3 SLO County supervisors shrug at affordable golf course housing | Opinion

Read the room, supervisors.

Many of your constituents have been pleading for affordable housing. You answered their call by making that a top priority, so why not require developers to deliver?

You had that opportunity last week, when deciding whether an application to amend the long-term plan for Blacklake Golf Resort could start the journey through the planning process.

Three of you — John Peschong, Heather Moreno and Dawn Ortiz-Legg — voted to allow developer Rob Rossi to move forward with a plan to build another 125 units there, without insisting on any affordability requirements.

Granted, this is only the first stage in a long process that will include multiple public hearings, but requiring affordability to be baked into the project from the get-go would leave no room for later debate.

It also would send a clear message to all home builders that you mean business.

That wouldn’t necessarily mean that affordable units would have to be part of every development. Contributing to the regional housing trust fund, which helps finance subsidized housing, could be an alternative.

But three of you whiffed.

No more seat-of-the-pants planning

Supervisors Jimmy Paulding and Bruce Gibson pressed for language that would have included affordability as a project goal, but were told, in effect, that it was not necessary at this early stage.

“I believe that we already do that automatically. I don’t think we need to add that in,” Peschong said.

Good to know. But if it’s already being done anyway, there should be no harm in adding specific direction — using a belt and suspenders, so to speak. Besides, wouldn’t it be better to set some ground rules from the get-go, to let the developer know what to expect?

Otherwise, what we have is seat-of-the-pants planning, which is one of the reasons we landed in this affordability crisis in the first place.

Years ago, the county approved thousands of units in South County — including high-end golf course homes that were a huge draw for retirees from out of the area but unaffordable for most locals. Starter homes became a thing of the past.

Now we’re in a crisis so profound that, in 2023, just 5.4% of households in San Luis Obispo County could afford a median-price home.

Vacation rentals — but what about locals?

Here’s what is proposed at Blacklake:

• 50 condominiums

• 45 single-family homes

• 24 cottages

• Six large “tournament” homes

According to a county staff report, all 125 units could be used as short-term rentals — part of a push to bring golfers back to the resort, where golf rounds are down significantly, according to Rossi’s representative, Jamie Jones.

“I think that’s across the board for most golf resorts in our community,” she told the supervisors. “And also, unfortunately, the current residents living in Blacklake just don’t golf as much as they used to.”

Blacklake isn’t the only golf course community hoping to lure more visitors with on-site accommodations. The nearby Monarch Dunes golf resort in Nipomo has been approved to build a 65-unit hotel — a big reduction from the 400-unit hotel originally planned for the resort.

We support that. It makes sense to offer accommodations for out-of-town golfers. That generates jobs and tax revenue for the county and, by bringing more tourists to the area, helps out other visitor-serving businesses as well.

But can’t we squeeze in some moderately priced housing for locals?

County needs affordable housing ordinance — not piecemeal planning

Ideally, the county would have an ordinance that spells out its expectations, but the conservative majority in power at the time repealed an inclusionary housing ordinance in 2022. That ordinance required developers to either include lower-cost housing in their projects or pay fees. Homes under 2,200 square feet were exempted.

Supervisors claimed, among other things, that the fee mandate wasn’t generating enough revenue to make a difference and was too much of a burden on developers and homebuyers.

The county recently passed a different program based on incentives. In exchange for including affordable units in their projects or contributing to the housing fund, builders are eligible for perks, such as increased density or relaxation of parking requirements.

However, the program is focused on multi-family developments, not single-family homes. Also, what happens if developers don’t care about incentives?

The city of San Luis Obispo, on the other hand, adopted an inclusionary housing ordinance in 1999 and did not look back. To date, more than 1,300 affordable units have been built, entitled or are in the planning stage, according to the city website.

It’s obvious that the county has catching up to do.

It can start with Blacklake.