What is your position on High Density housing in Fountain Valley?
I am against it.
Our city can grow gradually and most likely will have other sites to survey once property owners decide to sell. If we allow developers to build high density, high rises, under the pretext of being able to comply with the state’s RHNA numbers, we will not meet our affordable component and we will end up with a need to keep building. How high and how dense can our city support? We do not have the infrastructure in place to support a 25% increase in building. We need to build out slowly and carefully and not be looking to approve projects that don’t fit in with the footprint of our city. Currently , developers get density bonuses and are eager to build as high and as dense as a city will allow.
What should our policy be regarding AirBNB and other short-term rentals in Fountain Valley?
Ban them completely.
Short term rentals in Fountain Valley residential areas have been illegal. Hotels are short term rentals and are located where they belong, in commercially zoned areas where the entire community expects them to be. Residential zoning is where living dwellings belong.
There is a major problem with street parking in our city, especially in areas where there are apartment dwellings nearby. How do you plan to address that issue, especially considering state housing mandates and projects like Slater Investments?
- Require street parking permits.
- Require more parking spaces for new developments.
Developers and property owners of multi unit dwellings, need to provide off street parking for their tenants. Any on street parking should require a permit to control the amount of cars allowed on the side of the road. People need to be able to park where they live. Without planning for at least 2 spaces per unit, there will be a parking problem. If it means a developer must build fewer units in order to be able to accommodate the amount of cars of their tenants, then that needs to be addressed in building plans and not pawned off to be dealt with after a project is built.
Which of these ideas do you think are good ideas for increasing city revenue?
- Bring more business into the city.
- Other (please specify):
Our city needs to be able to sustain itself. Increasing sales tax is a temporary fix for an ongoing issue. Prop HH is providing funds for about 21% of the city’s budget. Our city needs to figure out different revenue streams. We have underutilized areas that could be rented out for events. The senior center, recreation center, the Historical Society grounds are all potential income generators but many residents are unaware of this. Creating an online newspaper and/or a city owned magazine, could provide revenue through advertising. Bringing in family friendly entertainment places would encourage people to support our city’s businesses. I feel when an entertainment venue is removed a new one needs to be planned for elsewhere on the city. Replacing these places with more stores and restaurants, we have less reason to play in FV and go spend our money elsewhere.
Should Fountain Valley increase its TOT (Transient Occupancy Tax) from 9% to 10% to be at the same level as nearby cities?
Yes (increase TOT tax)
The TOT tax does not affect our city’s residents. It is a tax on tourists who stay in the city. There are plans to build more hotels in FV. An increase in TOT will allow more money to be collected by our city.
Additional statement:
I question some ways our city approaches issues. The bidding process of the city requires us to take the lowest bidder. This encourages vendors to underbid and necessitates asking for an increase of funds to be approved for unforeseen reasons. If bids come in very far apart, this causes reason to question why. Accepting the lowest bid can actually end up costing the most. Vendors know they can bid low, get the contract and get paid even if costs go up. I also question why our city did little to nothing to curb short term rentals when first brought to the attention of the Planning Commission in 2015. It’s an example of doing too little too late after a problem has escalated. Much of what ends up costing the city more in the long run, could have been nipped at the beginning. We need to address issues in a timely fashion and problem solve looking at the big picture.