Judge declares 1 percent cap ‘unlawful’
A judge has ruled that San Juan Bautista’s growth management
ordinance, a voter-approved measure that limited growth to 1
percent per year, violates state housing law and is therefore
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unlawful and unenforceable.
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Judge declares 1 percent cap ‘unlawful’
A judge has ruled that San Juan Bautista’s growth management ordinance, a voter-approved measure that limited growth to 1 percent per year, violates state housing law and is therefore “unlawful and unenforceable.”
City officials said they will now revert to the 3 percent growth cap approved in 2000.
The January ruling by San Benito County Superior Court Judge Steven Sanders also said that the growth ordinance, which required that all proposed residential developments greater than four units must be approved by a vote of the public, contradicts the city’s general plan. Sanders also said the ordinance directed the city to amend its general plan to conform to the growth restrictions, but “no such amendments were ever enacted.”
What’s more, “The approval of such [residential] projects is not a legislative act, and so cannot property be the subject of a referendum vote,” Sanders’ judgment read. “Thus, the GMO improperly delegates the City Council’s approval powers to the electorate.”
The issue reached the courts last year when developer Lance McAlpine called into question the validity of the city’s growth ordinance after he submitted plans for a 50-lot residential subdivision on five acres at the western end of Third Street near the city cemetery.
The court sided with McAlpine, ordering San Juan to set aside its original denial of his project and to process a revised application if and when it is submitted. McAlpine also was awarded court costs by the judge.
Despite the matter reaching the courts and the ruling ostensibly going against the city of San Juan, City Planner Matthew Sundt – who was named in the suit – said the judgment actually benefits the city.
“It allows the city to go back to its general plan, which was a community effort,” he said. “A lot of people were involved; issues were vetted and it was agreed upon that 3 percent [as a yearly growth cap] was an appropriate number. Our general plan delineates areas for mixed use, residential use and commercial use. Through that growth management ordinance we were seriously hampered from implementing our general plan.”
Sundt added that the ruling “works very well for the city” because the “onerous growth management ordinance” prompted the state to not certify San Juan’s housing element, which allows the city to apply for grants for public infrastructure and low- to moderate-income housing projects. Since the court ruling, Sundt said he has sent a letter to the state asking for emergency reconsideration of the city’s housing element.
“The department of housing and community development drew a line in the sand saying that ‘you have an onerous restriction of 1 percent that prevents projects from happening,'” Sundt said.
McAlpine first submitted plans for his development to the city in December 2006, but it was summarily rejected as “the city determined the application was incomplete [and] we also wrote them a letter explaining that we couldn’t process it because of our growth management ordinance that passed in 2002.”
Sundt estimates that the total number of “habitable” units in San Juan was 712 as of Jan. 31. There are also a handful of undeveloped residential lots scattered around the city. Under the 1 percent growth ordinance, the city could approve no more than seven new housing units per year. Under the 3 percent rule, that number jumps to 21 per year.
City officials say they will comb through the growth ordinance from 2000 to ensure that it is still up to date.
“I can’t blindly grab something off the shelf [and use it]. I may or may not be able to rely on it,” Sundt said. “I have to run it through our staff review. It’s nine years old and time, in this particular type of a situation, may make parts of it moot. I have to make sure that what we have from 2000 is current with 2009 laws.”
While “some” new housing was built in San Juan in 2007, Sundt said no homes were built last year or so far this year. In addition to McAlpine’s original 50-lot subdivision application, the city has applications for two-lot and three-lot subdivisions.
A developer who wants to build more units than the city’s growth ordinance allows in a calendar year could spread the request over multiple years, according to Sundt.
San Juan’s general plan, approved in 1998, foresees a population of 3,000 by 2015. There are approximately 1,800 residents living there today.
