HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 8.1 - Rental vs Ownership - BIA of San DiegoITEM 8.1— HOUSING REPORT
Patricia Salvacion -----
From:
Hannah Gbeh <Hannah@biasandiego.org>
Sent:
Wednesday, April 26, 2023 8:54 AM
To:
Planning Commission
Cc:
Adrian Luna
Subject:
Rental vs. Ownership Homes
Dear City of Chula Vista Planning Commission,
With nearly 600 members representing thousands of employees, the Building Industry of San Diego County (BIA) is the
leading voice advocating for all types of residential housing. Our membership is committed to providing new residential
homes in the City of Chula Vista and we thank you for fostering a discussion related to housing supply.
We understand the Planning Commission is interested in learning why new "for -rent homes" are more prevalent than
"for -sale homes". The answer is frivolous construction defect litigation. This occurs when an HOA is a part of the
development. This litigation is occurring at a level such that developers can no longer financially absorb the risk of
constructing for -sale homes. To be clear, frivolous construction defect litigation occurs after a product has been in
existence for 9 years. At the 911 year, lawyers approach the Home Owners Association and present the myriad of issues
that could be wrong with the development: i.e. the roof is flaking, the rain gutters leak, most of what should be considered
maintenance issues. Instead the attorney convinces the HOA representing the owners to sue the builder. The builder
pays to wrap up the lawsuit. At the 10`^ year, lawsuits cannot be brought forward, and that is when a developer is free to
sell the home. This is not the same as valid construction defect litigation. You know pretty quickly if there are structural
issues with a development, they show up in the first few years. frivolous construction defect litigation drives the continued
trend toward for -rent homes and makes for -sale home market conditions unsuitable.
Although frivolous construction defect litigation is a topic outside of the City's jurisdiction, we would be happy to discuss
the details of this Statewide issue, including identifying ways the City can support BIA's Statewide efforts to encourage
more for -sale homes. It is worth the City discussing development as we go forward. If the trend is to buildhigher density,
infill projects, that by its nature will be multi -family units. Construction defect litigation will prevent most of those units
from being a for sale unit. This means there is very little opportunity to buy a 'home' limiting a family ability to build
wealth. We believe this should be a very high priority issue for the City to consider and advocate at the state level to
change the laws.
However, the City does have an opportunity to promote housing within the City. BIA respectfully recommends Planning
Commission consider the following options:
1. Impact fees
a. Cap or limit fees so that they are not disproportionate to the actual impact and cost of serving projects.
b. Eliminate or decrease "discretionary" developer requirements.
2. Self -certification for civil, grading, shoring, public improvement related work, construction changes and other
approvals.
3. Inventory vacant City land and explore public/private development opportunities.
4. Simplify and standardize building codes and design criteria for faster approvals and fewer costly, one-off product
types and/or features.
5. Require timely and substantive comments and decisions on plans and applications to minimize or eliminate
delays.
6. Eliminate downsizing of project approvals.