Mayor Gloria signs housing package, will present second part later this year

SAN DIEGO (CNS) — Mayor Todd Gloria Monday 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."

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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. "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 said.