Support for City of San Diego’s Housing Action Package
Dear Mayor Gloria and Councilmembers:
On behalf of the YIMBY Democrats of San Diego County, please accept this letter in support of the Housing Action Package.
The San Diego County region faces many challenges - climate change, housing affordability, and accessible transportation. As advocates for sustainable growth, equitable public policy, and housing affordability, we thank the City for their continued efforts to alleviate the housing crisis that impacts every San Diegan and future residents of the region.
YIMBY Democrats support all the programs proposed in the Housing Action Package. We believe that many small, reasonable programs, like the ones proposed in this package, will result in a more equitable and housing rich city. We are particularly pleased to see the inclusion of the following:
Affordable Housing in All Communities, which will encourage new affordable units in “high resource” communities with greater access to opportunities for residents.
Live/Work Flexibility, which provides common sense changes to increase housing stock, reduce the need for driving, and responds to the drastic increase in people working from home.
Housing at City Facilities, which will create a much faster process for building new units on City properties. We hope that City departments will take advantage of these new provisions to quickly build much needed housing.
We would like to provide some constructive feedback as it relates to the implementation of Senate Bill 9 (SB 9), and its impact on the City’s ADU regulations. As it relates to SB 9, we appreciate the City allowing for flexible standards to incentivize the use of SB 9 to spur new housing. Specifically, we appreciate the City avoiding requiring strict street frontage or lot size dimensions, and not requiring DIF fees for the first two units. However, we have concerns regarding the lot split provisions:
The City should reconsider its language prohibiting ADUs on lots that take advantage of SB 9. This prohibition would restrict the construction of reasonably sited ADUs. For example, it should be allowed for a property owner to split a lot and build a single family home with an ADU on each lot. It should also be legal to utilize the duplex provisions of SB 9 with no lot split, then build an ADU and a JADU. These are allowed by state law and we encourage the City to revise its language to ensure that these common sense scenarios are not prohibited by the City’s ordinance.
The City should add processes to monitor and track instances where the new ADU regulations might preclude or reduce units, and develop a process to report back to the City Council. We understand why the ADU regulation changes are being made, but believe the City should monitor any impacts to increased ADU production and provide that information to the City Council.
The City should reconsider the new parking minimum standards. Parking was identified by City Staff as the biggest barrier to ADU production. The parking minimums increase cost for applicants and add to review time for the City. Requiring parking spaces commits us to rely on cars, when we should be facilitating more sustainable transportation modes, and does not aid in making progress on the City’s Climate Action Plan. Based on the City’s own conclusions just a few years ago, parking requirements will suppress ADU production.
Overall, YIMBY Democrats support the Housing Action Package. With further modifications like those suggested above, we believe this Housing Action Package can help increase housing stock if utilized effectively and to the fullest extent possible. We respectfully urge full City Council support.
Signed,
The Executive Board of the YIMBY Democrats of San Diego County
