As part of his commitment to build more housing that San Diegans can actually afford, Mayor Todd Gloria secured City Council approval on a major piece of his “Homes For All of Us” initiative – the first of multiple Housing Action Packages that take a comprehensive approach to creating more housing.
“The failure to create new homes to accommodate the population growth we have long known was coming has been disastrous for our families, regional economy and quality of life. That’s why we are responding aggressively to this issue, with policy changes and programs that will help us build more housing at prices that are reasonable for our residents,” Mayor Todd Gloria said. “I thank the City Council for approving this sensible package of reforms to meaningfully address our housing shortage.”
“We must create opportunities for everyone to access housing,” said City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera. “’Homes For All of Us’ addresses our deepening housing crisis by providing more affordable homes to San Diegans and creating more opportunities for middle- and low-income families to benefit from living in high-opportunity neighborhoods. While our housing crisis cannot and will not be solved overnight, ‘Homes For All of Us’ will help us turn the tide on an issue that is impacting so many San Diego families.”
“As housing prices and rents continue to rise, we must take action to ensure that San Diegans have housing opportunities that accommodate their needs,” added City Councilmember Vivian Moreno, chair of the Council’s Land Use and Housing Committee. “The ‘Homes For All of Us’ housing package contains critical updates to our city regulations that will allow more housing to be built for people of all income levels. Anything we can do to incentivize production of units for moderate income families – particularly those with more than two bedrooms -- is critical, because we need to make sure that people like teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers, librarians, and many others have access to housing across every community in our city.”
“Homes for All of Us,” which Mayor Gloria announced in July, features multiple Housing Action Packages, each consisting of a suite of amendments to City development regulations and property use that speed up housing production. The items in the first Housing Action Package, approved by the City Council today, include the following reforms:
Senate Bill 9 implementation: Implements the state law allowing the split of a single-family lot into two lots, and permitting up to two new homes on each lot. The City’s implementation is aimed at preserving neighborhood quality while providing more opportunities for affordable housing in all communities.
Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ordinance amendments: Amends the City’s existing ADU ordinance to make it consistent with SB 9 on privacy, landscaping and development impact fees.
Housing at City facilities: Streamlines the process for building affordable and middle-income homes on City-owned sites.
Affordable housing in all communities: Encourages affordable housing construction in communities with little to no affordable housing. To meet the City’s climate and equity goals, the homes must be built near transit and in “high resource” areas — areas close to good-paying jobs that have low levels of air and water pollution and a high educational achievement.
Employee Housing Incentive Program: Provides incentives for non-residential developments to pay into a San Diego Housing Commission fund that will be used to develop affordable homes.
Live/work flexibility: Currently, the City allows for the development of live/work units that function as both a home and place of business. This proposal would further facilitate the production of live/work units to allow for more work-from-home and telework opportunities.
Housing Accessibility Program: Provides incentives to include more accessible housing for people with disabilities, with adequate space in kitchens and bathrooms and accessible routes throughout the building. As San Diego’s population ages, creating accessible homes is an important way to ensure more residents can remain and live independently in San Diego.
Housing for families: Provides incentives for multifamily housing developments to build homes with three or more bedrooms to ensure that families of all sizes have opportunities for housing.
A second Housing Action Package will begin to move through the City’s approval process shortly. It will include an opt-in to Senate Bill 10, which will make it easier to build apartments close to mass transit, as well as recommendations from Mayor Gloria’s Middle-Income Housing Working Group and additional amendments to the City’s Land Development Code related to the production of housing.
“Homes For All of Us” also includes Blueprint SD, which is a new approach for the City of San Diego’s community planning process that will align with climate and housing goals.
What do you think of the new housing efforts? Let the city know your feedback here.
