HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/2/2019 Item 12, Keisler
Purrington, Teresa
From:john keisler <rebjohn50@hotmail.com>
Sent:Wednesday, March 27, 2019 12:52 PM
To:Allan Cooper; Codron, Michael; sfowler@slocity.org; E-mail Council Website
Subject:Re: Housing Update Report As It Relates To Growth Management
Thank you Allen,
Your findings, 2% growth are very interesting. This information, along with the housing and student
enrollment growth at Cal Poly, should be a concern of the City Council, staff and residents of San
Obispo. Current infra-structures, streets, traffic, traffic lights, parking, parks, etc. and services, sewer and
water, are inadequate and only getting worse.
John Keisler,
Concerned Citizen
From: Allan Cooper <saveourdowntownslo@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2019 11:27 AM
To: Codron, Michael; sfowler@slocity.org; emailcouncil@slocity.org
Subject: Housing Update Report As It Relates To Growth Management
Dear Michael and Xzandrea -
First, I would like to thank you Michael for coordinating Save Our
Downtown's very productive meeting with Charlene, Cara and
Rachel last Monday. And it was great having you join us Andy. We
learned a lot!
Now back to the Housing Update Report. As I've mentioned before,
the SLO General Plan states that “the City shall manage the growth
of the City's housing supply so that it does not exceed one percent
per year, on average, based on thresholds established by Land
Use Element Table 3, excluding dwellings affordable to residents
with extremely low, very low or low incomes as defined by the
Housing Element”. The General Plan continues to state that the
City Council shall review the rate of growth on an annual basis in
conjunction with the General Plan annual report to ensure consistency with
the City’s gradual assimilation policy.
On February 27, 2019, the Planning Commission received the 2018 General Plan Annual
Report, staff gathered the Commission’s input and recommendations and now the report
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will be forwarded to Council for final acceptance. My first question is when will the City
Council review this Annual Report?
Though there was mention in this Annual Report of the non-residential growth rate, there
was no mention of the residential growth rate. I drew the Planning Commission’s
attention to this. I mistakenly expected that this residential growth rate would later be
included in your Housing Update which the Council will be reviewing on April 2, 2019 but,
again, there is no mention of this residential growth rate (i.e., in percentages) in your April
2nd staff report. So my second question is when will this residential growth rate be
presented to Council and why wasn't this information shared with the Planning
Commission?
Permit me to explain why I am concerned about this.
On January 1, 2014 there were 17,855 housing units in San Luis Obispo (source:
American FactFinder). Since then, your Housing Update reported that there were 1,011
units built (i.e., a 1.1% per year growth rate) which would total 18,866 housing units.
However, your report states that there are presently 21,416 housing units within the city.
My question to you is where did the extra 2,550 units come from? Perhaps the answer to
this question follows.
The City helpfully publishes a list of projects currently under construction on its website.
This list is titled “Current Development Projects in San Luis Obispo, California”. This list is
not comprehensive. The list does not include projects smaller than 5 units nor does it
include recently completed projects. This list includes 2,346 exempted and non-exempted
units currently under construction as well as 413 units under planning review, 221 units
under building review and 630 units under the category “specific plans”. However, this
increase in non-exempted housing (2,068 housing units) currently under construction
represents 10.4% of our total housing inventory. Is it possible that these 2,068 housing
units account for the period between April 2, 2019 and December 31, 2020? If this is the
case, then SLO, at a minimum, will have averaged a 2.5% growth in housing per year over
the seven year period between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2020
Finally, your Housing Update report states that our new RHNA mandates that an
additional 3,354 units be accommodated into SLO between December 31, 2020 to
December 31, 2028 and this would result in a 2% per year growth rate.
So here is my final question to you. Don’t the citizens of San Luis Obispo (far less the City
Council) deserve to know that, regardless of what the General Plan stipulates, we were,
currently are, and will be departing from the 1% per year housing growth rate?
Thank you in advance for any information you may be able to provide me on this important
topic!
Allan Cooper, Secretary - Save Our Downtown, San Luis Obispo, CA
Website: www.SaveOurDowntownSLO.com
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