ENCINITAS – On March 24, the California Attorney General’s Office issued a warning letter promising to take “swift action” against the city of Encinitas if it did not shed light on a modified version of the controversial Goodson housing project in Olivenhain.
In a letter addressed to Mayor Catherine Blakespear, deputy attorney. On behalf of Attorney General Rob Bonte, General Matthew Struhar expressed concern that the city had not approved the proposed construction of 277 units on Encinitas Boulevard.
The Encinitas City Council unanimously rejected the project in November, citing concerns expressed by the city’s planning committee regarding the project on a number of issues, including fire evacuation safety and traffic concerns.
The main developer of the project, Randy Goodson, later said that his company intends to submit a revised project proposal, which he believes will be more attractive to city leaders.
In a state letter, Struhar noted that the state is ready to file a lawsuit against Encinitas in state court if the city refuses to approve Goodson’s amended project.
“We urge the city to take action as soon as possible to examine and approve the renewed project if and when a new application is submitted,” Struhar wrote. “If the city fails to do so, the Attorney General is ready to take immediate action to hold the city accountable.”
Struhar believes that not accepting the construction violates the Housing Responsibility Act, which stipulates that municipalities must green light on projects that comply with local and state legislation and meet certain criteria of public health and safety.
In addition, because the project consists in part of affordable housing, the denial of the proposal is contrary to California statutes aimed at achieving state goals of affordable housing, Struhar wrote in a letter. The Goodson project would envisage the construction of 236 units at market price and 41 units aimed at lower-income residents.
“… The city has defined the project location as suitable for the construction of multi-apartment apartments with lower incomes,” said Struhar. “In fact, this is the only location in Olivenhain that has been designated for such a development. Thus, the project represented an ideal opportunity to provide fair housing and promote inclusive development in the city. The city’s decision to block the creation of 41 lower-income households in the community instead is contrary to state law. “
Mayor Catherine Blakespear issued the following statement in response to a request for comment for The Coast News:
“The city cannot comment on unresolved lawsuits, but Encinitas is taking its housing obligations seriously and remains committed to contributing to resolving the country’s housing crisis,” Blakespear said. “Less than a year after obtaining state approval for the city’s housing plan, the city has approved more than half of the city’s total target set for the next eight years.
“The city is aware of state housing legislation and is working hard to comply with it. I appreciate the Attorney General’s reminder regarding applicable laws and if Encinitas Blvd. The application for housing has been submitted again, and the city council will consider the application immediately. “
The state’s letter came just months after Goodson filed a lawsuit against Encinitas over the issue, arguing that under state law, the city’s planning commission had no legal reason to refuse development approval.
“There is no basis to reject this project. And this will have very serious consequences for the city, “Goodson warned in November after the city council rejected the proposal.
According to Marco Gonzalez, a lawyer for the environment and land use at the Coast Law Group, the state’s attorney’s office could use a number of other measures to punish Encinitas in addition to the city’s lawsuit.
If the city continues to deny the Goodson project, the state could take away the status of the city’s housing element, making the city ineligible for many state and regional subsidies and loans, Gonzalez said.
In the worst case, Encinitas could even lose its authority over housing and land use, leaving these decisions essentially to the state.
“This letter is extremely serious … even if you don’t like this project – and many of us don’t like the way it goes – the city still has to obey the law,” Gonzalez said, noting that Encinitas don’t have a good results in the eyes of the state in terms of compliance with affordable housing requirements. “With the relatively recent rise in property values and the desirability of this area, we have become a community where developers will pay a lot of attention, combine this with high real estate values and housing costs and the fact that we have not met the state’s demand for in terms of drawing the state’s attention to us. “
The fight against the country is likely to be costly and unsuccessful, Gonzalez added, suggesting that the city instead try to work with the developer to come up with a new, more acceptable proposal that will satisfy the interests of all parties involved.
“The city can choose to judge against a country that has many different political and financial costs, or it can work with a developer to increase the project accordingly and try to come up with something tastier than what has been on the table so far , “Gonzalez said.
Some residents, however, are urging city officials to fight the state over the issue.
Former Encinitas mayor Pam Slater-Price said the state prosecutor’s warning was an example of excessive state interference in municipal housing control.
The Goodson project in its current form would not only cause fire evacuation complications for Olivenhain residents, but would also pose a threat to the community’s unique rural character, Slater-Price added.
“I would say that as a former mayor, if I were in that position, I would resign, as many other cities have done against the demanding demands of the state,” Slater-Price said. “This [project] is at odds with fire safety evacuation, preserving our trees and open spaces, and conserving the community – that should be a priority here.”
Slater-Price has sharply criticized government officials for imposing affordable housing requirements on municipalities that do not meet community needs and are not based on an appropriate methodology. In addition, such powers do not have the necessary capital investment from the state level that could be implemented at the local level, which makes cities embarrassed, Slater-Price believes.
“The state’s data on that was wrong,” Slater-Price said. “The RHNA (Regional Housing Needs Allocation) numbers inflate what was actually needed, in my mind it was done in a semi-dangerous and unprofessional way, I think they came up with these numbers and started distributing them.
“If they really want affordable housing, this will not happen without significant subsidies – builders do not come and sell things below market value. I think it’s a complete farce. “
Based on Blakespear’s statements, Slater-Price said she was pessimistic about the possibility of the current city council taking any action to resist the state’s demands.
“The mayor of Encinitas and council members seem to have gone the other way and encouraged the state to slap local citizens and local governments and inappropriately distribute mandates without funding,” Slater-Price said.
“I’m going to watch and see how she [Blakespear] copes with that,” Slater-Price said. “I think it requires a lot of progress in the candidacy for [state senate], will it consent as it has done to the state so far, or will it stand up once?”
Dan Vaughn is a representative of Encinitas Residents for Responsible Development, a local non-profit organization that advocates for affordable housing for low-income residents and young families.
Vaughn said the Goodson project poses environmental and safety concerns, does not meet the housing needs of Olivenhain residents and is at odds with the bucolic character of the community.
“The Goodson project fits poorly, especially for the rural Olivenhain community,” Vaughn said. “There is a high density for the rural community. The density of [Godson] is about 45 units / net hectare, which is the average for the island of Manhattan. Olivenhain is less than 1 home / acre. ”
The current proposal could also exacerbate the existing environmental threats facing the community, Vaughn added.
“Olivenhain is also an urban-wild interface with an extremely high risk of fire,” Vaughn said. “Recent studies conducted by both us and the independent Encinitas Fire show that even before this project adds 10% more evacuees, there is not enough time to evacuate existing residents and livestock from the Santa Ana fire.
“It would also be literally a car-focused project (built in a design around a 6-storey parking garage) that would contribute more than a million kilometers of new greenhouse gases. There is no sensible public transport, only a rare replacement bus line that runs once a day in one direction and twice in the other, but only on weekdays.
While Gonzalez admitted the city probably has little choice but to heed the state’s warning, he also criticized Goodson for playing “bait and swap” with the city on the issue of housing for the elderly in development.
Initially, developer Goodson told city officials that the complex will include a senior housing unit with 160 units, Gonzalez says. But after the land was transformed, Gonzalez said Goodson “changed his tune” and withdrew from that commitment.
“He made the perfect bait and replaced it,” Gonzalez said. “It really makes it harder for other people to build such projects going forward. In this community of bad will, there is a general feeling for similar sites, and I think a lot of that feeling is due to the way this project has been handled. “
