OCEANSIDE — The City Council recently agreed to an 86-unit per-acre housing density cap for developments in the downtown area.
The council voted 3-2 in favor of the cap on Oct. 18, with Mayor Esther Sanchez and Councilmember Peter Weiss opposed. The council previously failed to agree on a new cap earlier this month with a split vote due to Sanchez’s absence after she fell ill with COVID-19.
The new cap reverses the city’s previous decision to remove density limits altogether in the downtown area. Prior to that 2019 decision, downtown Oceanside had a 43-unit per acre density cap.
Removing the density cap proved to be the wrong choice, especially when combined with the state’s density bonus law, which led to development projects far denser than anticipated, like the 712 Seagaze project, an eight-story development with 115 studio apartments and 64 hotel rooms on a 0.36-acre lot.
With unlimited density, the Seagaze project was penciled out to be equivalent to a 321-unit per acre density.
To rein in the density, staff proposed setting a new cap at 100 units per acre for mixed-use projects downtown, with additional incentives for developers to build more affordable housing. This would have included allowing a 75% density bonus on top of the 100-unit cap if developers offered 15% affordable housing for very low-income households, or 20% low-income, and a 35% density bonus at 30% moderate income.
If the staff’s original proposal passed, downtown mixed-use projects could exceed 200 units if developers invoked the maximum density bonus allowed.
While council members weren’t keen on the staff’s proposal, they varied on exactly how to cap the downtown area density.
Councilmember Rick Robinson’s motion to implement the 100-unit cap without staff’s density bonus enhancements failed by a 2-3 vote, with Robinson and Weiss voting in favor, and Sanchez, Deputy Mayor Ryan Keim and Councilmember Eric Joyce opposed.
Both Joyce and Sanchez agreed that 100 units would be too many.
According to City Planner Sergio Madera, the staff’s original proposal was based on feedback from developers who explained they need around 175 units per acre to make certain projects feasible.
Joyce suggested the 86-unit cap — double the historic 43-unit per acre density — without the additional density bonus enhancements. In the end, Joyce earned Keim and Robinson’s approval, and the motion passed.
“If we find we do not have enough incentives to build downtown, which I highly doubt because it’s the most sought-after space in our entire city, then we can raise it up to 100,” Joyce said. “We can make that decision a year from now, but why go all the way up the very first chance we get?”
While Sanchez agreed, the mayor wanted an even lower cap at 75 units per acre.
“I wanted to go back to 43, believe it or not, but 75 is closer to the middle,” Sanchez said. “We can always raise it if it does not meet our needs.”
Sanchez noted she did not vote in favor of removing the downtown density cap in 2019.
