Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Does GOP = BIA?

One of the big tests of the current city council will be its response to the Building Industry Association lawsuit over the city's implementation of state density bonus laws.

Earlier this year, the council belatedly responded to public pressure over staff's interpretation of density bonus laws, which residents felt had been overly and unnecessarily generous to developers. The council unanimously supported residents' positions on most of the issues.

The developer lobbying group BIA responded with a lawsuit.
The Building Industry Association of San Diego County is suing the city of Encinitas over recently approved changes to city development regulations, and the battle is expected to move into the courtroom in early 2015.

“We feel (city officials) are in violation of state law — all we’re asking is they adhere to state law,” Michael McSweeney, the association’s senior public policy adviser, said Tuesday as he discussed the lawsuit.
Community character advocates believe that the city is now implementing density bonus in accordance with state law and in the same manner other cities do.  If so, the lawsuit is on very flimsy legal ground and is intended to bully the city council into a settlement.  But then the city doesn't exactly have top-notch legal advice.

The BIA's Michael McSweeney is also on the Executive Committee of the county Republican Party that endorsed and supported Mayor Kristin Gaspar... which gives us a nice little laboratory experiment in a controlled environment. Will Gaspar reverse her earlier position on density bonus? Will she vote any differently on a possible settlement with BIA than her non-GOP colleagues?

35 comments:

  1. Gaspar will vote as long as it benefits her and her developer friends. This should be no big surprise to anyone.

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  2. It's to late you smart guys helped elect herThanks Sheila

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    1. 7:54 Never too late. She will be dumped in two years.

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    2. 7:54 means thanks Tony. Sheila would never have run had Tony done the right thing after elected. Bright lights and footlights turned his pretty head. You can thank Tony for Sheila. For the gazillionth time: place blame where it's due.

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    3. Tony, Sheila, and Gaspar all suck. Lets dump all of them.

      We need much better candidates in 2 years.

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  3. We tried to warn the Gaspar supporters. Let's just sit back and watch their skin crawl.

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    1. Crawl in anticipation of the profits to be made in the name of "affordability."

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  4. Bizarro part is how BIA is suing Encinitas for doing the same thing LA, County of Sacramento, Monterey, Carmel, etc. etc. do. BIA not suing the others....

    The BIA has had its way in Encinitas for far too long. If Encinitas loses this suit, it'll be because the City wants it to.

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    1. 8:36 You are right on.

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    2. Agee. We need to dump Vina and turn this City around. Dump all the incumbents next election for not getting rid of Vina and Sabine.

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    3. I wonder why Marco (who is also involved in this suit) hasn't sued L.A. and the other cities? Why would he do it in his home town? What does he have to gain?

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    4. 10:41 Because Marco is a first-class jerk that needs to prove he is "top dog".

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  5. Here's a fun little thought experiment:

    Other cities interpret the DB calculations as Encinitas now does. Question for the BIA: if those cities decided to relax their standards, would that be a legal move?

    If so, then they would have to also be able to re-tighten those standards again, because no law is a one-way ratchet.

    Either there is a fixed definition in the law for how to round units, or there isn't.

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    1. It's a matter of interpretation. That's why there's no blanket consistency. Different cities have different interpretations.

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    2. Right. Let's say the BIA wins, and the courts rule that cities don't have any room to interpret--judges say that the BIA reading of the DB statute is the correct one.

      That outcome would still be better than what we had prior to this summer. Why? Because it was the differences in DB calculations between cities that made Encinitas a magnet for DB projects. If the court case forces all cities to calculate the same way, then those differences go away.

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    3. So in other words, bring all differing cities down with us so that it will be open season on them, too? "Misery loves company" must be the motto at your house. Not mine.

      We are doing nothing wrong here except taking so e toys away from a greedy, petulant child. Anyone who thinks the lid needs to come off reasonable restrictions either doesn't get it or stands to profit.

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    4. "some toys away..."

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    5. Two of the many things that have made Encinitas attractive to developers are the city's pro-development interpretation of the state density bonus law and the availability of greenhouse and other properties. Now, Encinitas has tightened its DB law reading, but the properties are still there for the buying. Nearby cities don't have or don't have as many attractive properties available, so the BIA sued Encinitas, claiming the city is out of compliance with the DB law.

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    6. Plus developers are used to having their way here...whoops, fun's over!

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  6. Let my guess.... City staff has tomorrow off from work?? Thanks Gus.

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  7. The word on the street ,Gaspars step father was a developer.What do you think?

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    1. Gaspar step-father works for the EPA - where do you come up with such BS?

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    2. Wow, even the Thanksgiving holiday brings out this crap.

      Word on the street is that developers are people. There are some good developers, some bad developers and some in between. Word has it they are a profit making business. Of course many here think they make too much. Maybe so. Rumor has it that many developers in fact do care about their communities, although probably not the way commenters think they should. Why a developer once even donated land so a school could be built but I'm sure he wasn't concerned about making money.

      I guess that community character everyone talks about preserving (a good thing) was established before any developers could build in Encinitas. Back when we all built our own homes.

      So any connection of Gaspar to developers, however tenuous or imagined, could only be seen as detrimental.

      I'm not a developer but I did work in residential construction many years ago outside of California. I saw some real crap being built, some really great projects, and mostly just run of the mill. To demand high standards here in Encinitas is one thing (also good). To just routinely demonize developers and anyone who doesn't similarly hold a low regard for them is counter productive and stupid.

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  8. "...all we’re asking is they adhere to state law,” Michael McSweeney, the association’s senior public policy adviser, said Tuesday as he discussed the lawsuit."

    Good thing that ALL Michael wants is that and not money. There's been more buiding here in the last 5 years than ever, and there's still plenty of empty lots legally developable. What's his problem? Oh yeah, Prop A. Tough.

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    1. LA, SD county, Sacto don't adhere to McSweeny's definition of state law either. Why hasn't he gone after them?

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  9. When should we stop all development. After you brought your house?

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    1. 7:24 What a stupid comment.

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    2. 7:24, the only people who bring their house here live in trailers and we're not worried they could be 5 stories tall.

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    3. 7:24, I guess the real question is "When is a city built out?" In CA, never. We throw that term around as though there is such a thing as a healthy "full grown", but that concept can't "pencil out" for developers so we're stuck with a never ending growth ethic, forever changing Encinitas. And by changing, I mean congesting. All under the guise of increasing affordable houseing each year because of "fair state mandates". How convienient for the growth machine and how LA for all of us.

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  10. Replies
    1. The BIA has promised the queen mayor a rhinestone tiara if she will just play along with their wants and needs. She badly wants that tiara. Smile and say, thank you voters for making it all possible.

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  11. KRANZ RECIEVED MORE MONEY FROM DEVELOPERS THAN GASPAR DURING THIS LAST ELECTION.

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