Encinitas To Consider Housing Project It Previously Rejected

San Diego CA

04 May, 2022

6:50 PM

Description

By Tigist Layne, the Voice of San Diego May 4, 2022 A settlement has been reached over a housing project in Encinitas that the City Council rejected in November. The developer of Encinitas Boulevard Apartments filed a lawsuit against the city, and not long after, the State Attorney General issued a warning to Encinitas about its rejection of the project, saying the disapproval violated state law. The Attorney General's office said in a letter that by rejecting the proposal, the city violated its obligation to create more fair housing. The developer was already planning to resubmit the proposal, which is now set to go before the City Council on June 8. Under the terms of the settlement, the total number of units will be reduced from 272 units to 250 units, but the number of units set aside for low-income residents will increase from 41 to 50. Encinitas has a habit of going to great lengths to avoid the building of more homes. City leaders and residents have for years argued that more homes would change the city's character. In 2020, Encinitas tried to exempt itself from the state density bonus law, which provides incentives for private developers to create affordable housing. Developers can increase the size of their developments in exchange for including a certain number of affordable housing units. In years prior, the city has faced multiple lawsuits over trying to get around this law by creating policies that would make it harder for developers to consider it as an option. The Encinitas Boulevard Apartment project will be near the Encinitas Boulevard and Rancho Santa Fe intersection in the Olivenhain neighborhood. Voice of San Diego is a nonprofit news organization supported by our members. We reveal why things are the way they are and expose facts that people in power might not want out there and explain complex local public policy issues so you can be engaged and make good decisions. Sign up for our newsletters at voiceofsandiego.org/newsletters/.