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Recapping 2024 and Looking Ahead to 2025
by Lori Holt Pfeiler, CEO, San Diego County Building Industry Association
So long 2024, and Happy 2025! It sure feels like 2024 flew by at lightning speed. What was of note this year, what changed, what challenged us, what made us smile, and what inspired us to come back next year and tackle it all again?
Post-COVID Era: We are celebrating each other again. The BIA events this past year were fun. Members wanted to be there, friends were there, we could hug again, we could share each other’s lives again. It felt good to be out, learning, sharing, and partying.
Legislative Actions: Offsite affordable allowed in Complete Communities, Blueprint San Diego supports housing production, Vehicle Miles Travelled (VMT) -- the county (finally!) acknowledges that projects that fall below the threshold studied in its General Plan can move forward. Permit Extensions are allowed in San Diego. Reach code will not be applied in Carlsbad. Chula Vista knows they can’t change their fees without having a significant impact on housing production. So many conversations throughout the region have shed light on the impact policies have on the ability of a family to attain a home. We are that voice.
VMT Study: We completed a study with local economist Gary London, paid for with a grant from NAHB, that finds the County could do a better job interpreting VMT policies. We plan to broadly release that study early next year across multiple internal and external channels. Stay tuned!
Election Results: San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria won reelection – that is huge. If Todd lost, the impact to the actual departments we have worked so hard to be productive would have been devastating. The City of San Diego remains pro-housing! The County will continue to be a challenge. I think we have an opportunity to push for solid pro housing/industry policies – heavy lift to be sure, but worth the effort. Truly the unincorporated area is the only place we can build housing to scale to meet the region’s needs. Three cities turned anti-housing in 2024: Encinitas, Oceanside and Poway. Chula Vista voted in a pro-housing Council, as did Vista, Escondido, El Cajon, and Santee. Vallecitos Water District will continue to be a challenge.
Coalition Building: Middle Income Housing Coalition (we need more middle-income housing), Regional Task Force on Homelessness (the solution to homelessness, RTFH’s CEO says over and over again, is more housing), Homeownership Opportunities for SD (seeking zoning changes to clear the way for small-lot homes to be built), Business Coalition (always trying to work to make our logical solutions to housing sound more appealing to residents, nonprofits and other job creators).
Next Year: What is left to work on? So much! We have an opportunity to convey to our elected officials now is the time! Let’s continue to ask the hard questions, including, why does it take so long to entitle a project? Let’s be more direct and specific about the standards imposed on housing. We will sponsor legislation to fix Section 851 that causes us a great deal of grief with SDGE. SDGE will partner with us on this legislation. Resolve 2” and 3” meters in San Diego. Work with Land Use and Housing Committee to fix day-to-day challenges that cumulatively cause delay and resources. Tackle the Subdivision Map Act – the elected officials cannot talk about more home ownership without addressing the Subdivision Map Act. Work with water districts to release roadblocks to construction. And as always, stormwater is ripe for discussion, and we will be at the table.
For us at BIA, it is an honor to work on behalf of our industry building the housing so many need and desire. We are an industry that provides housing for everyone. Everyone wants a place they can call home, take care of their family, their pets, their toys, and just sit and say, “It is all ok. I have a home.”
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