HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/13/2018 Item 9, Lopes
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November 11, 2018
City Council
City of San Luis Obispo
RE: City Council Consent Agenda Item 9: Density Bonus for 3680 Broad Street;
Applicant: Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo
Dear Mayor Harmon and Council Members:
In my campaign for City Council, I repeated the need to focus new affordable housing
development on commercial properties and within shopping centers. This project will
result in exactly what I encouraged: Almost all of the units will be affordable to
incomes below the median income.
First, I have a few comments about the proposal, which would change the use
of the commercial building upstairs from commercial to residential. The parking
locations for the proposal should be identified. The large street-facing windows may
not block the highway-speed noise from Broad Street effectively for residential living.
Perhaps they should be re-located to the interior side with balcony access. The
balconies are too narrow for practical use and should be deepened to five to six feet
with appropriate supports.
Second, this project exemplifies what a robust affordable housing program
might achieve with private development. The City needs staff experts who can
provide similar incentives to private developers, including specialized affordable
housing builders. Planning staff need to be skilled in using the range of potential
financial and timing incentives for applicants, and the transition should be brought
forward to your Council as soon as possible.
If the City reforms its housing planning, it probably could attract similar
projects as this one. By doing this, the City could be freed from the onerous State
requirements currently allowing developers to propose small, token numbers of
affordable units and gain zoning exceptions. Only 10 additional projects are needed
at the 45 affordable-unit size as this one, to exceed the long-standing Regional
Housing Needs Allocation for the City, which totals 421 housing units (Table 2 of the
staff report). Your Council should ask staff to start now to inventory commercial and
shopping center parcels, identify a range of potential affordable units, and report to
you on pro-active, strategic approaches to developing them with mixed-use
affordable housing.
Sincerely,
James Lopes
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