The lead residential activist organization, Neighbors For A Better San Diego, is requesting that the San Diego City Council delay any discussion about — or vote on — the proposed amendments to the city’s “Complete Communities Housing Solutions”.
It’s their position that the Council must not act on these proposals until the Planning Department presents it with a thorough analysis of the impact of its proposed modifications.
The following email was sent by Geoffrey Hueter, chair of the group, to San Diego City Council Members on Monday, Dec. 11:
Dear Councilmember [name],
Neighbors For A Better San Diego is recommending that the Council remove the proposed amendments to Complete Communities Housing Solutions from the Housing Action Package 2.0, which is being re-heard at next Tuesday’s (December 12) City Council meeting. The Council should further ask the Planning Department to do a thorough analysis of all aspects of the program before returning to the Council with future modifications.
CCHS projects continue to ramp up under the current regulations. Given its rapid uptake, it is unclear why changes are needed at this time, especially since the Planning Department has failed to provide an analysis of the current state of the program, both its benefits and deficiencies. When asked at the prior Council meeting, the Planning Director couldn’t even cite how many affordable units have been built under CCHS. The Planning Department should be giving the City Council all of the information needed to make an informed decision.
If the Planning Department did provide data on the performance of CCHS, it would show that the percentage of affordable housing in CCHS projects is significantly less than projects subject to inclusionary housing requirements or density bonus programs. Further, the percentage of affordable housing is declining as developers target parcels with the lowest underlying zoned density and the highest CCHS floor area ratio (FAR) allowances. For example, a project being proposed in the UTC area will add 1,315 new units with only 45 (3.4%) being affordable for moderate, low, and very-low income residents. The proposed CCHS amendments in HAP 2.0 would lower these percentages further by increasing the allowed number of units, with no increase in the required number of affordable units. Further, the proposed 100 percent moderate income option would remove the requirements to build very-low and low-income units for households making 50-60 percent AMI.
San Diego’s current housing policies do not provide a path to reach San Diego’s affordable housing goals, and we should not be changing our policies to put those goals further out of reach. Again, we recommend that the CCHS amendments be removed from HAP 2.0, with the remaining items being approved.
On Tuesday, you will hear supporters of HAP 2.0 state that it will further fair housing and address homelessness in San Diego. This argument can be applied to other elements of the Housing Action Package, but not to the proposed Complete Communities amendments. I urge the Council to remove the entire set of CCHS amendments and proceed with passage of the remaining package.
Regards, Geoffrey Hueter Chair, Neighbors For A Better San Diego
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