HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/22/2023 Item 4a, Jeffries
From:Krista Jeffries <
To:Advisory Bodies
Subject:Downtown Density Program
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Hello Planning Commissioners,
I applaud the city in continuing to prioritize more homes downtown where people already want to live, work, and shop. I
have participated in stakeholder meetings on this item and wish to express my thoughts succinctly.
1. The downtown area has premium land costs and none of it should be mandated for cars. I would support enacting a
parking maximum rather than a parking minimum. This would align the city's goal of Climate Action more appropriately
with the need for housing. There is capacity in the DROP program for downtown residents to park their cars, if needed. I
believe Grover Beach's Flexible Density Plan is a good example of a midway point, which counts homes 600sf and under
as .5 units, homes that are 601sf to 1,000sf as .66, and all larger homes as 1 unit for parking purposes.
2. Constraints on new construction lead me to believe there will be very few opportunities to use this new plan in the
time allotted by the current ordinance. To remedy this, I would propose:
-removing the expiration date
-applying the program to the entire Downtown Planning Area
-removing the 500 unit cap
...or a combination of all three.
3. The choice between using the Downtown Density or the Density Bonus program seems unnecessarily limiting to me.
One email commenter said he wanted the units to be deed-restricted for middle income workers, but under the current
ordinance, a builder using the Downtown Density program would not be allowed to use the Density Bonus at all, which
would allow them to deed restrict units in the first place. With the current environment, all options need to be on the
table if we want to make a dent in abundant and affordable places to live.
Thank you for your dedication to the community.
Krista Jeffries
SLO County YIMBY
Lead Organizer
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805.904.7325
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