Peninsula Planning Meeting: Bry Opposed to Campbell’s Proposal on Short-Term Rentals

By Geoff Page

The regular monthly Peninsula Community Planning Board meeting October 15 had its highs and, as usual, its lows.  The on-line meeting was held last Thursday at 6:00 p.m.

First, the highlights. The lowlight will be left to the end.

Barbara Bry

Councilmember Bry made an appearance as a council representative, not as the mayoral candidate.  Bry was careful to make this distinction and declined to comment on any of the political races.  She was there to give her opinion on short-term vacation rentals (STVRs) and Point Loma’s councilperson’s proposal.  In a nutshell, Bry stated that the law needs to be enforced, STVRs are not legal.

Bry opposed what Jennifer Campbell is pushing, an agreement between a private travel industry giant and the local hotel workers union.  Bry said the illegal vacation rental stock needs to be returned to regular housing, especially considering the current housing shortage.  Bry said there were 16,000 STVRs in the city, the same figure that Campbell also used.  Bry said those 16,000 units would go a long way toward relieving the housing shortage.

Bry also explained that the housing shortage numbers being used to push the housing initiatives are flawed.  The state has said San Diego needs 172,000 new units.  A study by the Embarcadero Institute said the accurate figure would be 112,000.

According to the report:

“Use of an incorrect vacancy rate and double counting, inspired by SB-828, caused the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to exaggerate by more than 900,000 the units needed in SoCal, the Bay Area and the Sacramento area.”

The report can be found here:

When queried about Campbell’s argument that her agreement will avoid years of costly lawsuits if the city decides to shut down the STVRs by enforcing current law, Bry said there is no worry.  She said she relied on the advice of a private attorney, John Thickstun, instead of the San Diego city attorney.  Cory Briggs, who is running for City Attorney against Mara Elliott, has said the same thing, this is a scare tactic only.

When asked about the argument that the Coastal Commission will not allow San Diego to close the STVRs, Bry had an answer.  She said the Coastal Commission cannot do anything if we are simply enforcing current law; they only become involved when new laws are proposed.  In this case, no new laws are needed.

Bry was not actively campaigning for mayor but who would not consider her a breath of fresh air in the mayor’s office after hearing her talk so directly on STVRs, as she does on everything.

Sunset Cliffs Chaos and the Del Monte Overlook

As most people know, Sunset Cliffs has been overrun in the past few years by people coming from everywhere to watch the sunset and to party.  Complaints by people who live in the area have begun to reach a roar.  Trash, noise, drugs, street racing, and lack of respect for private property are the major complaints. [Editordude: and rats, don’t forget the rats.]

The Sunset Cliffs Natural Park Council is sending a letter to the city describing the problems and asking for a list of remedies.  The item before the PCPB was a letter to support the Park Council’s letter.  After listening to a long litany of complaints from residents who showed up to speak, the PCPB voted unanimously to support the letter.

The issue with the Del Monte Overlook, at Guizot, appeared to be the same as the Sunset Cliffs problems, only smaller.  The proposal is to close off the dead-end street so that cars, and what takes place in the semi-privacy of cars, cannot take place.  Once again after hearing another litany of complaints from neighbors, the PCPB voted in favor of placing barriers to keep the cars out.

Both letters can be found on the pcpb.net website under board meetings, October 15, 2020.  There are links to the letters there.

Trees

There was a very interesting presentation by Anne Fege from the Kate Sessions Commitment group about trees.  For those who are not familiar with her story, Kate Sessions is considered the “Mother of Balboa Park” because of her commitment to planting trees. The thrust of the group is to encourage the rest of us to plant trees.

But, this group does not stop at just encouraging.  They provide education, resources, and assistance.  For example, people can apply to get a free tree from the city. This article cannot do justice to all that this group is doing, go to katesessionstrees.org to see all that they have to offer.

Project Review

There were three projects, all of which were approved.  One was a lot line adjustment for two lots properties on San Gorgonio Street. Two were companion units.  One of those two was just designating part of an existing home as a companion unit and the only construction involved shutting off a door.  The second one was a bit more.

The second companion unit was a 951 square foot detached two-story unit over a three-car garage.  This one was a perfect illustration of the end of the single-family zoning designation.  This one was proposed for an area zoned RS-1-7, which is the zoning for a single-family area.  A 951 square foot unit is the size of many homes on the Peninsula.  Where once these units were four or maybe five hundred square feet, the ones coming on now are no different than adding a second house on a lot that is zoned for one dwelling unit.

The state of California’s push to build more housing has resulted in the destruction of single-family neighborhoods.  Considering what Barbara Bry had to say about the flawed housing numbers, what this really looks like is a push by developers to build where they once could not.  In a place like Point Loma, the idea that these units will be affordable is a joke.

All this does is provide people with more income. And, all this is taking place in neighborhoods where the infrastructure was built to accommodate one house per lot.  The city has no plans to beef up the existing infrastructure.  Added to that will be the parking fiasco as these units, that once required parking, no longer do.

In the past, the PCPB fought this kind of thing but because companion units and guest quarters consistently violated the law regarding kitchens and use as rentals. There is no fight left now because of the changes in the law.  The “housing crisis” is a cause celebre used by the moneyed interests under the guise of doing wonderful things for California.

The Lowlight

Just when it seemed the Peninsula Community Planning Board finally had a meeting with no obvious controversy, some was found buried in the comment of one board member.  During non-agenda public comment at the beginning of the meeting, board member Don Sevrens made a suggestion.

Sevrens has a history of disrupting the PCPB, from accusing a past board chair and treasurer of malfeasance, regarding the board’s minuscule budget of few hundred dollars, when he first got on the PCPB several years ago, to suing the entire board and the city last year.

During non-agenda public comment, Sevrens said he would like the board to consider a new, regular addition to its agenda.  The addition is called “Good of the Order.” This was not a familiar term to anyone.  After Sevrens gave a bit of an explanation, a board member commented that it sounded just like non-agenda public comment. Actually, it is very different.

Sevrens wants a discussion of this on the next agenda.  Here is the first paragraph of a definition of “Good of the Order”:

“According to Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised 10th ed. (RONR), the term Good of the Order refers to that portion of the agenda or meeting during which members may make statements or offer observations about the character or work of the organization without having any particular item of business before the meeting.”

Because of who brought this up, particular attention should be paid to “statements or offer observations about the character or work of the organization.” Here is the next part of the definition, with an example:

“Items that may come up under this heading are statements such as compliments or criticisms about some program or activity that the organization had undertaken. A Kiwanis Club member may want to commend the leadership for providing such a good guest speaker at last month’s meeting, or a member of the local Rotary Club may wish to express dissatisfaction over a portion of the junior leadership training program. RONR also notes that some organizations take up motions or resolutions regarding formal disciplinary actions.”

The wording “criticisms about some program or activity that the organization had undertaken” is of particular note. Comments commending or criticizing leadership can be made during non-agenda public comment. However, no discussion of comments made during non-agenda comment is allowed.  Questions may be asked for clarity only, during non-agenda public comment, but whatever a person has said is not open for discussion.  “Good of the Order” is different in that respect because it does allow discussion.

Given his propensity to criticize the board, if “Good of the Order” is adopted, it would offer Sevrens a broader platform to air his grievances.  And, there is another odd part to it. Other definitions include this statement:

“The good of the order is also the time to offer a resolution to bring a disciplinary charge against a member for offenses committed outside of a meeting.”

Just the fact that this comes from Sevrens should be enough for the PCPB to be careful with this suggestion.  Sevrens has been very critical of the stalled planning board elections and has been pushing the board to resolve this.  The PCPB is following the lead of the city and will wait and see how things may or may not proceed in March when yearly elections take place.

As has happened several times in the past, there is a faction of people who want to take control of the PCPB.  They managed to elect some members in the previous election, and, with success in the next election, could completely control the PCPB.  Sevrens is a member of this group. Considering Sevrens’s treatment of the PCPB members last year, naming them in a frivolous lawsuit, this reporter would suggest any recommendations coming from this board member be filed in the old circular file.