commuity action

Please also consider making a statement during public comment, at a Council meeting.

2. Insist that citizens, not city staff, control the decisions on the management of house bulk and scale in Morro Bay. These are policy decisions and should be made by the citizens and by their elected and appointed representatives in open, public session. The specific language which will implement these policy decisions should then be the responsibility of City staff. One local citizen recently said,

It has been argued that our City planners are the professional experts, and that decisions about planning should be left to their discretion. This is, of course, nonsense. Architects are "professional experts", but it would make no sense to ask an architect to design a home without telling him how many bedrooms are desired. Lawyers are "professional experts", but would you expect an attorney to draft an effective will without telling him whom you wish to inherit your belongings?”

City officials need to know that the citizens of Morro Bay are not interested in giving up control over such important issues as our zoning code, the content of which affects every citizen.

3. Tell us what you think. We are compiling citizen concerns and ideas on controlling mansionization to preserve our neighborhood and community character and property values. You can send us email (including, if you like, copies of messages sent to the Mayor and Council) at visionmbay@hotmail.com

4. Get the facts regarding developer arguments against house bulk and scale controls.

The Arguments

The Facts

Bulk and scale controls such as Floor Area Ratio (FAR) will not work in all areas of Morro Bay

Bulk and scale controls are appropriate in every neighborhood. FAR requirements can be tied to lot size, and special bulk and scale considerations can be applied to different areas with zone overlays

Bulk and scale controls will reduce property values

We found bulk and scale controls, including FAR, in cities with some of the highest property values in California, including Belvedere, Carmel, Coronado, Del Mar, Mill Valley, Monterey, and Tiburon. Many have argued that by preserving the aesthetics and charm of a community, its property values are also preserved. This certainly appears to be the case for the cities mentioned here.

Bulk and scale controls are not fair to lot owners, who will not make as much money on their investments as they expected.

1. Any ordinance that benefits the majority of community members, while taking into account the rights of the individual is fair. Our national government is based on this principle.

2. The City and its citizens are not obligated to sacrifice the best interests of the majority, in order to guarantee that a few land speculators will make maximum profit on their investments.

Bulk and scale controls will hurt families, who need larger houses

Using the Capitola approach as an example, the allowable ratio for a VERY small lot of 2,650 square feet or less is .58. So, even on a lot that small, one could build a house with 1,537 feet of floor area. This is easily enough for a basic three-bedroom, two bath home.

On a typical North Morro Bay lot of 5,000 square feet, (again using the Capitola FAR, which for this lot size is .50) one could build a house with 2,500 square feet of floor area.

If we implemented FAR, owners of small lots would be limited to 900 square foot houses

Using the Capitola FAR specifications once again, we find that in order to be restricted to a 900 square foot house, one would have to have a lot that is just 1,551.7 square feet – approximately 30 x 50. Given our CURRENT zoning code, you would not likely be allowed to build anything much larger than that.

Developers are focusing on building big houses because that is what people want. Developers are just responding to a changing demographic.

This argument seems to imply that only rich people who can afford big houses want to live in Morro Bay. We think that is just plain silly. Obviously, many middle-and low-income people want to live here, too, and will be happy to buy smaller, less expensive homes – if someone will just build them.

If we implemented FAR, no one would be able to build two-story houses

FAR does not dictate the number of floors in a house. The allowed square footage can be used in a variety of ways, allowing for a variety of home designs.

Bulk and scale controls are not common and/or not well-tested in practice

We have found cities all over the country that use bulk and scale controls, 110 of them in California. According to the planner we spoke with in Monterey, that city has been using FAR for over 20 years.

Implementing bulk and scale controls would significantly impact Morro Bay’s tax revenues, since the taxes on the larger houses will be a lot higher.

Our research has determined that the impact of house size/price on Morro Bay’s tax revenues is negligible. This is illustrated by the following data:

The 2005/06 percentage allocation for Morro Bay was 0.59779% (this number changes slightly from year to year.)

For this example, we examine the tax revenues generated by two houses, a medium-sized house, valued at $700,000 and a larger one, valued at $900,000

· For the home with an assessed value of $700,000, the annual property tax would be approximately $7,000. Morro Bay’s share would be $41.85

· For the home with an assessed value of $900,000, the annual property tax would be approximately $9,000. $9,000 x .0059779 = $53.80

Thus, while the difference in the prices of the homes is $200,000 the difference in revenue for Morro Bay, as illustrated by these two sample houses would be just $11.95.

Clearly, even a house priced at two or three million would not generate a great deal of revenue for the city, and certainly a negligible amount more than that generated by the more moderately sized/priced $700,000 house.