Building Industry Association
of San Diego

Last night the Olivenhain MWD Board of Directors voted once again to raise their water capacity fees, by a 5-0 vote. This District follows the pattern of others who raise fees on our industry because they collect less revenues from our industry. Go figure. For details on what happened and over our objection, contact Mike McSweeney at mmcsweeney@biasandiego.org.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors decided not to tinker with the makeup or structure of its planning groups despite recommendations from the Red Tape Reduction Task Force that called for term limits and modest experience qualifications. Some county planning groups have brought the ire of property owners and project applicants who say the groups act more like quasi regulatory agencies that demand design changes and multiple meetings rather than as an advisory board as prescribed by county law. Their approach leads to excessive delays that add thousands of dollars in project costs.

Planning group members raised strong objections to any changes but the Supervisors did implement a mandatory training session for planning group members in order for their group to receive indemnification protection from the County. Supervisors are moving forward with a host of regulatory improvements designed to improve the overall time and efficiency of its land use review process.

The county is moving forward with a proposal to reduce its Traffic Impact Fee by 40% to 50% in the coming weeks.  The fees are paid into a county fund by construction projects and are used for future roadway improvements.  The reduction is a by-product of the new General Plan which will lower projected roadway costs from $900 million to $535 million due to future development being located near existing towns and infrastructure.

County staff will hold a workshop on March 19th to provide more detail to three alternative financing plans that range from $420 million to $535 million.  Additional workshops are scheduled for March 22nd in Ramona and March 27th in Jamul.

It is expected to go to the County Planning Commission on April 13th followed by a hearing before County Supervisors in May.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Wednesday to evaluate and enact regulatory reform recommendations presented by the Red Tape Reduction Task Force.  This was the second time the board voted on the Task Force recommendations in response to a litigation threat from community activists who claimed the County failed to follow appropriate public noticing procedures. The Supervisors decided it was more prudent to simply rehear the proposal rather than defend against a law suit in court.

The BIA, along with several property owners and small builders, spoke in favor of the recommendations citing the length and difficulty of navigating the county’s land use approval process. The County has long been criticized as the most difficult jurisdiction to do business compared to other local cities due to  voluminous regulatory requirements that take years to complete. “We put a man on the moon in nine years, surely we can approve development projects faster than that,” said BIA Vice President, Matt Adams.

Others, were not so supportive of the reform process.  Several planning group members took exception to proposals intended to improve the planning group review process which included term limits and modest experience requirements. Other suggestions included a plan to remove planning groups from the county’s umbrella outright and allow them to function independently.

The Supervisor voted to enact some reforms immediately such as empowering project managers to make decisions, create performance measures to address project timelines and the creation of an external Audit Committee to review the performance of the planning department.  County staff will use the month of March to review remaining proposals and return the the board on March 29th with their implementation strategy.

The top construction industry trade associations have thrown their support behind  Carl DeMaio in his bid to be the next Mayor of San Diego.  The BIA, along with the Associated General Contractors (AGC) and the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) held a joint press conference to announce that DeMaio is their candidate for San Diego Mayor.

“San Diego cannot compete unless we have the types of reforms (DeMaio) has been talking about for the past four years… and he needs the office of the mayor to make those reforms a reality,” said Borre Winckel, President and Chief Executive Officer of the BIA. (more…)

Responding to a suit arguing that the San Diego County Board of Supervisors failed to properly notice a hearing on ways to cut government red tape, the Board of Supervisors will re-hear the recommendations on February 29th.  A host of recommendations were unanimously approved by the board on December 7th.

The Red Tape Reduction Task Force was appointed to focus on the land use permitting process and produced 17 recommendations to improve regulatory efficiency.  The  recommendations include ongoing staff  training, an end to redundant plan checks, reforming planning group procedures and the creation of an Audit Committee to monitor the regulatory process.

Some planning group members are up in arms over proposed changes to planning groups such as adding term limits and qualification requirements.  The Board decided it was better to re-vote on the items in order to avoid of litigation.

A memorial service honoring the life of Horace will be held on:

Saturday, February 25 at 11:00 a.m.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
890 Balour Drive
Encinitas CA 92024
Map and directions

The family suggests contributions in lieu of flowers to either the City of Hope or UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.

View Horace’s obituary in the San Diego Union~Tribune.

It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of our friend, great leader and industry giant Horace Hogan II, a veteran California homebuilder and San Diego Building Industry Association leader.  Hogan died Monday after a lengthy battle with cancer.

“Horace was a pillar of our tight-knit industry community and even more importantly, an extraordinary generous human being,” said Guy Asaro, Chairman of the Building Industry Association of San Diego County. “  His legacy is vast, and his efforts helped lead our industry through good times and bad.  All of us who knew and worked with him will miss him sorely, especially his infectious spirit-lifting signature laughter.”

At his death, Hogan was a principal with LandArc Group, a private land development company of planned residential and mixed-use communities based in Carlsbad.  He previously was president and chief executive officer for Brehm Communities in San Diego, and before that was division president for Ryland Homes, a cofounder of Pacific Gateway Homes in Aliso Viejo, and was vice president of the Mission Viejo Company.  In all, he had more than 30 years of executive leadership experience in the homebuilding industry. (more…)

The City of San Diego Land Use and Housing Committee unanimously approved an industry backed program that regulates wetland impacts. The plan — 15 years in the making — establishes  regulatory conditions for wetland mitigation in three circumstances:  an essential public project, economic hardships or superior biological projects.

The plan is intended to bring regulatory certainty to projects that may result in modest wetland impacts that in the past have resulted in lengthy and costly delays.   It is modeled after the Multiple Species Conservation Program that established specific mitigation requirements for environmental impacts of selected species and habitats rather than on a case by case basis that added months or years to the project approval process. The mitigation plan also received approval from state and federal agencies.

The plan now goes to the full city council for approval. A hearing date has yet to be scheduled.

The San Diego City Council voted to continue the Mid-City Interim Height Ordinance (IHO) for another two years and pledged staff and financial support to complete the Uptown Community Plan.  The IHO  was first established in 2008 and was slated to sunset in 30 months.  City staff had proposed that the height limit remain in place until the completion of the community plan update — but the plan is years behind schedule and a completion date remains elusive. The ordinance caps new construction at 50 feet or 65 feet along 5th Avenue, Robinson Avenue University Avenue and Washington Street.

The BIA, joined by the Hillcrest Business Association and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, opposed the open ended extension and called for the ordinance to sunset as planned.