Meeting begins with moment of silence for 11-year-old traffic accident victim José Gutierrez

ATASCADERO — The Atascadero City Council heard a progress report from Community Development Director Phil Dunsmore on the city’s General Plan and Housing Element its regular meeting on Tuesday, March 25.

Before that, the meeting, which ran just 55 minutes, began with Mayor Charles Bourbeau expressing his condolences for 11-year-old José Gutiérrez, who was killed in a hit-and-run incident on Friday, March 14.

The young boy was walking along El Camino Real when he fatally struck by a vehicle, which then fled the scene. Authorities swiftly launched an investigation, leading to the arrest of 31-year-old Zachary Bernal of Atascadero in connection with the fatal collision.

“Our thoughts are with José’s family who must now deal with grief and loss that most of us can only imagine,” Bourbeau said. The mayor also went to express gratitude for the first responders and citizens who tended to the scene, the police department investigating the incident and finding the hit-and-run driver, and the community for its outpouring of support.

Bourbeau and the City Council then held a moment of silence for José.

The entire Consent Calendar was eventually approved 5-0 in two motions, but not before Bourbeau pulled Item 3, having to do with the Audio Visual Equipment Upgrades. The city contracted with A-Town AV Inc. for a new AV system in the council chambers, with cost not to exceed $269, 460.

“I just want to bring this up to say we have a cost now, but will be saving later as we will no longer have to pay for broadcast of the City Council meetings,” Bourbeau said. When a staffer disclosed that the annual cost would be $38,000 to $50,000 per year, the mayor added, “The move should pay for itself in 7-10 years.”

Community Development Director Phil Dunsmore presented the General Plan and Housing Element Annual Progress Report for 2024 before council. The report is a state requirement to monitor the implementation of the City’s General Plan Housing Element and progress toward meeting the City’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA).

Dunsmore began by noting the progress made on RHNA requirements. The quota for affordable housing units for the 2020-24 housing cycle was given as 843 units, and the city was able to carry over 114 units from 2019-20 reducing the requirement. With 422 units built during the cycle already, Atascadero needs just 307 units to fill the quota.

“In general, we’re doing great, especially when we compare ourselves to other communities in the area,” Dunsmore said. “We’re building at least 100 [affordable housing] units every year. Housing is booming and we’re on track to meet our quota by the end of the cycle in 2028.”

From there, Dunsmore went on to highlight some of the upcoming projects coming to the city, including two in progress at Del Rio Road and El Camino Real: The Pit Stop gas station, next to the Hilton Home 2 Suites, and across the street, the Del Rio Marketplace, anchored by the soon-to-open Valley Fresh market, and soon to include 92 apartment units as well as more commercial space.

The Del Rio Marketplace is just one of many mixed-use projects being built or planned in Atascadero, Dunsmore said, as he mentioned additional projects on Morro Road and 4615 El Camino Real, as well as the Barrel Creek and Dove Creek projects in development.

Councilmember Seth Peek asked about the classification of accessory dwelling units (ADU) toward the RHNA requirements. Peek noted that 50 percent of the ADUs could be classified as low- to moderate-income, although the city has no ability to regulate how much landlords can charge for those units.

Dunsmore, who noted earlier that the inclusion of ADUs was a big factor in the city fulfilling much of its RHNA quota, agreed.

“That is correct that we don’t regulate the rental rates on those properties,” Dunsmore said. “In fact, our ability to allocate ADUs is based on a countywide study every two years on what rents actually are. If it so happens that we get a lot of nicer ADUs and they do that study again, we could lose our ability to count those in our [lower-income] category.”

Councilmember Susan Funk pointed out that city and county programs have existed to help people who want to own a house, although she said getting eligibility can be competitive, and asked Dunsmore what kind of programs if any, have been listed on the housing plan.

“We have things in our housing element that provide for an affordable housing program that could directly finance these things, but we haven’t done that yet,” Dunsmore said. “We have an interim program, but in the past, the council has decided not to do that. Instead, we’ve required other mechanisms.”

Dunsmore added there is a list of options in the housing element that he could discuss with the councilmembers individually or at a future meeting.

“I just want the people to know we’re not slacking around and are moving forward steadily to give people the chance to obtain housing,” Funk said.

No action was taken by council on the item other than receiving and filing, since it was a management report.

The next City Council meeting will be on Tuesday, April 8, at 6 p.m.