San Diego City Council met on March 4th to discuss whether to rollback the ADU Bonus Program and if so, how to do it.
Item 307 reads:
“This is an Item to Repeal the City of San Diego’s Accessory Dwelling Unit Bonus Program (ADU Bonus Program). The ADU Bonus Program was Established to Incentivize the Production of Accessory Dwelling Units Beyond State-Mandated Regulations. However, Concerns Have Been Raised Regarding the ADU Bonus Program’s Impact on Density, Neighborhood Character, Infrastructure Capacity, and Public Safety.”
This subject is of interest to project PAUSE as nearly all fire risk associated with density increases fall under this program. The Encanto community has been mobilized has gotten the City Council to admit that the Bonus ADU program has gone way beyond what anyone intended.
Apparently the council is aware of the bad actors and are in favor of reforms to the program, the final vote was 6-3 in favor of requesting city staff to review the program and return with recommendations for changes within 90 days.
Most opposition to the ADU Bonus program was voiced from residents of District 4, the city’s historically black community that has been hit especially hard with bonus ADU projects because many of its single-family neighborhoods have large lot sizes.
To get an idea of how packed this meeting was, public on this item and a related item specific to Encanto input started at 10 AM and went until about 4 PM without a break. View the full recording or watch the clip below.
The vote today was a step in the right direction even though it only addresses projects with large lot sizes.
