BECAUSE CLIMATE CHANGE!
I told ya so!
Reads like a parody...
Of note, SD transit ridership is down 6% from last year.
www.sandiegouniontribune.com
By David Garrick
Oct. 16, 2019
7:24 PM
SAN DIEGO —
San Diego’s new policy wiping out parking requirements for new housing projects built near mass transit cleared a key hurdle Wednesday when the California Coastal Commission unanimously approved allowing the change in the city’s beach areas.
Commission members rejected recommendations from their staff, who said the new policy shouldn’t apply to a large swath of Pacific Beach because it could worsen that area’s already chronic parking shortage.
The commissioners called those concerns overblown and praised the policy as a bold blueprint for the future of beach communities up and down the state.
They endorsed San Diego’s vision of beach communities as geared less toward cars as the dominant mode of transportation and more toward mass transit, bicycling and walking.
“Why would the commission undermine such a forward-looking vision for a beach community?” asked Commissioner Caryl Hart during a public hearing in Chula Vista. “This looks into the future.”
City officials say they expect the policy change, which applies only to new condominium and apartment buildings, to help solve the city’s shortage of affordable housing while also helping fight climate change.
Commissioner Linda Escalante praised those goals and the city’s approach.
“We have to do everything we can to slow down climate change,” she said.
Commissioner Effie Turnbull-Sanders initially expressed concern about allowing the city’s policy to be fully implemented in the coastal zone, an area primarily west of Interstate 5 where the commission has some jurisdiction.
“I think in the long term it’s where we need to go, but I think we’re just not quite there yet,” she said, stressing that San Diego has weak mass transit compared to other major cities.
But Turnbull-Sanders ended up voting in favor of allowing the change.
Commission staff wanted to exempt a chunk of Pacific Beach designated as the “beach impact area,” which is essentially four blocks east of the ocean and four blocks north of Mission Bay.
They said Pacific Beach has many young people – the average age in the community is 33 – who often pack into apartments and each have their own car.
In addition, because many of the community’s apartments and other buildings were constructed prior to the city’s modern parking requirements, the area already has a severe shortage of parking.
Commission staff said they are concerned about the impact of new construction — with no parking spots — that the policy change aims to spur.
“The greater density coupled with no off-street parking means the chronic parking shortages would be greatly exacerbated, further impacting the ability of the public to easily visit the beach, bayfront and boardwalk,” commission staff wrote in a summary of their recommendation.
Commissioner Mike Wilson said the Coastal Commission and other community leaders need to stop looking at things from a vehicle-dominated lens.
“I get the cautionary perspective,” Wilson said. “But we are just going to have to change.”
Commissioner Steve Padilla said he thinks there are strong arguments on both sides but the city’s vision should carry the day.
“I think we put too much emphasis on parking availability for motor vehicles,” said Padilla, calling the city’s approach a key first step in a different direction.
City officials stress that the policy, which the City Council approved 8-1 in March, is based on months of comprehensive research into what other cities have done to spur housing with looser parking rules.
They say the policy will make housing cheaper by eliminating parking requirements that fit poorly in a city where many residents are inclined to use transit, bikes and ride-booking services like Uber and Lyft.
“It is really a bold move by the city,” Alyssa Muto, San Diego’s deputy planning director, told the Coastal Commission on Wednesday.
Critics say the new policy is a giveaway to developers that exaggerates how many city residents will use transit and other alternate transportation methods in coming years.
The new policy eliminates rules requiring developers to create at least one parking spot per unit for most projects and more parking for apartments and condominiums with more bedrooms and more square feet.
It also requires developers to “unbundle” the cost of a parking spot from monthly rent or a condominium purchase price, allowing residents who prefer not to have a car to pay less for housing.
The only neighborhoods eligible for the new policy are those near transit hubs, which are defined as being located within half a mile of a trolley line, a bus rapid transit station or two high-frequency bus routes.
The transit must be operating or scheduled to begin operating within five years.
The new policy doesn’t apply to single-family homes or commercial projects. It is not retroactive; it only applies to new construction.
Supporters say the changes will be gradual and are unlikely to affect car-reliant neighborhoods because developers would still choose to include parking spots in projects there.
Developers aren’t required to build projects with no parking spots, but they can do so if they conduct market studies that show there is strong demand for such housing.
I told ya so!
Reads like a parody...
Of note, SD transit ridership is down 6% from last year.
Coastal Commission OKs San Diego policy wiping out parking requirements
Commission rejects staff suggestion, calls policy, which affects transit areas only, visionary
www.sandiegouniontribune.com
By David Garrick
Oct. 16, 2019
7:24 PM
SAN DIEGO —
San Diego’s new policy wiping out parking requirements for new housing projects built near mass transit cleared a key hurdle Wednesday when the California Coastal Commission unanimously approved allowing the change in the city’s beach areas.
Commission members rejected recommendations from their staff, who said the new policy shouldn’t apply to a large swath of Pacific Beach because it could worsen that area’s already chronic parking shortage.
The commissioners called those concerns overblown and praised the policy as a bold blueprint for the future of beach communities up and down the state.
They endorsed San Diego’s vision of beach communities as geared less toward cars as the dominant mode of transportation and more toward mass transit, bicycling and walking.
“Why would the commission undermine such a forward-looking vision for a beach community?” asked Commissioner Caryl Hart during a public hearing in Chula Vista. “This looks into the future.”
City officials say they expect the policy change, which applies only to new condominium and apartment buildings, to help solve the city’s shortage of affordable housing while also helping fight climate change.
Commissioner Linda Escalante praised those goals and the city’s approach.
“We have to do everything we can to slow down climate change,” she said.
Commissioner Effie Turnbull-Sanders initially expressed concern about allowing the city’s policy to be fully implemented in the coastal zone, an area primarily west of Interstate 5 where the commission has some jurisdiction.
“I think in the long term it’s where we need to go, but I think we’re just not quite there yet,” she said, stressing that San Diego has weak mass transit compared to other major cities.
But Turnbull-Sanders ended up voting in favor of allowing the change.
Commission staff wanted to exempt a chunk of Pacific Beach designated as the “beach impact area,” which is essentially four blocks east of the ocean and four blocks north of Mission Bay.
They said Pacific Beach has many young people – the average age in the community is 33 – who often pack into apartments and each have their own car.
In addition, because many of the community’s apartments and other buildings were constructed prior to the city’s modern parking requirements, the area already has a severe shortage of parking.
Commission staff said they are concerned about the impact of new construction — with no parking spots — that the policy change aims to spur.
“The greater density coupled with no off-street parking means the chronic parking shortages would be greatly exacerbated, further impacting the ability of the public to easily visit the beach, bayfront and boardwalk,” commission staff wrote in a summary of their recommendation.
Commissioner Mike Wilson said the Coastal Commission and other community leaders need to stop looking at things from a vehicle-dominated lens.
“I get the cautionary perspective,” Wilson said. “But we are just going to have to change.”
Commissioner Steve Padilla said he thinks there are strong arguments on both sides but the city’s vision should carry the day.
“I think we put too much emphasis on parking availability for motor vehicles,” said Padilla, calling the city’s approach a key first step in a different direction.
City officials stress that the policy, which the City Council approved 8-1 in March, is based on months of comprehensive research into what other cities have done to spur housing with looser parking rules.
They say the policy will make housing cheaper by eliminating parking requirements that fit poorly in a city where many residents are inclined to use transit, bikes and ride-booking services like Uber and Lyft.
“It is really a bold move by the city,” Alyssa Muto, San Diego’s deputy planning director, told the Coastal Commission on Wednesday.
Critics say the new policy is a giveaway to developers that exaggerates how many city residents will use transit and other alternate transportation methods in coming years.
The new policy eliminates rules requiring developers to create at least one parking spot per unit for most projects and more parking for apartments and condominiums with more bedrooms and more square feet.
It also requires developers to “unbundle” the cost of a parking spot from monthly rent or a condominium purchase price, allowing residents who prefer not to have a car to pay less for housing.
The only neighborhoods eligible for the new policy are those near transit hubs, which are defined as being located within half a mile of a trolley line, a bus rapid transit station or two high-frequency bus routes.
The transit must be operating or scheduled to begin operating within five years.
The new policy doesn’t apply to single-family homes or commercial projects. It is not retroactive; it only applies to new construction.
Supporters say the changes will be gradual and are unlikely to affect car-reliant neighborhoods because developers would still choose to include parking spots in projects there.
Developers aren’t required to build projects with no parking spots, but they can do so if they conduct market studies that show there is strong demand for such housing.
