exceeding building envelope, 100% density bonus for micro-units (average ≤600 sf, no unit >800 sf) in transit priority areas, and expanded density for transitional foster youth, disabled veterans, and homeless persons.
- Committee discussion included parking reductions (staff noted ongoing comprehensive parking study), the need for more aggressive parking requirements for supportive housing, and the importance of on-site affordable housing.
- Councilmember Sherman moved approval; Councilmember Alvarez seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Approved Unanimously: Records of approval (consent calendar); items 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 (density bonus amendments).
- Approved 3-1: Item 3 (sale of former PB reservoir) – Councilmember Staff voted no.
- Forwarded Without Committee Recommendation: Item 6 (11th Land Development Code update) – sent to full council with no committee position. Staff will continue work on live-work provisions and parking reform for future updates.
- The committee will next meet on Wednesday, February 21, 2018.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. Colleagues are here. We're gonna start the meeting. Welcome to this January 31st, 2018 meeting of the City Council Smart Growth and the Entities Committee. For the record, we have quorum consistent of Vice Chair Alvarez, Councilmember Sherman, Councilmember Staff, also President Ali Lowe from the mayor's office, and Jeff Kawar with independent budget analysis. From the city attorney, Haiti Van Broom, and committee consultant Karina Johnson. Let's begin with the committee records of action for the December 7th, 2017 committee meeting that will be approved by unanimous consent unless anyone will like to pull them for discussion. And I see none. Here no request to pull the minutes. We will now move on to non-agenda public comment. And we have two requests. You have two minutes for non-agenda public comment. We first have Anne Faggy. And following is Martha Walsh. Good afternoon. I'm Ann Fage and I chair the community forest advisory board. And it's been a long time since I've been at this committee, but um just a quick um update on some issues that are important to us. Um may not need to remind you, but we continue to articulate how much trees provide the human services for smart growth and land use. The shade, the places to play, the cafes, the walkability, the active transportation if you want to walk to a transit center. It's a lot easier if you have shade. Um and they provide city services. They cool buildings. Um they ex they uh prolong the life of of pavement. Uh they retain stormwater and some of what all of our um city engineers are well aware of, or many are. And it's um our resilience action for climate action and adaptation strategies. So the council approved a five-year plan, and in there there's the phases for the different um phases of the climate action plan. And frankly, now we're stuck. We have two professional staff, as most of you know the needs you cannot run a program with two professional staff, and we've been working with each of you to articulate what it is that's be not being done, the risks that we have and not managing contracts, etc. The staff did not get engaged in the landscape uh code revision here, and um I will speak and we have discussed it, but didn't speak, and that's because we didn't have the staff. So trees are infrastructure and our city assets. The Sunday paper had an article on infrastructure gaps and it didn't include trees. So hopefully we can um take a look at that in terms of um being proud of and really supporting the trees in our smart growth and smart growth and land use. Thank you. Thank you. Martha Walsh, well, I see here's not sc growth because all these new towers are going up, about four of them by power or by the library and everything. It's much the same as it's not um not they're saturated. The ones are billed and not filled right now. If you want some um um um climate action, it would be nice if you have trolley and probably um public good um be good. Now and then uh down um um uh I saw in the paper E and Broadway um is going up. And they're gonna be an L by Charlie Court. Why? It's all it's not very expensive to live there. That's why they're an L like that. I've seen it a lot of times at that beach tree 805 park and and spent uh in there they go an L around it, and maybe a wall will be right there next to the windows and all that stuff that goes on here. And so also there's no no one on C and Broadway about 7th and 8th, who's got a big fence around it and don't say who's building it, but the it should be something because it's on the trolley station on the so you should build of something there right now because you don't um do this because if we need more min um middle houses and and also in low income, we need those those things. We all we build expensive, all we do, and they just stay empty. And if you we if there's nothing for the medium place, they're not thinking everything is 2,000 to move in for one bedroom. We've got to get 900 or something like that for bedrooms or something for people like waiters and workers and school teachers and all that stuff have to live in these places, and they're so expensive. We hear it all the time. You don't build the right thing.
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