More than two years after thumbing its nose at state affordable housing laws, Coronado has unveiled a new housing plan intended to finally get the city into compliance with those laws.
The draft "housing element," which is due for a vote at the Coronado City Council on Tuesday, could put an end to a simmering threat from state housing officials to sue the city into compliance.
City planners presented the draft at a community workshop Thursday evening, identifying 10 properties they say can accommodate 827 of the roughly 1,000 new homes that the state has deemed necessary to meet the city's housing needs over the next six years. The plan also assumes that nearly 200 new accessory dwelling units will be built in Coronado in that timeframe.
Included among the 10 sites for new housing are a child care and pre-K facility owned by the Coronado Unified School District, a shopping center with one of Coronado's three grocery stores, and the building that houses the Coronado Police Department.
The largest site by far is a 175-acre bayfront property where the city says the Navy plans to build 374 military housing units. The city has pledged to update state officials regularly on the development's progress and prepare alternative housing sites if the Navy decides to delay the project or build fewer homes.
The city proposes no changes to the single-family zoning that dominates Coronado's residential neighborhoods.
Jesse Brown, Coronado's principal planner, said officials from the state's Housing and Community Development Department have already indicated that the city's plans were reasonable and would likely be certified.
"We've had a few of those meetings, and that's why we feel the sites that are included in this housing element have a chance with the state," Brown said. "And we think that there's development potential, as well."
Attorney General Rob Bonta appeared to corroborate Brown's statement in an interview with the Voice of San Diego Podcast last week, saying his office had been negotiating with Coronado over its housing element in hopes of avoiding a lawsuit.
"We are in the final stages of a resolution which will bring them into compliance," Bonta said. "We have a term sheet. It needs to be voted on. We're hopeful and optimistic that it will get final approval by the council."
California has long required cities to adopt housing elements that plan for future growth. But for decades, the process amounted to little more than a paper-pushing exercise.
Then, as California's housing affordability crisis rose to become one of the most salient political issues, state lawmakers passed several laws intended to give the housing element process more teeth. Cities now have to account for the fact that merely zoning a property for housing doesn't guarantee that anything will get built there.
Cities also have to analyze racial and economic segregation and take affirmative steps to achieve better integration. Coronado's analysis found that the city is whiter, wealthier and more segregated than its neighbors.
"This underscores the need for programs to increase housing opportunities for people of color and people with lower to moderate incomes," the draft housing element states.
One such program would convene annual meetings with property managers and housing advocates to "discuss ways to improve referrals to available affordable housing units." The city also says it will "continue to maintain the city’s webpage and published notices that inform advocates and residents of the city’s subsidized housing units."
Residents attending the workshop on Thursday raised concerns about the impact of the new housing plan on traffic and parking. But many acknowledged that it was in the city's best interest to get into compliance with state law.
"If we do not come back with a realistic opportunity to accommodate 912 units, the state can take all our planning powers from us and just do what they want," Coronado resident Tina Christiansen said. "Is this difficult? Is it scary? Yeah. The opposite is even scarier."
