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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/28/1970Pledge Roll Call Present.: City Staff MINUTES ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA September 28, 1970 - 7:30 P.M. City Hall Emmons Blake, Myron Graham, Arthur F. Spring, Donald Q. Miller, Kenneth E. Schwartz Present: R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer; J. H. Fitzpatrick, City Clerk; D. F. Romero, City Engineer; R. D. Young, Planning Director; E. Rodgers, Police Chief. 1. Mayor Schwartz stated that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss prob- lems of housing in the City of San Luis Obispo including private and public development.. Councilman Miller stated that the housing shortage is not only a problem in San Luis Obispo, but is. a critical problem nationwide. He quoted several national experts on housing emphasizing the housing crisis in this country. He continued that in his opinion the number one culprit in the housing short- age is the lack of. mortgage money for housing and the high cost for such money. He stated that other deterents to housing development are the cost of labor and materials, the high cost of land and the restrictive zoning laws. within the City of San Luis Obispo. Mayor Schwartz declared the public hearing open. Lew Weigold, realtor, presented.a report to the City Council which was pre- pared by the United California Bank entitled "The Soaring Cost of Housing and Home Ownership." He continued that the report stated the reasons for the housing shortage and lack of development are the following: 1) cost of materials, 2) high labor costs, 3) financing costs, 4) land costs, and 5) building restrictions. He continued that as a professional realtor he felt that the biggest problem in San Luis Obispo and a great deterent to develop- ment are the highly restrictive zoning and building laws within the City. He felt that the City Council and Planning Commission must reduce their require- ments for curbs, gutters,.sidewalks, underground utilities, etc. that make for high land development cost Jim Bean,.Manager, San Luis Obispo County Building Contractors, Association, stated that he felt that many of the problems in San Luis Obispo in procuring decent housing had been due to the restrictive City building codes and arbi- trary enforcement by the building inspectors. He suggested that the Planning Commission and the City Council get together and study the regulations in an attempt to modernize them to take advantage of new concepts and new materials. He felt that the City Building Department was too restrictive and narrow in its interpretation of the Uniform Building Code. He then listed for the Councilrs information, several examples of this type of restriction where high class inspection standards had increased the cost of the building. He also.felt that the delays in the Building Department in approving plans for the issuance of permits added to the building cost. Mace Falkerson, Vice President of Great Western Savings and Loan Association, stated that he attended this meeting to see if there were any questions that he could answer. Mayor Schwartz then read a progress report prepared by the City Housing Authority regarding their program and the difficulties under which they were attempting to develop housing for.the underprivileged of San Luis Obispo. Lee Balatti, Chairman of the City Housing Authority, suggested that the City Council appoint a working.committee on housing to formulate recommendations for short as well as .long range solutions to housing development in the City of San Luis Obispo. City Council Minutes September 28, 1970 Page 2 L. R. Shattuck, Manager of Mustang Village, stated that recently he had been instrumental in organizing the apartment house owners and managers in the com- munity in an attempt to gain more rapport with Cal Poly students and other apartment house dwellers in the City. He continued that he felt this type of association could do much to handle problems in the rental field before mass confrontation took place. He continued that he felt rent for apartments in San Luis Obispo were within the same range as charges in other communities with colleges and universities. He criticized the City Council for the recently enacted business license ordinance requiring business licenses for apartment houses which he felt was just one more factor in increasing rents in the City. He concluded that he hoped the City would cooperate and not pass any new laws or.regulations which-would be reflected in higher rents. Harry Woolpert, Attorney, stated that he had been helping a group of citizens organize a tenants' association to allow the tenants and renters of property to meet and arbitrate rental problems with property owners. He suggested that the City cooperate with both the owners' and managers' association and the tenants' association in attempts to adjudicate rental problems in order to sidetrack any possible housing problems generated by a lack of understanding between landlords and the tenants. He also suggested that the City Council adopt a renters court to protect renters in the com- munity. He felt that the City Council should amend- the.City zoning laws to eliminate any racial or minority discrimination within the City. He also felt that the City Council should rewrite the building code so that new, and imaginative housing could be developed in the community. . Ray Steffi asked why Cal Poly administrative representatives were not.at the meeting as their institution had caused the rental shortage in the community by their extremely high enrollment. Councilman Miller stated that he had not invited any representatives from the Cal Poly staff. Paul Banke, Cal Poly Student Body President, stated that it was his feeling that the City should not build apartments for rent but felt that the City Council should take-the lead in- encouraging the development of housing for students and townspeople.- He hoped that there was.some way the City.Council could consider granting some type of tax incentive to new housing develop- ments. He also hoped that the City Council, through the City Housing Authority, would take the-lead in further development.of low rent housing for the low income family and for students. Vern Dillon, builder, asked the cause of the denial by the Planning Commission of the proposed Deeter development on Los Osos Road. Mayor Schwartz stated that the matter of the denial by the Planning Commission was under consideration by the City Council on- appeal and that the Council could not legally discuss it without possibly,prejudicing.John Deeter's . appeal. Vern Dillon then stated that as a housing builder -he found the cost of land in San Luis Obispo just too high to build residential buildings.at a reason- able cost. Mark Norris-, Cal Poly student, questioned the need for further housing as he felt that what should be controlled is-the population to fit the housing available. Charles Delmartini, realtor, asked if money were available for loan in San Luis Obispo now for construction or other multiple dwellings. Mace Fulkerson, Great Western Savings, stated that the money market was very tight at this time. He-continued that. nationally it-looke.d .Like the federal government was trying to loosen up mortgage money for housing development but what the mortgage situation would be in 30 to 60 days was unknown as it fluctuated that fast in today's economy. He then explained the sources of funds that were available to savings and loan associations which were primarily investment in savings by private individuals.and when the stock market was bad, investors put their money in savings and loans, but due to the high demand for money at this time and the high rate of interest on money, savers were not now'investing in savings and loan associations. City Council Minutes SeptM ier 28, J970 Page 3 Charles Delmartini stated for the record, that anyone, whether an individual or a_company,.who developed apartments or other multiple development in the community were developing it for a profit and.expected a fair return on their investment i.ncluding management.. Ann Fowler, instructor at Cal Poly,.suggested.that the community should allow student.designed, developed and build homes on land adjacent to the City . where they could.share the expense and management of a communal living estab- lishment. It could be developed by selling shares in the development for future redemption. Doug.Scott, student, asked if the City.or the Housing Authority had looked into the HUD "Project Breakthrough." A.Ilan Johnson, Vice Chairman of the Housing Authority, stated that thi.s type of HUD program also would be developed by Large groups of developers for large.housi.ng operations in the larger cities. Ron Benzer, developer and builder, felt that the housing problem in San Luis Obispo was caused first by the high.cost,of land, the high rate of interest on money, the expensive labor and.materials cost in this area and the ex- pensive.permit and license requirements by the State and City agencies. He felt that some of these problems could be alleviated if the County assessor could raise the assessments on the land in direct proportion to its selling price. He also recommended that the City Council relax its zoning and building code enforcement, reduce the high permit fees and eliminate the license fees for developers in the City. Bob Newhart, Cal Poly student; urged the Council and Cal Poly staff to get together to try to control the, growth at Cal.Poly so that.the student. growth and availability of housing could keep somewhere in the same proportion. Jim Bean suggested that the City.Counci.l might appoint a committee to look into other approaches for housing development.and come up with some good rental housing at a fair rent and legitimate profit to the developer. Mayor Schwartz declared the public hearing closed.. Councilman Spring felt that the City housing problem was caused primarily by the large enrollment at Cal Poly and the need for additional faculty to handle this - enrollment. He felt that the State legislature should take.steps to hold down the enrollment.when housing in the community was not.available. Councilman Miller agreed with the suggestion for the formation of a committee to study new methods and approaches to rental housing in the City. He also felt that the City Council.should take a careful look at their zoning ordin- ances and reduce the lot.size in the R -1 zones as he felt less and less people were interested in or could afford.the.luxury of an R -1 lot with all its open space. He also felt the City Council-should create more multiple zoning in the City particularly on major thoroughfares like Johnson Avenue and Foothill Boulevard. He questioned the need of the developer being required to provide open space in subdivisions and also in the middle of private housing, large paved areas for off street parking. He felt that one solution might be the banning of motor vehicles owned by private individuals in certain areas of the City. He also felt that Cal Poly had been very cooperative with the City but that the enrollment figures at the college were determined by the College Board of Trustees and the legislature. He also felt that the City taxpayers should be asked to put-in some housing for rental to students and low income families by using the revenue from a new tax at the gas pump of 2¢ per gallon and putting the money to work to develop housing. Councilman Graham.wondered if the City was qualified to discuss rental rates and /or construction cost within the City or even consider building rental property. He also stated that the fees for permits and licenses were based on the cost to the individual developer for services to the developer and should not be paid for by the general taxpayer of the City. The cost should be paid for by the one who benefited from the development of the lots and the sale.,of the buildings. It was his opinion that factory built housing was an element in the housing picture that would reduce construction cost and would allow large developers to develop rental complexes economically. City Council Minutes September 28, 1970 Page 4 Councilman Blake did not feel that it was realistic to blame the City for any Lack of housing in the community nor did he feel that.relaxing City codes or permits or other rules would add to the housing inventory. He felt that any relaxation of the Uniform Building Code would only allow a lower quality of housing in the City and further as the U.B.C. was only a minimum standard, that anything built less than this standard would be inferior construction.: He continued that everything brought up this even- ing could be built or developed within the existing building codes and , zoning Laws. Mayor Schwartz.thanked the Telegram Tribune for the excellent series of articles recently concluded on housing problems in.the City of San Luis Obispo. He then presented figures on the rates of increases of cost of land, money, materials and labor over the period of 1960 -1970. He did not feel that relaxing the rules on zoning and building codes would develop any additional housing in the City. He also stated that the existing City zoning ordinance was one of the more advanced zoning ordin- ances in 'the State of California and that anything mentioned tonight such as smaller lots, higher density, etc. could be done within the rules-and regulations of the City of San Luis Obispo. He continued that he felt these problems could be solved,. not easily, but if everyone would work together anything could be done that needed to be done. He suggested that if any builder or developer who felt that the City regulations were op- pressive could document.the matter, the City Council would be most happy to go over the problem with him. Mayor Schwartz thanked the people present for attending the meeting and ' particularly those who took part in the discussion stating that it was only through this type of meeting that the City Council . could be made aware of the individual.citizen's feelings on such matters as housing. 10:05 P.M. Mayor Schwartz called a recess. 10:15 P.M. Council reconvened with all members present. 2. The City Council adjourned to executive session to discuss a personnel matter., 3. On motion of Counci.Iman Blake, seconded by Councilman Spring, that the meeting adjourn to 12:00 Noon, Tuesday, September 29, 1970;.at the Motel Inn for a study session with representatives of the Cal Poly administrative staff. Motion carried: J :F RICK, CITY CLERK APPROVED: November.2, 1970 1