Council takes a look at growth controls
The City Council last night agreed to take a new look at how San Luis Obispo’s growth rate is calculated. Currently, the growth limit is one percent calculated on a three year rolling average. There are some major problems with calculating growth over this short a period. The current system would force a housing project large enough to be viable to have phased house starts and sales over several years. Because housing developers are expected to pay millions of dollars in up-front infrastructure costs, they can’t wait for several years to complete and sell their houses and see a return on their investment. Housing cycles have become longer, so limiting growth to one percent in a three year hot housing period may actually result in long term growth of less than half that. The council agreed to look at a much more reasonable eight year rolling average.
Are growth controls necessary?
San Luis Obispo has actually lost population for the past two years, and had only a tiny amount three years ago. You might find that surprising considering there have been dozens of housing units built during that time and very few demolitions. The reason: San Luis Obispo’s average household size has been declining for years, so there are fewer people in each housing unit. There are fewer families, so it’s not unusual to see a childless couple in a three or four bedroom home. That trend of lower density is exactly the opposite of what the Chamber’s “compact urban form” concept calls for. Lower density means less efficient use of land and utilities, more commuting, less jobs/housing balance, and more expensive housing. Some modest population growth is generally considered important to long term economic health.
City tourism BID moves forward
Realizing that the city is in a much more competitive fight for tourist dollars than ever before, the City Council approved 5-0 the first step in forming a city tourism business improvement district. This move paves the way for the public hearings and the formation of the district. SLO hotels and motels are willing to assess their customers a two percent BID fee to be added to their bills as they check out. This will generate almost $1 million annually to be used for more extensive promotion of SLO as a tourism destination. Meanwhile, the three year old VCB effort to form a countywide BID, now modified to include only Atascadero, Morro Bay, Arroyo Grande and the unincorporated areas, is scheduled to return to the Board of Supervisors for a decision in September. Another small group of hoteliers who say they are not connected with the VCB met last week and is trying to rally the troops around another countywide effort. Keep your scorecard handy.
