Written Communications
Item 8.1 – Cate
Received 5/ 21/ 2024
From: Chris Cate <
Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2024 10: 02 AM
To: Council District 4 < District4@chulavistaca. gov>; CityClerk < CityClerk@chulavistaca. gov>; Council District 1 < District1@chulavistaca. gov>; Maria Kachadoorian < mkachadoorian@chulavistaca. gov>; Jose Preciado < jpreciado@chulavistaca. gov>; Alonso Gonzalez < agonzalez@chulavistaca. gov>; John McCann jmccann@chulavistaca. gov>; Laura Black < lblack@chulavistaca. gov> Subject: BIA Comment Letter Regarding Item 8. 1
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PleasefindtheattachedcommentletterregardingItem8.1 ontonight's agenda.
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ChrisCate | Founder
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The Honorable John McCann
Mayor
City of Chula Vista
276 Fourth Avenue
Chula Vista, CA 91910
Re: Comments for Item 8.1 – Housing Policy
Dear Mayor McCann,
On behalf of the Building Industry Association of SanDiego County (BIA), I’d like to expressour general support for the various housing related policies included in Item 8.1 of your agenda. I’d first like to thank staff for the ample opportunities to provide comments to the City of Chula Vista (City) and the various policies being considered.
Most notably, the BIA conducted review and provided comments related to the City’s proposed amendments to the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance. We appreciate the willingness by City staff to meet with the BIA and consider the initial comments we provided in February, and the subsequentbriefing to review the revised language and answer questions from our members.
After review, we are generally supportive of the revised amendments to the Ordinance but would like to provide the following two comments.
First, we support the Planning Commission’s recommendation to increasethe minimum number of units subject to the inclusionary requirements from 10 unites to 25 units. In previous comments, the BIA asked the City heed caution in lowering the threshold for application of the Ordinance from 50 units to 10 units as we believe the lowering of the threshold will reduce opportunities for infill development projects, particularly in the western portions of the City.
Inclusionary requirements for small developments, and/or fractional in- lieu fees, will increase the barrier to entry for families redeveloping their own properties to build family wealth and significantly discourage infill development/redevelopment in Chula Vista.
Second, in the future we believe the City may need to consider a cap on the application of the in-lieu fee. Since the fee will now be on a squarefoot basis, if the City is not seeing the development of family- sized homes, the in-lieu fee could be discouraging construction of those homes. As you know, it’s important the City have varying housing options for its residents, and we want to ensure the City is not going to experience an overdevelopment of one particular housing type.
Overall, we generally support the remaining package of items presented before you and thank the City for your willingness to work with the BIA in the development and adoption of policies that addressthe lack of housing in our region. We appreciate the amount of time staff has dedicated in furthering our partnership and look forward to continued collaboration in the future.
Sincerely,
Lori Holt Pfeiler
President & CEO
cc: Honorable Councilmembers
Maria Kachadoorian, City Manager