State bill could allow 85′ towers in South O

On Tuesday, the state Senate will consider a bill that would force the city to allow 55′-85′ residential towers across Oceanside, including all of Coast Highway (and its side streets) from Whaley to Sportfisher, most of Mission Avenue west of El Camino Real, along Oceanside Blvd. near each Sprinter stop — and even portions of Fire Mountain.

The measure, SB50 by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), is being considered by the Senate’s Housing Committee. Oceanside’s representative, Sen. Patricia Bates  (R-Laguna Niguel) is one of the 12 members who will vote on whether to advance the bill to the Senate floor. This is yet the latest round of state efforts to override local control of development so that state politicians can pretend they are doing something to “solve” the housing crisis. 

Affected Oceanside Neighborhoods

Like Wiener’s widely opposed (and ultimately rejected) SB827 last year, the bill would override city standards in certain “transit-rich” locations. It would effectively force on every city (and suburb) the high-density zoning created for San Francisco, which today has 4 times the population density of Oceanside (and far less open space).

Ghost written by lobbyists for developers, SB50 would require developers to build housing at least 45’, but with density bonuses could allow building up to 75’ near certain bus stops and 85’ near a rail transit stop (such as the Sprinter stations at Coast Highway or Crouch). Cities can only require parking of one space for every two units (whether a studio or 3 bedroom).

Below are the maps of how it could impact South O and coastal Oceanside more generally.

The radius of increased density includes

• Townsite: almost every property west of the ridgeline between Oceanside Blvd. and Sportfisher;
• South O: Morse and California Street as West of Marshall Street;
• Fire Mountain: much of Grandview, California, Ridgeway and Downs.

The bill defines a “Transit-rich” project as

a residential development the parcels of which are all within a one-half mile radius of a major transit stop or a one-quarter mile radius of a stop on a high-quality bus corridor.

This means that in Oceanside, as in other cities, a small (even temporary) change in bus schedules could open a neighborhood to permanent skyrise housing.

Gentrification, Not Affordable Housing

The bill exempts locations with residential renters in the last seven years, so it is targeted at commercial and single-family residential locations. As with SB827, Wiener hopes to use the power of the state government to enforce his opposition to single family housing and residential zoning.

Although promising to improve housing costs, the limited amount of affordable housing in these buildings would instead lead to gentrification — housing only available to the affluent (as in San Francisco, where apartment prices often exceed $3,000 a month).  In San Diego, the council a recently approved (over strong community objection) a 20 story building next to Balboa Park with 204 units — including 18 affordable units, and five floors of “ultra luxury” units. 

This gentrification goal caused a prominent L.A. Democrat to label Wiener’s approach a “WIMBY” strategy — “Wall street In My Back Yard.” It is strongly opposed by many local officials and community activists in LA — as well as one San Diego community group —  but so far San Diego area politicians and activists have not gotten involved.

Take Action

In short, the bill is bad for Oceanside because it would

• impose San Francisco-style density and development on suburban communities like Oceanside;
• take away the ability of Oceanside residents to have any say over the nature and character of local development;
• force high rise condo/apartment buildings into single family residential neighborhoods like South O, Townsite and Fire Mountain;
• make permanent high rise development with limited parking next to bus stops that may disappear in the future;
• creating expensive housing that does nothing to address the city’s unmet housing needs.

Sen. Bates has not yet taken a public position on SB50. Her office can be contacted via

• Email via web form
• Phone: (916) 651-4036

The legislature’s official public input system is at

https://calegislation.lc.ca.gov/Advocates/

Messages submitted here (preferably before 5pm Monday) will be seen by the committee staff and (potentially) the other committee members.