OCEANSIDE — Seven candidates will face off in this November’s race for two city council seats.
Those running are incumbents Councilman Jack Feller and Councilwoman Esther Sanchez, and first time candidates Daniel Dumouchel, Linda Gonzales, Steve Hasty, Ward O’Doherty and Victor Roy.
Candidates replied, in their own words, to questions on housing, craft brewery zoning and the city’s less than desirable jobs to housing ratio. This story shares the replies of Dumouchel, O’Doherty and Roy.
Hasty did not reply by publication date.
What does Oceanside need to consider when approving needed housing development?
Daniel Dumouchel, age 23, Health Advisor: Oceanside needs to consider its growing population while maintaining its lower and fixed income communities. The City of Oceanside needs to be able to provide housing to lower income citizens just as much as they do high income. This means that we need to protect and preserve affordable housing, and ensure individuals living in these communities do not lose access to downtown areas.
Ward M. O’Doherty, age 48, Financial Advisor: First and foremost public safety must be taken into consideration including the cost to provide these increased services. Also the impact on our environment and existing infrastructure is very important. Lastly the economic impact on our residences, city and surrounding region.
Victor Roy, age 67, Community Volunteer/Advocate, Retired from aviation career: We need more jobs so that we do not turn into a bedroom community.
We need to avoid hits to the city’s general fund and avoid major gridlock effects to adjacent neighborhoods.
Exorbitant infrastructure costs must be avoided.
Ensure we do not convert commercial land into residential.
Smart growth along transportation lines that does not become burdensome.
What should be included in craft brewery zoning regulations to ensure there is consideration for adjacent homeowners?
Dumouchel: When considering where to place and zone locations for breweries the city needs to take into deeper consideration the impact on the local streets, and how the new establishment will work to improve the area in which it is working to establish itself.
O’Doherty: Recently new zoning rules and regulations have been created for the downtown and Coast Highway corridor that allow for wine tasting rooms, gastropubs and breweries. As the chairman of the Downtown Advisory Commission my goal is to create a win-win for Oceanside business owners and residences. The commission was instrumental in crafting the language that specifically addresses the neighborhoods. If any afore mentioned business abuts a neighborhood they will be subject to a full staff review and require a conditional use permit (CUP). This requirement I believe will go a long way to preserve not only neighborhoods but also protect the quality of life for its residence.
Roy: Provide more interim parking where parking availability is deficient in order to minimize the impact to connected residential areas.
Breweries should be downtown, and not allowed along Coast Highway due to deficient parking.
Some public review needed; and not a matter of rights.
What concrete steps can Oceanside take to improve its jobs to housing ratio?
Dumouchel: Oceanside, as with much of San Diego, is experiencing a housing market where homes are often priced out of range for the occupations that are available within the city. To improve the issue it would be a strategic city move to build “mixed use” communities, which reduce needed space and living costs. Preserving affordable housing will prevent Oceanside from turning into a retired city so that we can support working families while preserving our classic Oceanside environment.
O’Doherty: We must be more thoughtful when it comes to rezoning issues such as changing commercial, job producing properties to residential use. We must become more flexible when it comes to nontraditional uses for light industrial manufacturing. Oceanside needs to welcome new unique, creative and innovative companies. Finally we must create a policy that streamlines the zoning process so when businesses are ready to open their doors they can.
Roy: We need to be proactive in our outreach to regional business associations in order to attract businesses of all sizes.
We need to pay closer attention to growth businesses (i.e., tech, pharmaceutical) that could select Oceanside for either their expansion (adding more locations) as well as relocating their headquarters and their partner referrals.
Push for green industries, green jobs.
Make sure our commercial land is not changed to residential.
Successful recruitment of business will improve our jobs to housing ratio.
