Coronado’s affordable housing controversy has finally been resolved after more than three years of litigation and fighting with the state and San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG).
The city had until April 16 to figure out how it would provide for additional state-mandated affordable units in the housing element of its general plan. A week before that date, in a special meeting on April 9, the City Council approved a housing plan that would allow for 912 units to be built on the island.
The decision does not necessarily mean that many units will be built. Rather, the city identified locations that purportedly could accommodate that many residences. It would be up to property owners and developers to determine whether they choose to construct affordable dwellings.
Since 1969, California has required city and county governments to meet affordable housing needs within their jurisdictions. Key to that process is approval of a general plan element that fulfills the obligation. The general plan is a blueprint for the city’s future growth.
The housing allocation requirement of 912 units was given to Coronado by SANDAG, a regional planning organization for San Diego County, a few years ago when the new cycle of housing restarted in 2021.
A new housing cycle
Every eight years a new housing cycle starts and the state tells cities how many homes they must plan for to accommodate people of varying income levels, according to Coronado’s Planning Division.
However, Coronado’s previous housing allocation was only 52 units.
The jump to 912 units was around 1800% more than the city had ever contemplated.
A big reason why the unit number jumped so high was because the state counts the amount of jobs on the island and determines how much space needs to be allocated for workers, according to Jesse Brown, the city’s principal planner for Community Development.
More than half of Coronado’s land area is Naval Air Station North Island, a military base with thousands of jobs.
This led to a lawsuit filed from the city against SANDAG in 2021, but the court ruled in SANDAG’s favor.
The settlement required Coronado to adopt a housing element by April 16, among other agreements. If the city failed to comply, it faced a myriad of problems, including state-issued fines and revocation of the city’s authority to issue certain permits.
But there came a respite for Coronado soon after.
The council was able to work together with then Naval Base Coronado Commanding Officer, Captain Newt McKissick, to count units in enlisted barracks planned for construction by the Navy towards the existing housing cycle, which ends in 2029.
Around 374 units will be counted towards the 912 units the city has to allocate space for. The Navy accommodations will be built on the Amphibious Base at North Island.
HCD violation
After failing to comply with the housing allocation requirement since 2021, the city had received a notice of violation from California’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) in December of 2022.
If the city failed to adopt a housing element, penalties included ineligibility for state funding, penalties upwards of $100,000 a month and loss of local land use and permitting authority, according to the staff report given by Richard Grunow, director of community development in Coronado.
Originally, the Housing Commission, which is appointed by the city council, voted no on the proposed housing element because members of the community were concerned that growth would bring increased traffic, noise, parking problems and other issues, said Grunow.
The commissioners and City Council members, who all live on Coronado, heard the public complaints and agreed, said Grunow, but in the end they had to comply with state mandates and pass the housing element.
“We have to. The consequences of not doing it are so much worse,” Grunow said. “We’re going to accept the bad medicine, to prevent death,” Grunow quipped lightly.
The 10 approved sites are listed here.
Tonight’s vote allows us to maintain at least the appearance of local control and minimizes the impact on our community. So I encourage all the council members to vote yes. I know it’s been a very painstaking process.
Mayor Richard Bailey
“Tonight’s vote allows us to maintain at least the appearance of local control and minimizes the impact on our community. So I encourage all the council members to vote yes,” Mayor Richard Bailey said. “I know it’s been a very painstaking process.”
All council members voted yes to pass the housing element.
The next steps are to present the housing element update, zoning amendments and environmental review to the Planning Commission and the City Council.
