Month: July 2021

Participating in Buc and other South O decisions

Here are several key opportunities to South O residents to participate in several key decisions regarding Buccaneer and several other key area of community:

  1. 8:30am July 31: next meeting of Save Oceanside Sand
  2. No later than July 31: Deadline to respond to the City’s official survey regarding the future of Buccaneer Park.
  3. 6:00-7:30pm Aug. 3: initial meeting of Advisory Committee (in Council Chambers or via Zoom) for planning the Beachfront Improvement Project around the Pier.
  4. By 6pm Aug. 6 (South O residents only): deadline for a one-question survey regarding the priorities for community reuse of NCTD land between Cassidy and Morse: either a beach trail or expanded parking.
  5. 2pm Aug. 11: City Council Workshop on Feasibility Study for Beach Sand Replenishment/Retention

Finally, on a lighter note, the 8th Annual South O Car/Boat/Bike Show is being held 9am-3pm Aug. 28 as a fundraiser for South O Elementary. To register or for more information, see http://socalcarculture.com/events.html

New bills to kill local zoning control

As in previous years, San Francisco (and now San Diego) legislators are proposing bad legislation to strip local cities of zoning control. There is limited time to block this legislation before it passes the Assembly and goes to the governor for his signature.

As before, these are gifts to developers (i.e. campaign contributors) rather than serious efforts to increase affordable housing. Two bills in particular seek to end single-family zoning as is the norm in most of Oceanside. Both bills are sponsored (18,800 residents/sq. mile) to places like Oceanside (4,250 residents/sq. mile) and Carlsbad (3,050 residents/sq. mile).

Neither bill conditions these density increases on building actual affordable housing. Previous Wiener-passed bills have allowed developers to increase revenues without lowering prices. As we have seen from recent projects proposed in Oceanside, the developers will use these incentives to maximize the density and minimize the parking provided by their projects —

The (intended) result of both bills is to reduce the supply of single-family housing — replacing them with apartments and condos — thus making single family homes unavailable to all but the most well-off of Californians. According to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, taking home ownership away also eliminates a crucial path for building wealth and financial security for the average Californian.

Legislative Status

Both bills have passed the state Senate and now are in the state Assembly. Oceanside’s state senator, Pat Bates (R-Laguna Niguel), voted against both bills. However, she is facing term limits and will be replaced by a new state senator in the November 2022 election.

Oceanside’s assemblymember, Tasha Boerner Horvath (D-Encinitas) voted no on SB-10 in the Local Government committee but did not vote (either way) for SB-9. Her office contact information is as follows:

  • Sacramento Office: (916) 319-2076; fax: (916) 319-2716
  • Carlsbad Office: (760) 434-7605; 325 Carlsbad Village Drive #A-2, Carlsbad, 92008

Proposed National Bill

If that’s not bad enough, the Biden Administration has signaled its intention to create a national policy eliminating single-family housing as part of its “infrastructure” legislation. (It is dishonest to call this a federal bill, since taking away local zoning control on a nationwide basis is the antithesis of Federalism.)

The infrastructure legislation is currently under negotiation and has not been released for public reading. We will update you when when we learn more about how (or if) this policy is incorporated in the final legislation.