ENCINITAS — Zoning and housing requirements outlined in a pair of state housing bills signed into law last year will soon see implementation in Encinitas.
Assembly Bill 2011 and Senate Bill 6 direct cities to approve housing projects in commercial and retail zones if they meet certain criteria. State legislators hope the laws will help address the housing shortage by streamlining the building process and creating jobs.
The Encinitas City Council unanimously passed a resolution directing city staff to update zoning regulations and the Local Coastal Program to match the bills’ guidelines in a meeting Wednesday.
“This legislation will help create millions of desperately needed new homes and protect the workers who will build it,” said Doug McCarron, general president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters.
Assembly Bill 2011 gives affordable and mixed-income housing projects by-right approval in commercial zones, and Senate Bill 6 is aimed at high-density housing for middle-class residents by allowing residential use in commercial zones without rezoning.
The bills are similar in their requirements for zoning — developments must be in areas used for retail, offices or parking — and workers’ rights — workers must be paid prevailing wages and developers must comply with labor standards.
AB 2011, also known as the Affordable Housing High Road Jobs Act, requires the city to approve new housing projects for at least five units if they meet one of two criteria — the projects must be either 100% affordable or a combination of affordable and market-rate units.
The law also requires retail use on the ground floor and parking spaces for bikes, electric vehicles and vehicles with ADA placards.
SB 6, also known as the Middle-Class Housing Act, will help expedite high-density housing projects in underutilized areas zoned for large retail, office and parking spaces.
Patty Anders, the city’s policy and housing planning manager, said there are no current applications for housing developments that meet the criteria in these bills.
Resident Dolores Welty worried about how standards in the bills could clash with local needs and felt that residents in buildings with 100% affordable rental units could lack a sense of ownership and pride in the overall upkeep of the grounds and structures.
“There have been a lot of studies that show if a multi-building is all renters, nobody keeps it up except the landlord who is usually living in New York. But if about 60% of the building is owners, they keep up their part,” Welty said. “They pick up in the hallways and elevators, even take care of the grounds sometimes a little bit, and that pressure keeps everyone else keeping their part of the building up, as well, and buildings do not deteriorate quickly.”
Deputy Mayor Joy Lyndes and Councilmember Kellie Hinze shared some cosmetic concerns related to affordable housing. Lyndes wanted to pursue adding greenery to roofs and protecting mature trees in neighborhoods, while Hinze wanted developments’ colors and architectural styles to match the surrounding landscape.
Councilmember Bruce Ehlers and Mayor Tony Kranz pushed back against the requirement for ground-floor retail under AB 2011.
“Can I do the opposite?” Ehlers said. “Can I laterally separate and put zoning that would say you can’t put it on the ground floor?”
Ehlers said the Bier Garden, which sits below condos, has drawn complaints over the years from residents living above the popular downtown restaurant and bar, a problem likely mitigated by the lateral placement of retail.
Kranz agreed that retail is not necessarily preferable to housing or amenities at the street level.
“I wouldn’t preclude allowing retail, but I personally would prefer to give the developer an option,” Kranz said.
Hinze, on the other hand, liked the requirement.
“I feel strongly that we should be requiring retail because if we’re not, we run the risk of having really long blocks where there’s nothing there,” Hinze said, adding that she doesn’t want to have more areas where you have to use a car to run an errand.
Anders said she would need to consult the “very specific, very detailed and very lengthy” bills to see if changing the ground-floor retail requirement is an option.
While the zoning requirements are state-mandated, each city is responsible for implementing the guidelines locally.
