The County’s Planning Commission recommended that the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approve an update of the county’s Housing Element.

The Planning Commission’s 6-0 vote March 1, with Commissioner Michael Beck absent, also approves an addendum to the Environmental Impact Report which was approved in August 2011 when the county’s General Plan was updated.

State law requires each jurisdiction to ensure that adequate capacity is available to meet future housing needs of low-income and moderate-income households. The county’s Housing Element was updated as part of the General Plan update, and the new Regional Housing Needs Assessment incorporates data from the 2010 census.

For the 2010-20 period unincorporated San Diego County was allocated a Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) of 22,412 residential units consisting of 2,095 very low-income (50 percent or less of the area median income) units, 1,585 low-income (51 to 80 percent of the median income) units, 5,864 moderate-income (81 to 120 percent of the median income) units, and 12,877 above moderate-income (more than 120 percent of the median income) units.

The land use map of the updated General Plan has capacity to accommodate more than 64,000 dwelling units, so the RHNA for above moderate-income housing was satisfied. The updated Housing Element includes a sites inventory which identifies potential locations for the development of very low-income, low-income, and moderate-income housing.

The inventory of vacant and underutilized sites involved county staff identifying parcels with residential designations of 10.9 to 30 units per acre, which would support multi-family development. Aerial photographs and parcel-specific constraint data were then used to evaluate each identified site’s suitability for development. Non-vacant sites were considered underutilized only if they met two of the three criteria of the assessed value of the land being greater than the assessed value of the improvements, a primary structure built at least 30 years ago, and an allowed residential density at least three times greater than the current existing number of residences.

The sites inventory identified 658 potential new affordable housing units in Fallbrook. The county identified the potential for 112 new units within the Mixed Use designation, which includes a density allowance of 24 units per acre, of the Fallbrook Village area. All of those are currently vacant parcels except for one which was included because it is adjacent to several vacant properties with the same owner. The potential units include 69 in the vicinity of Brandon Street and Alvarado Road, 19 on the east side of South Mission Road on both sides of West Elder Street, 13 on the east side Advertisement

[ Murrieta Volkswagen ] of South Mission Road between Ash Street and West Beach Street, and 11 on the north side of East Mission Road between Minnesota Street and Lynden Lane.

Fallbrook also has a vacant parcel at the southwest corner of South Mission Road and Rocky Crest Road with C34 general commercial zoning which allows residential as a primary use at 40 units per acre, although fire safety and community character considerations resulted in a calculated density of 30 units per acre for a potential yield of 69 units.

An 11.87-acre area north of West Alvarado Street and west of North Wisconsin Avenue contains three adjacent parcels: a single-family residence on 6.3 acres, a single-family residence on 1.37 acres, and 4.2 vacant acres of orchards and vineyards. The Village Residential density of 20 units per acre would produce a yield of 188 residences.

Three adjacent parcels on the east side of Alturas Road between Aviation Road and Fallbrook Street total 8.87 acres and consist of a 2.31-acre single-family lot and vacant parcels of 4.72 and 1.94 acres. The Village Residential density of 24 dwelling units per acre could produce 170 units.

An additional potential 69 units with Village Residential zoning allowing for up to 15 dwelling units per acre was identified on three vacant parcels between East Alvarado Street and East Elder Street and between South Vine Street and South Brandon Road.

A vacant half-acre West Clemmens Lane parcel between Morningstar Lane and South Hill Avenue has a density of 30 units per acre and has a calculated yield of 12 new units. A vacant 0.39-acre parcel at East Kalmia Street and North Vine Street has a density of 24 units per acre and could provide seven residences. A vacant 0.25 acre parcel off of Lillian Way has a density of 30 units per acre, and the sites inventory calculated that six units could be constructed. A vacant 0.29-acre parcel fronting East Aviation Road between Main Avenue and Old Stage Road has a density of 15 units per acre and could produce three new residences.

The sites inventory identified two vacant Bonsall parcels which could provide 180 affordable housing units. A 7.5-acre parcel between West Lilac Road and Camino Del Cielo has a general plan density of 10.9 acres and could provide 65 units. A 13.3-acre parcel just to the south of that, which fronts Camino Del Cielo and West Lilac Road, has a density of 15 units per acre although a density of 10.9 units per acre was used to calculate a possible 115 units.