Waite: Housing proposal is detrimental to our quality of life and San Jose’s fiscal future

The San Jose City Council is planning an Aug. 18 vote on high-density, by-right “missing middle” housing city-wide. The San Jose Planning Commission, which is updating the general plan, based its recommendation to do so on input from city staff.

Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility believes approval of the proposal will negatively affect our quality of life and could be detrimental to the city’s fiscal future.

The missing middle proposal is not such a new concept — it is a modification of the previously rejected “Opportunity Housing” proposal for citywide high-density housing. Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility supports adding additional housing stock as quickly as possible, but it is imperative that any process preserve and protect the surrounding neighborhoods and their residents. This is consistent with major strategy 3, focused growth, of the existing general plan which “strictly limits new residential development through neighborhood infill outside of these growth areas to preserve and enhance the quality of existing neighborhoods.” (emphasis added)

The current plan is a reasonable one: develop walkable living with dense housing (sometimes referred to as Urban Villages) near transit hubs, ring it with missing middle housing which serves as a buffer to existing neighborhoods. The missing middle proposal abandons that in the name of expanding density throughout the city.

Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility’s primary concern is that the new proposal allows by-right permitting throughout San Jose. The planning staff merely needs to review a checklist to approve building and permitting fees, regardless of the concerns of affected neighborhoods and the impact on future city budgets. There is no safeguard against projects that are incompatible with surrounding residences. There is no process for analyzing the increased service demands such development would have on the demand for city and county services, no way to protect San Jose’s fragile financial stability.

The proposed plan is full of holes. Development sites would be unpredictable, occurring wherever the developer’s whim finds fit. It has lax parking requirements, up to and including allowing construction of residences with no parking included. This will fill the streets with parked vehicles, creating traffic and public safety nightmares. It silences our community’s voice. It is liable to negatively impact the city’s fiscal picture should service costs increase more than the taxes and fees generated. In sum, it is a very bad idea.

San Jose certainly needs more housing at all affordability levels, but the solution is not to focus on single point “solutions” like allowing missing middle housing anywhere in San Jose. The best solution involves streamlining and reducing the cost of the current development process, one which respects the input of residents and the fiscal needs of our city. It should not take seven years and fees of $100,000 or more per residential unit to build new housing.

It is imperative that the existing development process becomes faster and less expensive before considering such draconian measures as a citywide missing middle policy.

Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility urges the San Jose City Council to “staple themselves to a development proposal.” Follow it through the process, from the first germ of the development idea to the final occupancy sign off. Identify cost drivers and find ways to eliminate or minimize them. Find the time sinks, such as scheduling code inspections and reduce them — time is money in the development business. This is the best way to increase the creation of more, and more affordable, housing in San Jose.

Pat Waite is president of the board of directors of Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility.