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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/8/2022 Item 5a, Kovesdi Delgado, Adriana Rachel Kovesdi <rachel@kovesdiconsulting.com> Sent:Wednesday, June To:Advisory Bodies Subject:Planning Commission Item 5a Attachments:IHO PC Letter 6-7-2022.pdf This message is from an External Source. Use caution when deciding to open attachments, click links, or respond. Good Afternoon, Attached please find correspondence related to tonight’s Planning Commission consideration of Inclusionary Housing Ordinance updates. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks and very best regards, RKK Rachel Kovesdi Kovesdi Consulting 3940-7 Broad Street, #139 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 (805) 471-2948 Rachel@KovesdiConsulting.com 1 3940-7 Broad Street, #139 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 (805) 471-2948 Rachel@KovesdiConsulting.com A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION “Building Legacies” June 7, 2022 To: City of San Luis Obispo Planning Commission From: Rachel Kovesdi Re: Inclusionary Housing Ordinance Dear Chair Quincey, Honorable Commissioners, I hope you’re all doing well. Thank you for your efforts to update the City’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance. I am writing specifically to encourage you to recommend retention of Table 2-A, preferably in the modified form proposed by the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce Inclusionary Housing Task Force. (See June 1, 2022 Chamber letter.) Your staff correctly reports that “Table 2-A was established as a part of the IHO to encourage the development of projects with higher density and smaller unit sizes, that would be considered affordable-by-design within the City. Table 2-A has been very successful in achieving this goal....” (emphasis mine). I can attest that in planning the San Luis Ranch Specific Plan residential product mix, Table 2-A did, indeed, lead to smaller, more densely clustered units, which are affordable to a larger segment of the City’s workforce. The average residential unit size in the San Luis Ranch Specific Plan area landed at approximately 1,000 square feet, significantly smaller than the Citywide average. While the market rate units at San Luis Ranch do not qualify as affordable under the IHO, the price point of these “affordable- by-design” units is up to 50% lower than the median residential listing in the City. Table 2-A supported our efforts at San Luis Ranch to provide a wide range of housing products, so that City residents can find a unit that fits their needs now, and build equity that can be converted into larger units that fit their needs later. This “ownership ladder” allows the City’s workforce, particularly those from historical disadvantaged groups, to build generational wealth and financial security. The Affordable Housing Nexus Study, prepared by DRA, cites “the potential for influencing developer’s choice of project size and density” as a reason to eliminate Table 2-A. I would argue that’s the best reason to keep it. While Table 2-A cannot, on its own, produce all of the affordable units the City needs, it is a critical tool to drive down unit sizes and increase density, creating more opportunities for home ownership for the City’s workforce. We do not throw out our hammers because they don’t function well as screwdrivers. While other tools (like those proposed by the Chamber) are clearly required to maximize production of affordable units in the City, Table 2-A 3940-7 Broad Street, #139 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 (805) 471-2948 Rachel@KovesdiConsulting.com must be kept in the toolbox, to continue encouraging more “affordable-by-design” residential developments. Until the City identifies another method to incentivize smaller, denser, more “affordable-by-design” housing units, I encourage you to recommend maintaining a modified Table 2-A in the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance. I appreciate your thoughtful consideration and look forward to continued collaboration as we work to provide high-quality housing for our entire community. Very best regards, Rachel Kovesdi Kovesdi Consulting