SAN DIEGO — Mayor Todd Gloria today signed the first part of the "Homes for All of Us'" initiative, the mayor's attempt to make it easier to build new homes in the city and alleviate some of the housing crisis.
"This is a major step forward in San Diego's response to the housing-
affordability crisis,'' Gloria said. "Signing this ordinance paves the way for
the city and home builders to work together to create more homes that San
Diegans can actually afford, as well as keep our homelessness crisis from
getting worse.''
The reforms in the first part of the ordinance, which was approved by
the City Council on Feb. 8, include allowing the split of a single-family lot
into two lots, easing the parameters for granny flats and other accessory
dwelling units, streamlining the process for building affordable and middle-
income homes on city-owned property and encouraging affordable housing in
neighborhoods with little to no such housing.
City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera and Councilmember Joe LaCava
joined the mayor at the signing Monday morning, which took place at City Hall.
"Housing is a human right. `Homes for All of Us' will provide more
homes the people of San Diego can afford,'' Elo-Rivera said. `"Equally
important, these new rules will provide more families the opportunity to enjoy
the benefits of living in high-opportunity neighborhoods.''
Gloria said a second Housing Action Package will be presented to the
council later this year.
"Delivering housing at prices that San Diegans can afford is critical
and complicated,'' LaCava said. "The Housing Action Package gives us more
tools to deliver more housing to more San Diegans. Breaking down silos by
opening city-owned properties and employment centers to new housing will help us scale up development, resulting in more affordable and sustainable housing in more communities.''
Other reforms in the package include an Employee Housing Incentive
Program, a Housing Accessibility Program and incentives for multifamily housing developments to build homes with three or more bedrooms to ensure that families of all sizes have opportunities for housing.
"As the chair of the City Council's Land Use and Housing Committee, I
have made it a priority to provide housing opportunities for all our
residents,'' said Councilwoman Vivian Moreno.
It's my opinion that the way out of this housing crunch is to build, and build more," she told CBS 8. "We have to think about how and where our future generations are going to live."
"While struggling San Diegans are priced out of the housing market, the `Homes For All of Us' housing package contains critical updates to our city regulations that will allow more housing to be built for people of all income levels."
"This is critical because we need to make sure that people like
teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers, librarians and many others
have access to housing across every community in our city," she added.
WATCH RELATED: Mayor Gloria launches new 'Bridge to Home' program to address affordable housing (March 2022).