Supervisors Push Year Ban on Added Housing

In an attempt to curb runaway growth in North County and simultaneously fend off slow-growth initiatives, two San Diego County supervisors on Friday proposed a one-year ban on any increases in housing density.

If approved by the Board of Supervisors, the scheme would prohibit General Plan amendments and zoning reclassifications that increase density in the unincorporated areas of the county, unless the proposals have the support of a local planning group.

“It is an attempt to slow down the rate of growth and not destroy the economy,” said Supervisor John MacDonald, who proposed the plan with Supervisor George Bailey. “ . . . We’re not proposing a moratorium. . . . because a moratorium, at least in my view, is an effort to stop everything.”

MacDonald and Bailey emphasized that development that complies with current zoning may go ahead as usual. The supervisors would simply refuse to consider plans to alter zoning unless they had the backing of the recognized community planning group.

“We’re saying you can proceed according to the zoning that is on your property as of right now,” Bailey said at a press conference with MacDonald. “And if there is a change that should be made, if it is pressing, you must sell it to the community first.”

Later, a spokesman for the building industry criticized the plan.

“Essentially, it’s unnecessary,” said Kim Kilkenny of the Construction Industry Federation. “The Board of Supervisors already has the authority to deny or continue any request for a rezone or a plan amendment.

“Whenever the board takes an absolute posture on any issue, no doubt there are going to be some projects that will be unfairly hurt,” Kilkenny added. “It seems to me that an applicant should have his day before the Board of Supervisors to have his application heard and considered on the merits.”

The plan arose out of MacDonald’s campaign last year for election to the county’s northern 5th District. MacDonald said his polling found that 70% of all respondents felt that rapid growth was the county’s most pressing issue.

So MacDonald joined forces with Bailey, who represents the sprawling 2nd District in East County. Together, the two supervisors represent most of the county’s unincorporated land, where no city controls land use and zoning.

MacDonald characterized the scheme as a response to the slow-growth initiatives that are proliferating in North County. He called such efforts “in the long run . . . devastating” and said he hoped to thwart them with the countywide measure.

But he and Bailey also characterized the proposal as a defense against developers’ demands for increased density. MacDonald said it appeared to him “that the board was getting pummeled by appeals from planning decisions.”

Currently, developers can appeal to the supervisors if a local planning group turns them down. If the proposed ordinance passes, they will not have the option of taking their case to the supervisors.

Bailey and MacDonald said their plan would also prevent municipal slow-growth initiatives from pushing growth into unincorporated areas. And it would create a lull during which the new county task force on growth and planning can study the impact of growth and development.

“It’s a dynamic growth environment and it’s hard to hit a moving target,” said Nancy Allen, executive assistant to Bailey. “The need is to give (the task force) a little time to study the situation without it changing while they’re studying it.”

The proposal is being made in the form of a letter to the board. If the supervisors adopt it, they will ask the county staff to prepare an ordinance implementing the proposal. Bailey said it could be two months before the ordinance is enacted.

Development plans that are in the works before that time would not be affected, Bailey and MacDonald said.