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Record of Proceedings

Smart Growth and Land Use Committee Meeting on Affordable Housing and Preservation - April 19, 2018

Land Use & Housing Committee — Thursday, April 19, 2018
BodySan Diego, California
SessionLand Use & Housing Committee
DateThursday, April 19, 2018
StatusFILED
Video Record
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0:20

Good afternoon, everyone.

0:21

We're gonna call this meeting to order.

0:23

Let the record reflect that committee member Sherman, uh Councilmember Staff are present as well as myself.

0:29

We have the presence of Leslie Fitzgerald from the City Attorney's Office.

0:43

The committee records of action from March 21st, 2018 will be approved by unanimous consent unless pull for a discussion.

0:52

So here I see no requests to pull.

0:55

They stand approved.

0:57

We'll move on to non-agenda public comment.

1:00

The public is limited to one minute today, just because we do have a lot of speaker slips for a couple of our agenda items.

1:08

So we're gonna start with Catherine Rhodes.

1:13

Following would be Robert Vallera.

1:18

And then Martha Welsh.

1:19

And if you can please stand um to your right small, uh, would really appreciate it as I call your name so we can be efficient with the time.

1:34

Hello, Catherine Rhodes, and I wanted to talk about the successor agency.

1:39

So due to state law, instead of the City of San Diego having their own successor agency and oversight board, it's now going to be a county regional oversight board for all the successor agencies.

1:50

And so starting probably next month, the County of San Diego regional successor agency or oversight board will be meeting on everybody's recognized obligation payment schedules.

2:05

And here again is your or or ROPs.

2:08

Here again is your ROPS when you're not maximizing the amount of money that could come in the city of San Diego.

2:14

There's 200 million that comes in all the time.

2:17

And what you're doing is not maximizing the benefits for the poor, which you're supposed to do, and also paying off your debts as soon as possible.

2:27

In fact, you're just actually um not paying the money so that it would go back to the general fund at 17 and a half cents on the dollar.

2:35

And that's not good for the city of San Diego.

2:37

Thank you.

2:37

Bye.

2:42

Good afternoon.

2:43

I'm Robert Valera.

2:44

I'm a small rental property owner here in San Diego.

2:47

I know that some people are here today to present a petition about rent control.

2:51

I just wanted to uh say that my wife and I have spent the last 35 years of our lives basically working two jobs.

2:59

One of the jobs to uh acquire and renovate and maintain rental housing here in San Diego.

3:08

We don't have a pension.

3:10

I don't have the pension that my sister, a school teacher has.

3:13

We're doing this to provide for ourselves in old age, and now we have surprised to us uh a disabled daughter who we're gonna have to provide for as well.

3:24

Um we've been watching our costs rise at a rapid pace.

3:28

Uh I don't think anyone in this room thinks costs have been going up two percent a year.

3:33

That's the official government CPI, and I think that's the reason we're here.

3:38

Our water bills are going up uh over 40 percent in a five-year period.

3:43

Our construction maintenance costs are going up through the roof.

3:47

Like most people in San Diego, I agree there's a housing shortage, but I think discussions of rent control are counterproductive.

3:54

Thank you so it's gonna adversely impact the supply.

3:56

Thank you.

3:59

Martha Rolls, all I've built here is one studio and bedroom town, gardens on Tillodine missing in Cypress, and how the how uh now right now you didn't build 50 59 and 55 15 54 uh uh and if it happened to that.

4:24

Now, but you have all these um fees.

4:28

That's why you can't do that because right now in the county says going on right now, they won't help you at all.

4:35

I was meeting the supervisor this morning.

4:37

I told the same to them because all these buildings downtown are so almost full, not full at all.

4:43

Um they're building F11, F10, um, Park 12, Elexon, um, the rec and um Pacific Gate.

4:52

If they're not full, they're not and then we're that's not smart because now some have uh low income, but they're not they don't advertise it.

5:03

Next, Alan Pertina and uh following Christian Davis.

5:22

I don't see them, so you have a mic.

5:26

Uh my name is Christian Davis.

5:28

I am um with Pinnacle Property Management Services.

5:31

I operate uh apartment buildings all over San Diego County, and uh wanted to spell some quick myths here about what's going on in the industry.

5:37

Uh recently, Market Point Realty Advisors published a study that had been taken largely out of context and it sort of stirred the public relative to uh one aspect of it.

5:45

The study pointed out that the historical high rent levels that we're experiencing that was based on a survey of 25 units or more and included luxury apartments in the downtown area.

5:56

So it doesn't tell the whole story.

5:58

Um the real story is our industry in San Diego is uh uh the portfolio I have about a four and a half percent year-over-year growth in uh in rent.

6:07

However, operating costs have gone up uh uh quite sharply.

6:10

Um payroll we're expected to see by 2020 a 50 percent increase uh repair and maintenance due to a variety of reasons, the cost of commodities and uh the recent gas tax.

6:21

We're seeing those operating costs go up considerably, and then utilities 41% between uh 2016 and uh 2020.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing██████████████████████████████████████38%
Housing████████████████████████24%
Eviction Prevention█████████████13%
Public Comment███████7%
Wildfire Preparedness████4%
Homelessness███3%
Public Engagement███3%
Public Safety██2%
Rental Assistance██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Smart Growth and Land Use Committee Meeting on Affordable Housing and Preservation - April 19, 2018

The Smart Growth and Land Use Committee, chaired by Councilmember Georgette Gomez, met on April 19, 2018, at 9:15 AM. Committee members Sherman and Saff were present, along with Leslie Fitzgerald from the City Attorney's Office. The meeting covered consent calendar approvals, non-agenda public comment, and four discussion items: a general plan amendment for wildfire safety, the Fiscal Year 2019 Affordable Housing Fund annual plan, strategies for preserving at-risk affordable housing, and strategies for preventing displacement. Extensive public testimony was heard on rent control, tenant protections, and housing supply.

Consent Calendar

  • The minutes from March 21, 2018, were approved unanimously without discussion.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Catherine Rhodes (Point Loma) criticized the successor agency process, arguing the city is not maximizing funds for the poor and is allowing money to revert to the general fund at 17.5 cents on the dollar.
  • Robert Valera (small rental property owner) opposed rent control, stating that rising costs (water up 40% in five years, construction maintenance up) make rent control counterproductive and harmful to supply.
  • Martha Welsh claimed high fees prevent building, and noted downtown buildings are not full despite construction.
  • Christian Davis (Pinnacle Property Management) said a study showing high rents was taken out of context; he cited 4.5% rent growth but sharp increases in operating costs (payroll up 50% by 2020, utilities up 41% from 2016-2020), arguing rent control would exacerbate problems.
  • Rafael Bautista (San Diego Tenants United) submitted 11,000 signatures for rent control, calling for a 2% cap and just-cause eviction protections. He argued that rent control works in other cities and is needed because the housing shortage will last decades.
  • Alan Pentico (San Diego County Apartment Association, in Sherman's district) opposed rent control, stating it has failed in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Santa Monica, leading to highest rents and displacement of low-income tenants.
  • Jim Barnavo (City Heights) requested that Item 2 (lease extension) be continued for planning group input.
  • Multiple speakers (Tasha Williamson, Andrea Rogers, Diane Rogers, and others) shared personal stories of displacement, Section 8 voucher difficulties, and called for stronger tenant protections and anti-discrimination ordinances.
  • Rick Bates (Unite Here Local 30) and Abu Dombia highlighted challenges faced by voucher holders with stagnant subsidies and rising rents.
  • Molly Kirkland (San Diego County Apartment Association) opposed expanding just-cause eviction and Section 8 anti-discrimination, suggesting instead a hardship fund and landlord incentives for Section 8 participation.
  • Carolina Martinez (Environmental Health Coalition) urged the city to advance anti-displacement policies despite industry lobbying.
  • Terry Moore and others noted that all sides agree on the need for more housing supply.

Discussion Items

  • Item 3: General Plan Amendment – Public Facility Services & Safety Element (SB 1241 Compliance)

    • Staff (Melissa Garcia, Brian Schoenfish) presented the amendment to address wildfire risk per state law. The State Board of Forestry approved without changes; Planning Commission recommended approval unanimously.
    • Public comment: Catherine Rhodes wanted seismic hazard (fault creep) included, citing inconsistent maps.
    • Committee comment: Councilmember Sherman supported; Councilmember Saff asked about urban canyon fire risks; Fire Marshal Doug Perry confirmed the wildland-urban interface is covered.
    • Motion by Sherman, seconded by Saff; passed unanimously.

  • Item 4: FY 2019 Affordable Housing Fund Annual Plan

    • Staff (Tina Kessler, Jasmine Collart) outlined $62 million in anticipated funds, including $51.3M fund balance ($12.5M committed). Funds allocated to rental housing production, landlord engagement, rapid rehousing, transitional housing, prevention/diversion, home ownership, capacity building, and legal support. Expected outcomes: 762 rental housing units, 10 home buyers, 416 transitional housing beds, 180 rapid rehousing households, 850 landlord engagement households, 200 diverted households.
    • Public comment: Catherine Rhodes criticized the Housing Commission for hoarding money (only $4M spent of $64M available in FY17).
    • Committee questions: Councilmember Saff inquired about prevention/diversion program (719 families stabilized since July 2017, $2,600 average cost per household). Councilmember Gomez asked about preservation funding; staff indicated willingness to explore.
    • Motion by Sherman, seconded by Saff; passed unanimously.

  • Item 5: Strategies for Preserving At-Risk and Expiring Affordable Housing

    • Presentations by Stephen Russell (San Diego Housing Federation) and Coffee Reed (LISC). Key points: 142,000-unit shortfall for low-income households; 1,200 affordable units lost between 2000-2017; 2,300 units at high risk of conversion in next five years. Best practices include designating a preservation coordinator, expanding technical assistance, increasing funding for preservation, and adopting risk assessment methodology.
    • Public comment: Many speakers (Johanna Hester, Satomi Ziegler, Ramla Sahid, others) urged the city to act on PQ Village-type losses and support preservation. Building Industry Association (Matthew Adams) argued for increasing supply rather than treating symptoms.
    • Committee comments: Sherman emphasized reducing government regulation to encourage supply; Saff noted the need to preserve housing at all levels and consider incentive-based programs. Gomez stated intent to work on relocation assistance tied to expiring covenants.

  • Item 6: Strategies for Preventing Displacement

    • Presentation by committee consultant Karina Johnson. Defined displacement, outlined impacts (homelessness, school disruption, out-migration), and listed policy tools: just-cause eviction, relocation assistance, Section 8 anti-discrimination, and tenant right to counsel. Johnson recommended revising the tenant right-to-know ordinance to cover Section 8 tenants, creating a relocation assistance program, and enacting a source-of-income anti-discrimination ordinance.
    • Public comment: Extensive testimony both for and against. Supporters (Build Better San Diego coalition) argued these measures prevent homelessness and stabilize communities. Opponents (landlords, apartment association) claimed they burden property owners and don't address supply. Several mom-and-pop landlords shared personal financial struggles.
    • Committee comments: Sherman cautioned against over-regulation and emphasized property rights and supply; Saff said she prefers focusing on building more housing rather than new government mandates but acknowledged need to balance rights. Gomez announced she will work with the City Attorney to revise the tenant right-to-know ordinance and create a relocation assistance ordinance, and will collaborate to improve Section 8 processes.

Key Outcomes

  • Item 3 (General Plan Amendment): Approved unanimously and forwarded to City Council.
  • Item 4 (Affordable Housing Fund Plan): Approved unanimously and forwarded to City Council (scheduled for June 11, 2018).
  • Item 5 (Preservation Strategies): Informational; committee directed staff to bring back proposed action items in May. Gomez committed to developing relocation assistance requirements for expiring covenants.
  • Item 6 (Displacement Prevention): Informational; Gomez directed staff to prepare draft ordinances on tenant right-to-know expansion (including Section 8), relocation assistance, and Section 8 anti-discrimination for future discussion. Committee will continue the discussion on May 21, 2018.
  • Next meeting scheduled for Monday, May 21, 2018, at 9:00 AM.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon, everyone. We're gonna call this meeting to order. Let the record reflect that committee member Sherman, uh Councilmember Staff are present as well as myself. We have the presence of Leslie Fitzgerald from the City Attorney's Office. The committee records of action from March 21st, 2018 will be approved by unanimous consent unless pull for a discussion. So here I see no requests to pull. They stand approved. We'll move on to non-agenda public comment. The public is limited to one minute today, just because we do have a lot of speaker slips for a couple of our agenda items. So we're gonna start with Catherine Rhodes. Following would be Robert Vallera. And then Martha Welsh. And if you can please stand um to your right small, uh, would really appreciate it as I call your name so we can be efficient with the time. Hello, Catherine Rhodes, and I wanted to talk about the successor agency. So due to state law, instead of the City of San Diego having their own successor agency and oversight board, it's now going to be a county regional oversight board for all the successor agencies. And so starting probably next month, the County of San Diego regional successor agency or oversight board will be meeting on everybody's recognized obligation payment schedules. And here again is your or or ROPs. Here again is your ROPS when you're not maximizing the amount of money that could come in the city of San Diego. There's 200 million that comes in all the time. And what you're doing is not maximizing the benefits for the poor, which you're supposed to do, and also paying off your debts as soon as possible. In fact, you're just actually um not paying the money so that it would go back to the general fund at 17 and a half cents on the dollar. And that's not good for the city of San Diego. Thank you. Bye. Good afternoon. I'm Robert Valera. I'm a small rental property owner here in San Diego. I know that some people are here today to present a petition about rent control. I just wanted to uh say that my wife and I have spent the last 35 years of our lives basically working two jobs. One of the jobs to uh acquire and renovate and maintain rental housing here in San Diego. We don't have a pension. I don't have the pension that my sister, a school teacher has. We're doing this to provide for ourselves in old age, and now we have surprised to us uh a disabled daughter who we're gonna have to provide for as well. Um we've been watching our costs rise at a rapid pace. Uh I don't think anyone in this room thinks costs have been going up two percent a year. That's the official government CPI, and I think that's the reason we're here. Our water bills are going up uh over 40 percent in a five-year period. Our construction maintenance costs are going up through the roof. Like most people in San Diego, I agree there's a housing shortage, but I think discussions of rent control are counterproductive. Thank you so it's gonna adversely impact the supply. Thank you. Martha Rolls, all I've built here is one studio and bedroom town, gardens on Tillodine missing in Cypress, and how the how uh now right now you didn't build 50 59 and 55 15 54 uh uh and if it happened to that. Now, but you have all these um fees. That's why you can't do that because right now in the county says going on right now, they won't help you at all. I was meeting the supervisor this morning. I told the same to them because all these buildings downtown are so almost full, not full at all. Um they're building F11, F10, um, Park 12, Elexon, um, the rec and um Pacific Gate. If they're not full, they're not and then we're that's not smart because now some have uh low income, but they're not they don't advertise it. Next, Alan Pertina and uh following Christian Davis. I don't see them, so you have a mic.

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