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Home My WebLink About4/21/2026 Item 7b, SLO Coastal Association of Realtors Jocelyn Brennan < To:E-mail Council Website Subject:Item 7 b Attachments:Dear Mayor and Councilmembers (1).pdf Thank you Best regards, Jocelyn Brennan (805) 748-7630 1 Dear Mayor and Councilmembers, On behalf of the San Luis Obispo Coastal Association of REALTORS®, I am writing to provide comments on the proposed updates to the City’s private sewer lateral program. We appreciate the City’s continued efforts to address aging infrastructure and improve the long term reliability of the wastewater system. This is an important goal that we strongly support. We also want to be very clear in our support for removing the existing wastewater flow offset program for new development. The current program has proven to be complex, costly, and difficult to implement, and its removal will help reduce barriers to housing production while still allowing the City to pursue more effective infrastructure strategies. At the same time, we have significant concerns with a point -of-sale requirement for sewer lateral inspection and replacement. Tying these requirements to real estate transactions creates unintended consequences for buyers, sellers, and the broader housing market. It introduces additional costs and uncertainty into escrows, can delay or disrupt transactions, and ultimately impacts home prices and access to homeownership. It is not an effective solution at scale, since only a percentage of homes change hands each year that have poor or failed sewer lateral inspections, meaning a point-of-sale approach would take decades to meaningfully address the broader system. This places the burden on a limited number of property owners rather than addressing the issue comprehensively. We respectfully encourage the Council to pursue alternative approaches that proactively identify and replace poor or failing sewer laterals outside of the point-of-sale process. Expanding incentive-based rebate programs, investing in systemwide solutions, and providing clear, long term predictable pathways for compliance will result in more efficient and equitable outcomes. Thank you for your consideration and for your work on this important issue. We appreciate the opportunity to provide input and look forward to continuing to engage as this discussion moves forward. Sincerely, Jocelyn Brennan Government Affairs Director San Luis Obispo Coastal Association of REALTORS®