SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The San Diego City Council rejected the mayor's sweeping package of reforms designed to make building homes faster and easier in a 5-3 vote Monday night.
Councilmembers Sean Elo-Rivera, Joe LaCava, Jennifer Campbell, Monica Montgomery Steppe and Kent Lee voted no on agenda item 601. The yes votes came from councilmembers Stephen Whitburn, Marni Von Wilpert and Vivian Moreno. Raul Campillo was absent from the vote.
Nicole Lillie stood with fellow college students to urge the city council to vote yes on the so-called Housing Action Package 2.0.
"They incentivize and allow for off-campus development, especially within one mile of the universities, which would be super beneficial for students," said Lillie.
Lillie also supports the plan's increased incentives for accessory dwelling units, also known as "Granny Flats."
"An accessory dwelling unit is the only way that I am able to afford the rent I have in Clairemont," said Lillie.
The package includes 11 lengthy proposals. The mayor says the plan, among other things, allows for the construction of more homes near transit, more flexibility to build homes on public property, and relaxed parking requirements for construction near transit.
The plan also incentivizes building homes on underutilized commercial sites, like strip malls.
"Our city has under built housing for decades, and this is just another opportunity for us to take a step forward," said city planning director Heidi Vonblum.
But critics say one aspect of the plan is a significant step back. It's an amendment that allows developers to move affordable units off-site to another location.
"You should not be able to segregate that into a different community. Otherwise, it only furthers the concentration of poverty in those neighborhoods," said one speaker.
"It allows for affordable homes located in a different portion of the city as long as it is located in an area that has a higher access to opportunity," said Vonblum.
Geoff Hueter is the chair of Neighbors for a Better San Diego.
He's strongly against the off-site option for affordable housing.
He also thinks the city should focus on building near existing transit.
"We built this really expensive transit that connects SDSU, USD, UCSD, and we should be locating student housing along that high-quality transit system as opposed to just pushing it out to various neighborhoods," said Hueter.
Under state law, San Diego is required to build more than 108,000 new homes by 2029.
"We've created the capacity to build over two million homes and only need 100,000. We clearly don't have a capacity problem, said Hueter.
Although the city council rejected the proposal, it did agree to send the matter back to committee for further discussion.
