Del Mar: Environmental Report Released For Housing Element Update

Press release from the City of Del Mar:

July 2, 2020

As part of its Housing Element Update, the City of Del Mar has posted a detailed document analyzing options for expanding the City’s housing capacity through 2029.

Published July 2, the Draft Program Environmental Impact Report is open for public comment through Aug. 31.The full report is posted the Sixth Cycle Housing Element Update webpage.The environmental report examines potential impacts of locations and strategies that the City Council could include in the Housing Element Update – a separate document that is slated for public hearings later this fall.

To meet its most recent Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation, Del Mar is preparing its Sixth Cycle Housing Element to provide zoning capacity for at least 163 new dwelling units across a range of affordability levels.

*Income range is based on the 2019 San Diego County Median Income of $86,300

The sixth cycle update also contemplates 46 units carried over from the fifth cycle for a total of 209.

The Housing Element Update is a program and does not propose specific development. Nor does it require the City to build dwelling units. The Housing Element, however, must put forward a framework to facilitate development. When future development proposals come forward, they would be subject to discretionary permits and approvals.

The Housing Element Update has involved months of community engagement, a survey, public workshop, the formation of a Citizens’ Task Force, and City Council meetings. State-mandated environmental review is part of the public process.

The Draft Program Environmental Impact Report -- which analyses potential housing sites and possible impacts associated with developing them -- finds no significant or unavoidable impacts under the California Environmental Quality Act.

The report also examines goals, policies and programs put forward in the Housing Element Update. The City’s stated housing goal is to, “Inspire a more diverse, sustainable, and balanced community through implementation of strategies and programs that will result in economically and socially diversified housing choices that preserve and enhance the special character of Del Mar.”

State authorities can penalize the City for failing to provide an acceptable housing program. Penalties can include adding more units to the City’s allocation or even stripping the City of its zoning authority on certain types of projects.

Information on the Draft Program Environmental Impact Report will be provided during remote meetings of the City Council 4:30 p.m. July 6 and the Planning Commission 6 p.m. July 14. Written comments on the draft EIR must be received by 5 p.m. Aug. 31 and can be mailed to the attention of Joseph Smith, Del Mar Civic Center, 1050 Camino Del Mar, Del Mar, CA, 92014 or emailed to jsmith@delmar.ca.us

Open the Draft Program Environmental Impact Report on the 6th Cycle Housing Element Update webpage: http://www.delmar.ca.us/HousingElement

Printed copies will be made available at the Del Mar Civic Center and Del Mar Library upon their reopening to the public.

This press release was produced by the City of Del Mar . The views expressed here are the author’s own.