Land Use and Housing Committee Special Meeting – June 24, 2020
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Land Use and Housing Committee Special Meeting – June 24, 2020
The Land Use and Housing Committee held a special meeting on June 24, 2020, from 10:00 AM (Pacific) via teleconference due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The agenda included two major items: the San Diego Affordable Housing Preservation Study and the Complete Communities Housing Solutions and Mobility Choices Initiative. The committee voted unanimously on the preservation study and forwarded the complete communities package to the City Council without recommendation by a 3-1 vote.
Consent Calendar
- The committee unanimously approved the amendments from the committee record of actions of February 27, 2020.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Non-Agenda Public Comment: Callers addressed the SDSU Mission Valley project land cost and the need for greater tenant protections and stakeholder involvement for homeless voices.
- Item 1 – Affordable Housing Preservation Study: Eight callers spoke. Matthew Vostalakis (Climate Action Campaign) expressed support for preservation and anti-displacement policies. Joe Waneo (350 San Diego) urged increasing very low-income units in disadvantaged communities. Laura Nunn (San Diego Housing Federation) supported the recommendations, especially redirecting redevelopment funds. Joy Sanyata emphasized preservation, tenant protections, and collaboration. Other callers urged implementation and incorporation into the Complete Communities initiative.
- Item 2 – Complete Communities Housing Solutions and Mobility Choices: 31 callers testified. Supporters included David Allen (developer), Brian Rivelli (small-scale developer), Colleen Clemenson (SANDAG), Lindsay Jakes (Circulate San Diego), Marcella Escobar Eck (planning professional), Andy Hanshaw (Bike Coalition), Kyle Haskela (Bike SD), Kevin Hastings (Ocean Beach planner – opposed), Rebecca Lieberman (Chamber of Commerce), Laura Nunn (Housing Federation), Neil Hayton (Hex Solberg – concerns about R&D classification), Carter Rubin (NRDC), and Sean Van Diver (homeowner). Opponents and critics included Julie Corralis (Barrio Logan – need 40% affordable), Andre Schlagter (off-site affordable units creates inequality), Linda Lawrence (maintain 30-ft height limit in Ocean Beach), Tom Mullaney (base zoning affordable calculation flawed), Howard Wayne (spot zoning delegation), and Wally Wolfe (Community Planners Committee – insufficient outreach). Many callers urged doubling affordable requirements in disadvantaged communities and addressing displacement risks.
Discussion Items
-
Item 1: San Diego Affordable Housing Preservation Study – Presented by Suket Thyal, Wendy DeWitt, and Marcus Sproul of the San Diego Housing Commission. The study analyzed the city's multifamily rental inventory: 555,000 total housing units, half renter-occupied; 164,000 multifamily rental units, 14% (23,000) deed-restricted, 86% unrestricted; 47,000 units are naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH). There is a gap of 47,000 units for households earning ≤50% of area median income (AMI). Trends show a loss of unrestricted affordable units: from 92,000 in 2000 to 26,000 in 2020, projected to 9,000 by 2040. Preserving all 13,450 at-risk units over 20 years would require $86 million per year in gap funding, leveraging $400 million annually for 672 units/year. The strategy framework includes 10 recommendations in four categories: capital resources, preservation policies, tenant protections, and capacity building. The Independent Budget Analyst noted that redirecting redevelopment funds (boomerang funds) would reduce general fund revenue. Councilmember Sherman requested a presentation on incentive programs (recommendation 5) by September. Councilmember Kercy raised concerns about the condition of SROs and the need for minimum standards. Chair Ward directed staff to return with implementation strategies for recommendations 2, 4, 5, and 6 (SRO ordinance) at future meetings. The motion passed unanimously.
-
Item 2: Complete Communities Housing Solutions and Mobility Choices Initiative – Presented by Heidi Von Blum, Brian Schoenfish, and Mike Hansen. The initiative has two components: Mobility Choices (compliance with SB 743) and Housing Solutions (voluntary opt-in affordable housing program). Housing Solutions requires 20% affordable units (10% low-income, 10% up to 120% AMI), uses floor area ratio (FAR) based density (4.0 in coastal zone, 8.0 elsewhere, unlimited downtown), includes anti-displacement measures, a neighborhood enhancement fee, and design standards. Mobility Choices establishes four mobility zones based on VMT efficiency, with streamlined review for zones 1-3 and an active transportation in-lieu fee for zone 4. At least 50% of funds must be spent in communities of concern. The deadline for adopting VMT metrics is July 1, 2020. The programmatic EIR covers both components. Discussion focused on the affordability levels, fee calculator accuracy, impact on zone 4, coastal height limit preservation, prevailing wage, community outreach, and bifurcation concerns. Councilmember Kercy expressed concern about the in-lieu fee being too high and proposed a friendly amendment to return the fee for further analysis, but it was not adopted. Councilmember Campbell requested more information on the fee calculator and coastal height limit. The committee voted 3-1 to forward the item to the City Council without recommendation, with direction to staff to continue working with stakeholders.
Key Outcomes
- Preservation Study: Motion approved unanimously to direct the San Diego Housing Commission to return to the committee in July with the SRO ordinance policy draft and in September with detailed implementation strategies for recommendations 2, 4, and 5 (redevelopment funds, preservation ordinance, incentive programs).
- Complete Communities: Motion to forward to City Council without recommendation passed 3-1 (Chair Ward, Councilmember Sherman, Councilmember Campbell in favor; Councilmember Kercy opposed). Staff will continue stakeholder engagement and refine the fee calculator and other provisions before council consideration.
- The next Land Use and Housing Committee meeting is scheduled for July 16, 2020, at 1:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Can I ask to join the meeting? Mark, uh, please meet your phone and we'll get started in a minute. This conference is unlocked. All right, well, good morning, everybody. I want to welcome you to the June 24th, 2020 special meeting of the land use and housing committee. Per executive order 2920, which suspends certain requirements of the Brown Act. Some of the council members uh maybe participating via teleconference, and no members of the public will be in attendance at the meetings in the interest of public health and safety. In addition, this meeting is being televised and live streamed on the city's website, and council committee liaisons have made arrangements for the public to comment via telephone and electronically. We appreciate the public's cooperation. I will now call the land use and housing committee special meeting of Wednesday, June 24th, 2020 to order. We have several members of the committee and staff calling in via teleconference. Uh for the purposes of the roll call, those on the teleconference include Councilmember Kercy, our vice chair. Each council member would be watching the meeting from their remote location via City TV, and they are live on our teleconference over chambers where they will participate in this meeting remotely. Those council members present in chambers are Councilmember Campbell, Councilmember Sherman, and myself, Chair Councilmember Ward. Also with us in chambers is the independent budget analyst staff Gillian Cassie and Bakut Patel. Welcome. Our committee consultant, Kathleen Farrier, and from my staff, Ty Birch. Also on the teleconference line is Conrad Weir from the Mayor's Office, and Senior Chief Deputy City Attorney Leslie Fitzgerald and Deputy City Attorney Corinne. Welcome. I'm going to turn it over to Ms. Farrier for some instructions for the public. Thank you. For purposes of this meeting, written comments submitted using the public comment form prior to the start of the meeting have been distributed to the council and posted online. All written submissions received after the start of the meeting will be made a part of the permanent record. These comments would no longer be read into the record because we are now able to provide for phone-in live testimony from the public. The public may call in following the instructions posted on the agenda by calling 619-541-6310 and entering conference ID number 105579 hashtag to be placed in the queue for public comment. When the phone queue is empty, the public comment period will be closed. This same process will be used for each agendized item. When you're in the queue, you'll be able to hear the meeting and all others that are providing comment. Each speaker will have one minute to speak. Also, please mute the volume on your TV or computer before you begin to speak. This is not a question and answer period. This is your time to provide a statement to the council, and once you've concluded your statement within the allotted time, you should hang up the call and it will be ended. If you wish to provide comment on other items on the agenda, you will c you should call back during those comment periods and you will be placed in the queue for those items. If you call in during a non-comment period, your call will not be taken. Please monitor the meeting and ensure you're calling at the appropriate time.gov and selecting the City Council Live Webcast blue button on the right-hand side of the page. Thank you. A quorum is now present, and we will begin with the approval of the amendments from the committee record of actions of February 27th, 2020. Do we remember February? We uh need to see if we have any public comment on this item, I believe, uh for process. Okay, we can wave public comment on that. There's nobody in the queue. Um, and so with that, is there any comment or changes from members of the committee? Seeing and hearing none, I'll take a motion to approve the record of actions by councilmember Campbell and a second by Councilmember Sherman. All in favor. Aye. Councilmember Kercy. Aye. Thank you. That passes unanimously.
openpublica.com