If voters say yes, SJB could grow 3 percent a year
Grant money comes with its own price tag for San Juan
Bautista
– doing away with its growth management ordinance, which
requires a vote of the people to amend.
If voters say yes, SJB could grow 3 percent a year
Grant money comes with its own price tag for San Juan Bautista – doing away with its growth management ordinance, which requires a vote of the people to amend.
“The state of California has found us substantially out of compliance with California housing law,” said Jan McClintock, city manager for San Juan Bautista. “To become compliant requires a change in our current growth management ordinance.”
A ballot initiative in the November 2007 election would increase the cap on new housing development. It would also exempt certain kinds of housing from growth limits.
The ordinance, passed in 2002, was put in place to control growth in San Juan. Residents wanted to keep San Juan from becoming home to the cookie cutter developments that arise when growth is uncontrolled, according to McClintock.
Currently, the ordinance limits new residential growth to one percent per year, a measly number in a city with around 600 units. It requires voter approval for any more than four new units per year and caps growth at seven new units per year.
“There aren’t any other jurisdictions that have a growth ordinance that is this restrictive,” said Linda Wheaton, assistant deputy director for Housing and Community Development for the state.
The wording of the ordinance is so restrictive that San Juan is unable to meet state requirements for market rate and affordable units, McClintock said.
The ordinance cannot be amended or repealed without a majority vote in an election.
San Juan city council members were issued a $19,757 grant from Housing and Community Development to help fund the election, as part of the Planning and Technical Assistance Allocation of the State Community Development Block Grant program, CDBG.
Amendments to the ordinance would raise the cap on growth to 3 percent, according to a notice distributed by City Planner Matthew Sundt last spring. It would also exempt housing for seniors, people with disabilities, infill projects, and low-income housing, according to the amendment. Infill is development of rundown or underused buildings, or new development on vacant lots.
“We’re not doing this so some developer can do things that are not in character with San Juan Bautista,” McClintock said.
If voters do not pass the amendment, the City could lose a lot of money, according to McClintock, in future assistance from the state.
“While it doesn’t matter to cities like Monterey, it matters to us,” McClintock said. “That’s huge money for a city this size.”
A housing element is a required part of a city’s general plan. Housing and Community Development will not certify San Juan’s housing plans in the city’s general plan until they amend the ordinance.
Without an approved housing element the City would be uncompetitive for some grants from CDBG, according to McClintock. They would not qualify for others.
“The state is tightening that noose substantially,” McClintock said. “Each legislative session there are attempts to tie other kinds of state funding to the housing element approval.”
If they come into compliance, city staff will be eligible to apply for other grants from CDBG that could help to renovate the community center or make the sidewalks ADA compliant, according to McClintock.
Although the City is trying to modify the growth ordinance, McClintock said new developments would fit with current buildings.
“We have tightened up restrictions on design guidelines and looked at tightening them up even more,” McClintock said, “so that we will not get the kind of development that people fear.”
