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San Diego –
The San Diego County’s Board of Trustees recently unanimously voted to repeal its rules for calculating the potential impact of traffic from proposed new housing developments.
Instead, the overseers voted to adopt state guidelines for calculating impacts that could reduce traffic and the environmental impact of new developments, but could also make building in non-incorporated areas difficult, district officials said.
The board of directors made the change in response to lawsuits from several environmental groups arguing that the county’s version of the traffic control rules violated state law.
The new rules are effective immediately and will affect residential projects currently in the application process, said Mark Slovick, assistant director of San Diego County Planning and Development Services.
The rules set standards for “vehicle miles traveled,” or VMT, an estimate of the number and length of vehicle journeys that residents in a new residential area are likely to make. The number shows the extent of the traffic load and greenhouse gas emissions that a development site will cause. The fewer vehicle kilometers are driven, the better.
In order to receive approval for a project, developers must demonstrate that their project generates fewer vehicle-kilometers driven than the average for the region.
If not, they have to show how they are mitigating the traffic impact or they have to fill out an environmental impact report and apply for an exemption, Slovick said.
According to the old county guidelines, the vehicle miles driven for new projects in unregistered counties were measured using the average values for the unregistered county of San Diego.
However, government guidelines require developers to compare the vehicle kilometers traveled on their project with the average for the entire region, including dense, urban areas.
This is an unfavorable comparison for residential projects in the hinterland that have little access to bus lines or other public transport and are often many kilometers away from work and shopping centers.
Nonetheless, the state’s standard is in line with the county’s master plan, updated a decade ago to prevent sprawl in remote areas and encourage infill housing projects in urban areas near transit. With drivers spending less time on the roads, the region could reduce traffic, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, officials said.
Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer said the process mandated by state law supports the goal of building new homes close to public transportation and workplaces.
It is a “holistic effort to support low-traffic housing and to counter the climate emergency,” she said. “It cuts regulations and makes it easier to build in the right places and more difficult to build in the wrong places.”
Proponents of the construction industry said tightening standards to meet government guidelines would halt new home construction at a time when the county is facing a housing crisis.
“This move will result in a moratorium on housing in the unincorporated area,” said Lori Holt Pfeiler, president and CEO of the Building Industry Association of San Diego County. “We know how to build apartments and work with common goals that we all have.”
Environmentalists urged the county to adopt state guidelines for calculating vehicle kilometers traveled, arguing that doing so would allow for further spread and accelerate climate change.
“We are facing a climate emergency,” said Noah Harris, transport advocate for the Climate Action Campaign. “Traffic causes more than half of greenhouse gas emissions. San Diego is home to some of the most polluted neighborhoods in the state … climate and housing can be tackled together. “
The district adopted its previous study guide on transportation in June 2020. At the time, state law required authorities to compare the number of vehicle miles driven with the regional average, but it did not clarify what constitutes a region. So local officials defined it as a district with no legal personality.
Last September, the Cleveland National Forest Foundation, Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation, and the Sierra Club filed lawsuits alleging that the county’s guide approved the California Environmental Quality Act and SB 743, the state law of 2013 that established the new methodology , got hurt.
In June, the governor’s office for research and planning made it clear that unincorporated districts should apply standards based on the average of an entire district for vehicle kilometers driven. That effectively sealed the case for the environmental groups, forcing San Diego County to attend a board meeting or court.
Supervisor Jim Desmond said he originally voted in favor of the county’s guidelines using only unincorporated areas as the basis for vehicle mileage, and preferred that approach. However, he voted to update the rules on Wednesday, noting that the court would likely be calling for that change anyway.
“A purely regional model will stop any development in our unincorporated area,” he said. “Environmental groups don’t want sprawl or development in unregistered areas … I think what the staff are presenting today is our best and worst choice. I think it’s better to set aside today and avoid this lawsuit so the county can keep local control. “
The changes affect about half a dozen proposed projects that would have met the previous standards but not the updated ones, Slovick said. The county will work with these permit applicants to address the new rules, he said.
“The law doesn’t grandfather such changes,” he said, “so projects can no longer apply the county guidelines. So we meet with our applicants and will evaluate on a case-by-case basis. “
The board also directed staff to return in January to streamline housing regulations, officials said.
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