Building Industry Association
of San Diego

With the recall election of Oceanside City Councilman Jerry Kern heading down the stretch, campaign contribution reports released this week show that municipal employee unions are bankrolling the effort to remove Kern from office.

Of the $114 thousand raised to date, the firefighters union has pumped more than $80 thousand into the committee pushing the recall.  The San Diego Union Tribune reports that another union tied to the recall, the Oceanside Firefighters Association, has yet to file a campaign disclosure report so the exact amount of money raised to oust Kern is unknown.

The Kern campaign says the unions want him out in order to break the three vote pro-business majority on the council on the eve of new contract negotiations in December.

The recall is set for December 8th and mail ballots will be released on November 9th.

Tax Credit Extension Could Help 4th Qtr Sales

Helpful legislation sponsored by CBIA that will deliver 4,200 more tax credits to buyers of new homes, was approved by the State Senate. The bill, SBX3 37, which still needs the approval of the State Assembly, directs the Franchise Tax Board to free up funding for the tax credit that remains in the state program account. The surplus funding is a result of the actual cost of the tax credit being less than the original $100 million authorized for the program. The legislation is currently being considered by the Assembly. 

 Appreciation should be extended to Senators Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield), Assembly Member Anna Caballero (D-Salinas), Assembly Member Jose Solorio (D-Santa Ana), Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Temecula) and Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) for their help in moving this important bill to and through the Senate.

Get detail on the  state bill 

Renewal of Federal home buyer tax credit gets closer in Washington

Backers of the Federal program to help new home buyers get a foothold in the market, are positive about the progress being made on the new legislation to extend the program slated to cease Nov. 30. Word on the streets is that the tax credit and NOL will be part of the ‘substitute’ bill that will be offered by Majority Leader Reid as the final product on the UI bill. 

The Los Angeles Times recently wrote an article on the movement in the Capitol on this. “The drumbeat is growing in Washington for extending — even expanding — the popular $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, a soon-expiring benefit that some experts estimate is on its way to spurring as many as 400,000 additional sales this year.”  Read the full article here.

LAURA WILSON has been awarded the designation of BIA Cares Honorary Life Director.  Laura has helped shape the very core of the BIA Cares organization with her participation since 2003.  She has dedicated her service to the board for the past seven years, serving as its president in 2006 and 2008.

Laura’s commitment to projects and fundraising on behalf of BIA Cares, has helped improve the lives of many underprivileged  children and adults throughout the County.  Laura Wilson joins the ranks of other Cares Honorary Life Directors:  Lora Heramb, Eric Jones and Karen Amelio.

ON WATER … The Vallecitos Water District is considering an ordinance that requires new fees on top of capacity fees for developments. If the project’s zoning exceeds the General Plan and a density increase is requested, that project would not be considered part of the water district’s master plan and would be subject to additional fees. For more information, please contact Scott Molloy at the BIA, 858 450-1221.

State Stormwater Permit
CBIA, which strongly opposed the recently adopted state permit for managing stormwater runoff (“the Permit”), is filing a lawsuit against the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) challenging the both the content of the permit as well as the failure by the SWRCB to consider its economic impacts. The SWRCB took action to adopt the permit on September 2 of this year, despite strong and broad opposition. The most objectionable provisions of the Permit are the sediment-content requirements and standards as well as those imposing post-construction stormwater obligations imposed on permitees. It’s estimated that the Permit will add as much as $10,000 to the cost of a new home. Moreover, with respect to the sediment standards – known as “numeric effluent limits” – permitees will be required to meet the standards absent the data necessary to define soils, slope, storm events and other conditions which is needed to guide compliance. Get more detail on the permit from the state water board here

The City of San Diego Land Use and Housing Committee decided it needs more information before it considers a local labor union’s demand that  projects approved by the Centre City Development Corporation be appealable to the full city council. A move that opponents say will eliminate project processing certainty that has been the cornerstone of CCDC success.

While committee Chair, Todd Gloria wanted all projects to be subject to the appeals, the committee voted to limit its examination to hotels due to noticing requirements.

CCDC was empowered by the council in 1992 to oversee downtown development which has become one of the most successful redevelopment areas in the state accounting for hundreds of millions of dollars in tax increment and billions in private investment.   While the push for CCDC changes was couched in more oversight in the  ‘design review  process,’ the issue was clearly about jobs and union efforts to control salaries in the hotel industry.  No one testified about design review.

The business community was out in force to praise the success of CCDC and urge the committee not to succumb to union pressure.  Representatives throughout San Diego’s business community including the Building Industry Association, Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Partnership, The Economic Development Corporation, the Associated Builders and Contractors and the Associated General Contractors were among the dozen who testified against the union move.

While the effort was put off for now, the committee voted to direct the City Attorney’s Office and the Independent Budget Analyst to evaluate the economic impacts that would come from the proposed changes. They will return with their findings when the LUH committee reconvenes in 2010.

The City of San Diego Land Use and Housing Committee will consider new regulations on the Centre City Development Corporation that will subject all projects to potential appeal to the city council.   The appeal requirement  originally targeted hotels at the request of organized labor but LUH Chair, Todd Gloria wants all projects subject to the requirement.

The labor group, Unite Here, called for greater review of hotel projects in a June 2009 letter to create ” an extensive public process to facilitate a more comprehensive discussion of the social and economic impacts that are unique to downtown hotel projects. “  No doubt this ‘extensive public process‘ will include project labor agreements that will add millions in project costs.

Downtown development is at a standstill because of the recession and the financial and regulatory uncertainty that would come from the new requirements would only prolong the economic downturn in San Diego.

CCDC was created in 1992 to be the regulatory agency for dowtown development as a ‘one stop shop’ for project processing. The results have been remarkable with more than $798 million in tax increment generated for the downtown area and more than $13 billion in private investment. The total annual taxes generated from the redevelopment area is unmatched at $177 million.

CCDC staff opposes the new regulations saying that it will increase the review time and costs, while eliminating the efficiency of the expedited review process.

Tax Credit Extension Could Help 4th Qtr Sales Helpful legislation sponsored by CBIA that will deliver 4,200 more tax credits to buyers of new homes, was approved by the State Senate last week. The bill, SBX3 37, which still needs the approval of the State Assembly, directs the Franchise Tax Board to free up funding for the tax credit that remains in the state program account. The surplus funding is a result of the actual cost of the tax credit being less than the original $100 million authorized for the program. The legislation now moves to the Assembly this week. Appreciation should be extended to Senators Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield), Assembly Member Anna Caballero (D-Salinas), Assembly Member Jose Solorio (D-Santa Ana), Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Temecula) and Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) for their help in moving this important bill to and through the Senate.

Get more detail on the bill

More than ten years in the making and the subject of criticism and dissent among environmentalists, community planning groups, landowners, farmers and the business community alike, the County is forging ahead with a comprehensive update of the nearly 40-year-old General Plan.  For the building industry, the draft General Plan Update presents both challenges and opportunities.  The BIA has been a key stakeholder since the inception of the process and the building industry’s issues remain largely the same.  The plan needs to provide assurances for future housing, economic development and infrastructure and the plan needs to include key land use tools that allow projects to meet the planned density and a policy framework that supports well planned growth.  The plan has come a long way and the BIA remains hopeful that core policy issues can be resolved before the plan is adopted.  The General Plan Update will be presented to the County Planning Commission on November 6th with follow-up Planning Commission meetings on November 19th and 20th where the public will have an opportunity to provide input.  The BIA has submitted detailed comments on the draft plan which are available through the County’s General Plan Update website.  Please contact Scott Molloy at the BIA for more information (scott@biasandiego.org).

The city of Carlsbad is moving forward with a key building industry stimulus measure, permit process reform.  Over the summer, the City established a committee of industry stakeholders to review and craft recommendations on various elements of its permit process, including entitlement protection, environmental review, and permit process efficiency improvements.   The committee identified 9 areas of the city’s permit process where improvements could be made and developed a series of recommended process and code changes for each area.  The committee focused on increasing efficiency and consistency in the process with the intent of reducing the time and cost of processing.  Senior city staff worked with the committee to develop the recommendations and identify the steps necessary to implement the changes.  The city will taking forward the recommendations to the city council later this month for direction and approval.  The BIA will continue to actively monitor and support the implementation of these key efficiency changes to city’s permitting process.  Please contact Scott Molloy at the BIA for more information (scott@biasandiego.org).

The city of San Diego is the first city in the region to make significant changes to their landscape regulations for new development.  In response to State Assembly Bill 1881 passed in 2006 and in an effort to reduce outdoor water usage, the City of San Diego, the County of San Diego, the County Water Authority, the BIA and various stakeholders around the region have been working for the past three years to develop low-water use landscape standards for the San Diego Region.  The City’s new regulations are expected to reduce outdoor water usage by 30% or more over current practices.  The changes include restrictions on planting grass, requirements for high efficiency irrigation systems, “smart” irrigation controllers, controlling runoff, and, central to the regulations, the requirement that all landscape areas be planted and irrigated to fit within prescribed “water budgets.”  The Building Industry has been a leader and a strong supporter of outdoor water conservation since its work on Riverside County’s California Friendly Plant Program begun in 2003.  BIA San Diego has helped lead the charge locally in developing these low-water use landscape regulations and is working with the County and other jurisdictions to finalize their regulations.  For more information, contact Scott Molloy at the BIA (scott@biasandiego.org).