Jul 23

Jul 23 Vacation Rental Fallout, SDSU Football Gains Ground and Comic-Con Catches: San Diego Summarized | 7-23-18

Politics & Government, Parks & Recreation, Sports

Welcome to San Diego Summarized where each week we examine headlines from around the city:

This week we begin with the fall out from last Monday's big win for Barbara Bry's short term vacation rental result in which the San Diego City Council voted 6-3 to restrict only residents who live in homes in San Diego to rent them out to visitors up to six months every year. Councilmen David Alvarez, Chris Cate and Scott Sherman voted no.

Bry first proposed a framework like this back in 2017 but got very little support from colleagues, outside of Councilwoman Lorie Zapf. Councilman Chris Ward’s last minute decision to pivot from his long-held more liberal position on the matter proved to be the tipping point for Bry, and this victory in the face of Mayor Kevin Faulconer's rejected proposal will do no harm to Bry's expected tilt at that same office in 2020.

All in all, the new policy vastly changes what someone has to go through to rent out a home they own to visitors. Unless they find a loophole, it will eliminate all vacation rentals owned as second homes or investment properties.

The focus now shifts toward implementation and enforcement of this new policy.

Congratulations to the mayor and City Council for stepping up to regulate short term vacation rentals, an issue that dragged on 11 years.
— SD City Attorney (@CityAttorneySD) July 17, 2018

While there was some cheer from City Attorney Mara Elliott, Councilman Chris Cate expressed dissatisfaction with the hard-line stance that eschews any compromise that would make this move more palatable.

“Instead, the Council chose a path that is not only unenforceable and subject to legal challenge, but would drive the activity underground, resulting in the loss in millions of dollars in revenue that funds public safety officers and the repairing of city streets,” Cate wrote in a statement.

Stay tuned to this topic. The new vacation rental rules could face yet another major roadblock. The California Coastal Commission, which has rejected multiple cities’ regulations, could take issue with a measure that significantly curtails rentals along the coast.

Next we take a look at the recently reported news that the City of San Diego and San Diego State University have agreed a two-year extension of the existing lease that SDSU has for use of the SDCCU Stadium that sits in the heart of Mission Valley.

According to a staff report released by Voice of San Diego, the extension includes a few small tweaks to the existing agreement between the city and university.

"The Agreement for Use and Occupancy of Qualcomm Stadium between the City of San Diego (“City”) and San Diego State University (“SDSU”) for use of the facility now known as SDCCU Stadium requires an amendment to extend the term of the agreement for two years, through December 31, 2020."

"This amendment also increases the annual lease revenue from a $1 per ticket facility surcharge, which totaled generated approximately $90,000 per year, to a fixed annual rent of $1.1 million per year and entitles the City to retain all concessions revenue and parking revenue, which was retained by SDSU under the original agreement that was approved by resolution R305139."

When the Chargers left and questions arose surrounding the previous sub-lease that the university held from the NFL franchise who held the main lease from the city, SDSU officials indicated that they would be open to taking on the city’s full cost or make sure the city did not lose money to keep it going while a long-term deal was sought.

Fast forward a year and a half, and it appears as though the city is now significantly subsidizing SDSU football, despite the major uptick in payment from the university to the city. Several City Council members have expressed a desire to close the stadium and save the up to $8 million the city loses every year on operations and maintenance, in addition to the $4.5 million the city is still paying on debt taken on to rejuvenate the stadium in the ’90s.

The City Council’s Smart Growth and Land Use Committee will consider the new deal Wednesday.

Interestingly, the language in the report specifically addresses the SoccerCity Initiative and SDSU West Initiative that are both slated for the November ballot in 2018. Both initiatives would facilitate the transfer of ownership of the parcel where SDCCU Stadium currently sits to third parties who would develop the land surrounding the stadium itself.

While the Soccer City proposal is completely privately financed, the SDSU West initiative is fraught with uncertainties regarding the funding mechanism for how exactly the project would be completed.

"The Amendment is not intended to conflict with the terms of either the San Diego River Park and Soccer City Initiative, the SDSU West Campus Research Center, Stadium and River Park Initiative or any other initiative for this site that is scheduled to be on the November 2018 citywide ballot. Additionally, this Amendment is not intended to support the terms of any pending initiative or state a preferred long-term use for SDCCU Stadium. This Amendment is limited to an agreement to continue an existing use on a temporary basis."

There is also some designation regarding the City Strategic Plan Goal(s)/Objective(s):

Goal #1: Provide high quality public service
- Objective #1: Promote a customer-focused culture that prizes accessible, consistent, and predictable delivery of services.
Goal #2: Work in partnership with all of our communities to achieve safe and livable neighborhoods
- Objective #5: Cultivate civic engagement and participation."

Comic Con, San Diego's largest convention is a cultural event like none other. In addition to attracting costumed enthusiasts from around the world, the annual event serves as a launchpad for several new television programs, games and of course movies.