San Diego Land Use and Housing Committee Meeting Summary - July 14, 2022
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San Diego Land Use and Housing Committee Meeting - July 14, 2022
On Thursday, July 14, 2022, the City of San Diego Land Use and Housing Committee met in a hybrid teleconference format pursuant to Assembly Bill 361. Chair Vivian Moreno presided, joined by Vice Chair LaCava, Councilmember Whitburn, and Councilmember Cate (listed as 'Kate' in the transcript). The committee approved consent items and took action on a police child care lease and the sale of Rancho Del Rio Mobile Home Park, while receiving informational reports on first-time homebuyer programs, middle-income housing recommendations, and 2021 housing production.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the committee actions of June 16, 2022 unanimously.
- Approved Item 1: two easement and maintenance agreements with San Diego Unified Port District for a portion of Bay Shore Bikeway.
- Approved Item 2: consent to transfer of rights and agreement with Metropolitan Air Park LLC and San Diego Air Park LLC relating to 331 acres of city-owned property at Brown Field Municipal Airport, plus amendments to ground lease and right-of-entry license agreements corresponding to 207.56 acres. Both consent items passed unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Non-agenda speakers included Nicole Burgess, who urged the committee to advance Climate Action Plan measure 3.6 to prohibit new auto-oriented land uses in transit priority areas.
- Terry Ann Skelly and Kathleen Lippett spoke against locating marijuana businesses in communities of color, with Lippett also opposing the idea of donating city-owned property to for-profit pot shops without a public vote.
- Joy Sanyata asked for a dedicated council/committee focus on homelessness.
- Kelly McCormick, a public health educator, promoted the 988 crisis line and urged discouraging marijuana use, linking it to mental health harms.
- On Item 6, Ricardo Flores of LISC San Diego expressed support for expanding Black homeownership, citing 30 completed loans and a pipeline of additional families.
- On Item 5, multiple members of the middle-income housing working group spoke in support, including Stephen Russell, Angeli Kellenog, Marcella Escobar Eck, and Lori Holt Feiler. David Modi suggested exploring an underutilized floor area ratio tax.
- No public comments were received on the 2022 Annual Report on Homes or the consent agenda.
Discussion Items
- Item 6 – First-Time Home Buyer Program Study (Informational): The San Diego Housing Commission and Urban Institute presented findings on expanding down payment assistance to middle-income (80–150% AMI) and Black home buyers. Key data: San Diego's overall homeownership rate was 46.5% in 2019, 18 percentage points below the U.S. and 6 points below California. For households earning 80–120% AMI, homeownership was 42.8% versus 64.5% nationally. Black households represented 6.1% of all households but only 3.6% of homeowners, with a 29% homeownership rate. The report estimated over 60,000 middle-income renter households could benefit from a program. Chair Moreno requested the Housing Commission and Mayor's Office draft a pilot program for fiscal year 2024, with possible partial funding in the mid-year budget, and target November 17, 2022, for discussion.
- Item 5 – Mayor's Middle Income Housing Working Group Update (Informational): Policy Advisor Christopher Ackerman-Avila reported that between 2010 and 2020, only 34 moderate-income homes were built against an RHNA target of 15,462, and only 3 moderate-income permits were issued in 2020. Recommendations included cataloging public land, revising development impact fees, expanding Complete Communities, reforming historic review, updating the land development code, addressing stormwater alternative compliance, creating a vacancy tax (not recommended after an SDHC study), and identifying net new revenue. Councilmember Cate requested a status update in about one year.
- Item 7 – 2022 Annual Report on Homes (Informational): The Planning Department reported 5,033 new homes permitted in 2021: 470 deed-restricted affordable homes (186 very low-income, 265 low-income, 19 moderate-income), 871 ADUs, and 154 homes through Complete Communities. The city's 8-year RHNA target is 108,036 homes. The IBA office recommended future reports include units from the inclusionary housing program.
- Item 3 – Police Department Child Care Lease (Action): Staff recommended a 5-year lease at 4020 Murphy Canyon Road to the San Diego Police Officers Association, which will operate a child care facility with Kindercare Education at Work. The facility will be open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, including holidays, with 24-hour on-call staffing. The annual rent is $4,082.50 as an administrative fee, adjusted by CPI. Funding comes from a $3 million state grant secured by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins and Mayor Gloria. The motion passed unanimously.
- Item 4 – Sale of Rancho Del Rio Mobile Home Park (Action): Staff requested approval to sell 23 acres at 3890 Sipes Lane to JSP Rancho Del Rio LP for the appraised value (described by staff as approximately $8 million). The property has 130 mobile home spaces: 39 deed-restricted affordable rentals and 91 privately owned homes renting space. The sale would preserve affordability by limiting rent increases to 5% per year for market-rate spaces, restricting 39 units for 55 years, preventing redevelopment, and retaining city easements. Chair Moreno moved the item with an added requirement that staff, JSP, and the Housing Commission send an explanatory letter to each tenant and owner before city council consideration. The motion passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Consent agenda approved unanimously.
- Item 3 (POA/child care lease) approved unanimously and forwarded to full city council.
- Item 4 (Rancho Del Rio sale) approved unanimously, with a directive to inform residents via written notice.
- Items 5, 6, and 7 were informational; no formal actions were taken.
- Chair Moreno directed city staff to return with a draft first-time homebuyer pilot program and target the November 17, 2022 LU&H Committee meeting.
- Councilmember Cate requested a status update on the middle-income housing working group recommendations in about a year.
The meeting adjourned to September 22, 2022 at 1 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
I just wanna get to the coast. I just want to say that's a stall. Afternoon, a minor minor right location. I think you are, it's still right to work. Until further notice, committee meeting will be conducted pursuant to the provisions of California Government Code Section 54953E, added by Assembly Bill 361, which allows the city to use teleconferencing and to provide the public an opportunity to address the city council via call-in option or an internet-based service option during a proclaimed state of emergency. While the public is allowed to attend the meeting in person, we encourage you to maintain six feet of social distance as well as follow uh the California mask guidelines where masks are strongly recommended. In addition to being able to attend in person, this meeting is being televised and live streamed on the city's website, and the committee liaison will continue to make arrangements for the public to comment using the Zoom webinar platform. Additionally, members of the public who wish to provide testimony via a call-in or an internet-based service option must enter the virtual speaking queue within five minutes after the count uh the conclusion of in-person public testimony or before the virtual speaking queue is exhausted, whichever occurs first. This will allow for a better meeting management between the two platforms and ensure that the council is able to manage and conduct city business. We appreciate the public's cooperation. I now officially call the meeting of the land use and housing committee of Thursday, July 14th, 2022 to order. Vice Chair Locava. Thank you. I'm sorry, I should have said I'm gonna call roll call. Councilmember Whitburn. Councilmember Kate. Here. Wonderful. And I'm Councilmember Vivian Moreno. I'm also attending the meeting. Chris Ackerman Avila with the mayor's office. Uh Cory Newfer with the City Attorney's Office. Julian Cassie with the Independent Budget Analysts' Office, and Kevin Smith, the land use and housing committee consultant. If you're attending in person and wish to speak on any item, please complete a speaking slip located at the entrance of the chamber and place it in the box indicated at the speaker's lectern at the front of the room. Please do so in a timely manner to ensure proper meeting management. And members of the public can join the webinar by computer tablet or smartphone by accessing the link, which is listed online in the preamble language of the agenda on the city's webpage. The link to join the committee uh meeting webinar by computer, tablet, or smartphone is listed on the agenda. To join the Zoom webinar by telephone, please dial 1669-254-5252 when prompted input webinar ID 161-042-5337 pound. This information is also available on the agenda and will appear on the screen during the public comment period for each agenda item. Members of the public who wish to provide testimony via call-in andor internet-based service option must enter the virtual speaking queue within five minutes after the conclusion or in-person public testimony or before the virtual speaking queue is exhausted, whichever occurs first. Please note that if you're watching via City TV 24 or online, there may be a delay. Please participate via the audio on your phone and mute your TV or computer when it's your turn to speak. When I introduce the item you'd like to comment on, please raise your hand by either tapping the raise your hand button on your computer, tablet or smartphone, or by pressing star 9 on your phone. When our committee consultant indicates that it's your turn to speak, they'll call you by your name as it appears on the Zoom webinar attendees list, or they're going to read out the last four digits of your phone number if you've called into the meeting. That's how you will know it's your turn to speak. Now, if you're in person, please come up to the uh the reserve seats at the front of the room when your name is called, and please be prepared to come up to the lectern in the order that you're called. If you've just joined, uh if you've joined the webinar by computer, tablet, or smartphone, you're going to receive a pop-up notice to select to unmute your device. If you've called into the meeting by cell phone or landline, press six on your phone to unmute yourself. We'll review these instructions briefly again when the public comment period on an item is open. And please wait until the item you wish to speak to has been called before raising your hand to speak. If you raise your hand during a non-comment period, your hand will be lowered. When you're announced as the next speaker, please unmute yourself and offer your comments. Also, please mute the volume on your TV or computer before you begin to speak. A quorum is now present, and we're going to take up the approval of the committee action of June 16th, 2022. Mr. Smith, please proceed with public comment on this item. Thank you, Chair Moreno. The public comment period for this item is now open. If you are attending in person, please be sure to have your speaker slips submitted and come to the reserve seats at the front of the room when your name is called and be prepared to come up to the lectern on the order called. Members of the public who wish to provide testimony via a call in or an internet-based service option must enter the virtual speaking queue within five minutes after the conclusion of in-person public testimony or before the virtual speaking queue is exhausted, whichever occurs first.
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