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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20210305_LegislativePlatformLetter_SB_9City of San Luis Obispo, Office of the City Council, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93401-3249, 805.781.7114, slocity.org March 5, 2021 The Honorable Toni Atkins President pro Tempore, California State Senate State Capitol Building, Room 205 Sacramento, CA 95814 Fax: (916) 651-4939 RE: SB 9 (Atkins) Increased Density in Single-Family Zones Oppose Unless Amended (As Introduced 12/7/2020) Dear Senate President pro Tempore Atkins, The City of San Luis Obispo writes to express an Oppose Unless Amended position on your SB 9, which would require a local government to ministerially approve housing developments containing two residential units in single-family residential zones. Additionally, this measure would require local governments to ministerially approve urban lot splits. Housing affordability and homelessness are among the most critical issues facing California cities. The City of San Luis Obispo has its own range of programs, including a Missing Middle Housing Program, to help address this challenge. Cities lay the groundwork for housing production by planning and zoning new projects in their communities based on extensive public input and engagement, state housing laws, and the needs of the building industry. Housing production, including affordable housing, are at the highest levels they have been in San Luis Obispo in over 30 years. Housing production is a Major City Goal for our community. While your desire to pursue a housing production proposal is appreciated, SB 9 as currently drafted, would not spur much needed housing construction in a manner that supports local flexibility, decision-making, and community input. State driven ministerial or by-right housing approval processes fail to recognize the extensive public engagement associated with developin g and adopting zoning ordinances and housing elements that are certified by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). In the interest of local control, the City of San Luis Obispo i n the process of implementing its own “Missing Middle Housing” program to increase the number of available housing units to all income levels. Missing Middle Housing is a range of house-scale buildings with multiple units that are compatible in scale and form with detached single -family homes located in a walkable neighborhood. The City of San Luis Obispo requests the following amendments which will address our concerns and remove our opposition: • Require that a property owner using SB 9 is limited to constructing two residential units total, not two residential units and additional accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on the same parcel; • Allow local governments to require access for police, fire and other public safety vehicles and equipment consistent with local standards and requirements; • Prohibit developers from using SB 9 in very high fire hazard severity zones; • Allow cities to determine a range of lot sizes suitable for SB 9 development projects; • Ensure HCD provides Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) credit for production of SB 9 units; • Allow local governments to apply policies and standards that address local conditions related to hillsides, environmental protection, lot dimensions, natural hazards, available infrastructure, including water and wastewater capacity, etc. when approving or denying housing project applications; • Ensure large-scale investors and builders do not exploit SB 9 provisions. The City of San Luis Obispo is committed to being part of the solution to the housing shortfall across all income levels and will continue to work collaboratively with you to spur much needed housing construction. However, one size fits all solutions fail to recognize the significa nt commitment and contributions to affordable housing production of cities like San Luis Obispo, resulting in ill-fitted proposals that create more problems than they solve and thwart progress in communities like ours. Thank you for considering the above amendments. For these reasons, the City of San Luis Obispo opposes SB 9 (Atkins) unless it is amended to address our concerns. Sincerely, Heidi Harmon Mayor City of San Luis Obispo cc. San Luis Obispo City Council Senator John Laird, Fax: (916) 651-4017 State Assembly Member Jordan Cunningham, Fax: (916) 319-2135 Dave Mullinax, League of California Cities, dmullinax@cacities.org Meg Desmond, League of California Cities, mdesmond@cacities.org League of California Cities (Via email: cityletters@cacities.org)