Chamber Announces Policy Platform on Housing Creation

In recent months, the Chamber’s Public Policy Task Force has worked to develop strong housing creation policy statements to address one Oceanside’s most critical issues… workforce housing. These policy statements, adopted by the Chamber Board in May, will provide direction in how the Chamber will interact with the City and State on housing related policy.

Key elements of the policy platform include support of updating the City’s 3-decade old Land Use Element, streamlining of City processes, objectivity in project reviews, expansion of housing into underutilized commercial zones and reduced fees associated with Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU’s).
 
“With the State of California aggressively pushing out housing legislation, it is more important now than ever that the City get ahead on this issue in order to maintain local control”, said Chamber CEO, Scott Ashton. “While SB 50 is on the shelf for now, it may just be the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we’ll see from the State in coming years.”
 
The most recent Regional Housing Needs Assessment (2013-2021) has Oceanside’s allocation at 6,210 units. Almost 6 years into the current RHNA cycle, recent numbers show that the City has only met about 17 percent of its RHNA target.

With regard to development currently under consideration, the Chamber has been a vocal supporter of the proposed North River Farms project which would bring an agrihood with over 600 new housing units to the South Morro Hills area of Oceanside.

Oceanside Chamber Housing Creation Policy Statements
Adopted by Chamber Board – May  2019

•  Support policies to enhance Oceanside’s ability to maintain local control by enabling housing production to meet legal requirements and stay ahead of state mandates.
• Support the updating of the City’s General Plan Land Use and Housing Elements and the City’s zoning codes to promote new housing within the City.
• Support the use of Programmatic EIR’s that allow for streamlined environmental review for implementing projects.
• Support predictability and expedited processing for projects consistent with local ordinances
• Support growth in transit-friendly areas, which also supports the goals of the City's Climate Action Plan.
• Support a professional planning staff that provides leadership and approaches projects in a predictable and objective manner based upon City codes and other legal requirements.
• Support implementation of programs to require Planning Commission, Economic Development Committee and Downtown Advisory Committee to stay within prescribed parameters when reviewing projects.
• Support a policy in which City staff reports would clearly distinguish issues of code compliance versus stakeholder/community feedback and would include the following in distinctly defined sections:

                         - Objective Professional Staff Analysis
                         - Comments from applicants
                         - Comments from project opposition

• Support a policy of allowing applicant to view and comment on staff reports before reports are finalized.
• Support city-wide expansion of mixed-use projects to include light industrial/incubator industrial.
• Support expansion of “Live/Work” spaces into underutilized commercial or office spaces.
• Support the construction of low-income, moderate-income and middle-income housing through incentives.
• Support policies that streamline processing and reduce fees associated with adding Accessory Dwelling Units to our housing stock.