Mayor Todd Gloria Friday signed his second Housing Action Package into law in an effort to make it easier to build homes that low- and middle-income San Diegans can afford.
The sweeping Housing Action Plan 2.0 was approved 7-1 by the City Council in December with the intent to expedite new units constructed across the city and focused on helping create single-room occupancy units for San Diegans experiencing homelessness.
Housing advocates praised the decision.
“Permit Now is smart government,” said the Building Industry Association of San Diego, a nonprofit housing advocacy group, in a press release praising the new law.
“This allows a project to have clear direction from the beginning, not the back and forth that costs everyone time, money and frustration.”
The plan includes amendments to the Land Development Code to preserve existing affordable homes and encourage the construction of more new homes.
“All our efforts to build more homes are about making sure we have enough supply to drive down the cost of housing, so we can put people’s hard- earned dollars back in their pockets,” Gloria said. “HAP 2.0 is a part of that, and today’s signing sets on a path to make 2024 a banner year for housing in San Diego.”
At the council meeting where the plan was passed, Councilmember Stephen Whitburn said many San Diegans without a home are living in their cars, at the homes of friends and families or in shelters. By creating more low-income housing units, the city could reduce overall homelessness numbers, he said.
“We have a moral obligation to get them into housing,” Whitburn said, reminding his colleagues and those listening that many people experiencing homelessness for the first time were seniors who had been priced out of their homes. “They don’t need treatment, they need a home.”
The package of amendments also includes incentives for homes for students and in areas with greater access to jobs and high-performing schools.
A similar housing package was rejected by the City Council in November, amid concerns over inequity. One of the most debated elements in Gloria’s proposal was to allow developers who participate in the city’s Complete Communities program to build market-rate and the required units of affordable housing in separate locations.
The revised package limits such off-site building to within the same community planning area and city council district or within three miles of the development. It also revised fee waivers for homes with more than three bedrooms to be deed-restricted to households who make no more than 150% of the Area Median Income.
Public opinions on the plan varied widely, with some describing provisions in the HAP 2.0 as “redlining” — a discriminatory practice used to prohibit minorities from purchasing homes in certain neighborhoods — and others as a necessity to allow San Diegans to continue to live in one of the country’s most expensive cities.
Councilwoman Jennifer Campbell, who voted no on the package, said the revisions to HAP 2.0 didn’t address her concerns.
“This version continues to send affordable units away from new developments,” she said.
Other facets of the plan include fighting for environmental justice in communities of concern — such as Barrio Logan with noise and air pollution from heavy industry — making parking requirements more flexible and turning underused strip malls and parking lots into homes.
Gloria’s first Housing Action Package was passed in 2022.
City News Service contributed to this report.
