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)