Changing the role of the Planning Commission

At Wednesday’s council hearing, the city will be considering a proposal to change the role of the Planning Commission. The proposal needs to be sent back for further public hearing.

Agenda item #23 (“Introduction of an Ordinance Amending Certain Articles of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance”) has two parts. One part is a routine update of various aspects of the city’s zoning. The second part (changes to Article 1 of the zoning ordinance) reduces the authority of the Planning Commission. The former was supported by the PC at their October 22 hearing, while the latter was rejected.

Today in Oceanside  — as in almost every city in California — for most items the Planning Commission decision is final unless appealed to the council. This has three benefits:

1. The PC has a chance to do a more thorough investigation of the issues than the council, for which land use is just one of its major responsibilities.
2. For important issues, there are two hearings — the PC and the council — thus allowing the maximum range of issues to be aired.
3. The approach reduces the council workload by providing a full hearing for every case, but keeping off the council agenda all items where the city, applicant and community all agree on a mutually satisfactory outcome.

The proposed change is to make the PC’s decision only advisory, an automatically appeal everything to the council. This would reduce (or eliminate) the importance of the PC process, and also dramatically increase the workload of the council (likely reducing the time available for public comment at the hearings).

The stated reason for the change is that when the PC decision is appealed, it is harder (or sometimes people forget?) to bring before the council all the related issues — those decided by the PC and those decided by the staff not subject to PC review. It is not clear why this is a problem now, given it has not previously been a problem in decades of this relationship between the PC and council here in Oceanside (and elsewhere).

A simpler fix would be to adopt a policy (presumably by ordinance) that an appeal of any aspect of a project — either a decision of the PC or of the staff — appeals the entire project to the council. This way, the council is always considering the specific issue in the context of all the other related choices.

By combining this with an unrelated item, the impact of this change was not properly advertised for the Oct 22 PC hearing. Save South O asks that it approve the routine items, and send back the proposed policy change for a separate PC hearing to solicit public input, and see if it can develop a proposal that is acceptable both to staff and the PC. Residents who feel likewise should contact the council at Council@ci.oceanside.ca.us

Next week’s Short-Term Rental hearing

Next week, the city’s ad hoc committee on Short-Term Rentals will have its second meeting. The 37-page agenda was posted this afternoon.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018
2:30 P.M. – 5:30 P.M.
City Council Chambers
300 North Coast Highway
Oceanside, CA 92054

All three commissioners (Balch, Busk and Rosales) are expected to attend. Save South O encourages all residents to attend the hearing who are concerned about the potential impact of STRs. The third (and final) hearing is scheduled for January 29.

The Worsening Problem

The report has some new statistics on the impact of STRs on Oceanside. By far, the largest impact of STRs has been on three neighborhoods: Townsite (downtown), South O and Fire Mountain:

• Townsite: 592/12,190 = 4.86%
• South O: 88/3,330 = 2.64%
• Fire Mountain: 35/2,799 = 1.25%

The statistic is potentially misleading, because it doesn’t talk about the growth of STRs — where we will be in 2019 or 2020. According to the city, total registered STRs on June 21 were 779, and on October 10 it was 821. At that rate, we would have 852 at the end of 2018 and 990 at the end of 2019.

As both the city and the STR operators themselves admit, Oceanside has the most lax regulation of any coastal community in North County.

Policy Options

At the August 21 meeting, the ad hoc committee hearing attracted 70 people attending, with 50 testifying.

The major part of the earlier meeting was having the two committee members (Balch, Rosales) react to potential policy proposals from the staff. The minutes show that these proposals got unanimous support:

• Business license for all STRs
• All STR operators must agree to the 2016 “Good Neighbor Policy”
• Regulation applies to all parts of the city
• Potential exemption for Homeowner Associations such as North Coast Village.
• Minimum stay of at least 3 days
• Some sort of restriction on special events
• Concerns about parking
• Annual inspections, one hour warning for inspections to investigate violation, and revocation of the business license for three strikes in one year
• Permit fee to fund inspections

Revised Coast Highway Plan

On Wednesday, the City of Oceanside released the revised plan for the Coast Highway Corridor that it promised in May. This month’s Environmental Impact Report is an update of the 2017 EIR, one that South O residents asked the city to revise.

The city has created a 60 day deadline for public comments on the new plan:

The revised sections of the 2018 DEIR will be recirculated for public review and comments starting on Wednesday, November 14th 2018 through Monday, January 14th 2019, for a 60-day public review and comment period.

July 2017 EIR

The 2017 EIR had 4 alternatives

• No Project Alternative, which would be no change from today
• Alternative 1, puts the Road Diet on Coast Highway (cutting 4 lanes to 2 lanes) from Harbor Drive to Oceanside Blvd., and development incentives throughout the city, including South O.
• Alternative 2, the same as #1 except it extends the Road Diet to Morse (through the “Dip”), with the Incentive District throughout the city.
• Alternative 3, a Road Diet for the entire city, with no Incentive District at all.

November 2018 EIR

This month’s EIR has 5 alternatives. No project, 1, and 2 are unchanged. The city has

• Alternative 3, Road Diet and Incentive District from Harbor Drive to Morse Street.
• Alternative 4 (former Alternative 3), a Road Diet for the entire city, with no development incentives.

Other than the No Build, all alternatives have disadvantages for South Oceanside. After Save South O has a chance to discuss the alternatives, we will post updated recommendations for residents to contact the city.

However, of the five council votes, with the new district elections, only three council members (directly) care about the concerns of Coast Highway communities.

• District 1 (North of Oceanside Blvd.: Seaside east to Rancho Del Oro)
• District 3 (South of Oceanside Blvd.: South O east to the city limits)
• The mayor, with votes from the entire city.

Thus, South O residents will need to build alliances with residents in the rest of the city, so that Oceanside will pick the plan the best for the city.

Short-term rentals are changing Oceanside

The explosion of short-term rentals is already changing the character of Oceanside neighborhoods. South O, with its unique character and relatively inexpensive coastal housing, will be among the areas most dramatically changed unless something is done.

After the city abandoned its modest “Good Neighbor” effort in 2016, the current series of public hearings represent the best (and perhaps last) chance for ordinary residents to make their voices heard. The next two hearings are

• Tuesday, Nov 27, 2:30-5:30pm
• Tuesday, Jan 29, 3:00-6:00pm

Both hearings will be held in the 2nd floor Council Chambers at City Hall, 300 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside.

The Problem

While once STRs were about someone occasionally renting a spare room, now houses are being bought solely for the purpose of being managed as STRs by professional property managers. The investors want to charge as much as they can for as many nights as possible, which often means guests bring as many people as they can to cover the cost.

The negative impacts of STRs include

• Converting owner-occupied or rental housing into loosely regulated hotels, often in residential neighborhoods.
• Reducing the availability of housing stock for both renters and home buyers, pushing up prices for those who want to live in the community and adding to the state’s affordable housing crisis.
• Changing the character of the neighborhood, by replacing long-term residents that have a stake in the community with short-term visitors who have little knowledge or interest in fitting in to the community.

These problems are already impacting South O and other neighborhoods on the western side of the city. The purchase and use of STRs have exploded in Oceanside, because (as both sides admit) it is the most loosely regulated city in coastal North County. Investors are coming to Oceanside to engage in business practices that wouldn’t be allowed in other cities.

In the city’s June inventory, 75% of the registered STRs were in the Coastal Zone (Coast Highway to the Pacific).

Registered Short-Term Rentals in South O, as of June 2018

Since these statistics were compiled, neighbors report that the number of rentals has increased in South O between Coast and I-5.

What Could Be Done

Oceanside doesn’t need to be a pioneer: many cities in California have been impacted by short-term rentals, and have already passed laws to regulate STRs. Host Compliance LLC has published a summary of best practices from around the country.

During the August 21 hearing (of the ad hoc committee of the Planning Commission), some of the measures discussed include:

• Implementation of the (2016) Good Neighbor Policy
• Banning special events (such as wedding receptions) being held in residential areas
• Requiring on-site parking
• Limiting the proportion of STRs in a given neighborhood or area

A key to any ordinance is enforcement, including enforcement by police (who work 24/7) in addition to code enforcement (which only work weekdays in Oceanside). Because some businesses may view fines as merely a cost of doing business, some cities have a “three strikes” policy that suspends permission to operate for several years for repeated infractions within a given period.

As in other cities, any regulation in Oceanside will have to recognize longstanding patterns of STR activity that predates VRBO, AirBNB and recent real estate speculators. The ad hoc committee has already said that the historic Robert’s Cottages — as well as North Coast Village — will be allowed to continue as STRs under any proposed regulations.

Getting Involved

After their first meeting, the ad hoc committee meeting originally scheduled for Oct. 29 was cancelled at the last minute. The two remaining hearings are Nov. 27, 2018 and Jan. 29, 2019. If the committee recommends an ordinance, then there will be Planning Commission and City Council hearings to discuss enacting some form of regulation.

There are three ways to get involved.

1. Attend a Hearing

The first and most important to attend these hearings. The owners of these STRs have a lot of money at stake, and have been well represented at previous meetings. If ordinary citizens do not attend, then the committee, the commission and the council will conclude that STRs are not having a major impact on the city.

Any one who submits a request to speak usually has three minutes to testify. Your testimony could include

• Specific details about the impact
• Evidence documenting the impact (e.g. pictures) if present that information.
• Specific policies that would make a difference

If your neighbors have concerns, make sure they know about the hearings as well.

2. Write a Letter (Email)

The three committee members (Colleen Balch, Curt Busk, and Tom Rosales) are appointed to represent the citizens of Oceanside. As with any public representative, they welcome your input.

After the committee submits its recommendation, concerned citizens should then contact the entire Planning Commission and later the council to let their feelings be known.

3. Join the Conversation

These issues are being discussed in online committees that are the 21st century virtual equivalent of the town square. If you have concerns, you can discuss them with your fellow Oceanside residents:

• Nextdoor
• Facebook groups like Oceanside Votes and the South Oceanside Neighborhood Group

Feel free to contact us if you want any additional information or resources.