Four Coronado City Council candidates laid out competing strategies to fight state housing mandates in the latest Eagle & Journal candidates forum. The Week 4 installment was published Wednesday, Sept. 30.

The question asked how candidates would protect Coronado's character against pressure from agencies including SANDAG and state lawmakers. All four oppose increasing the R-4 zone height limit, the subject of Measure D on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Rebecca King, an attorney and former chair of the Coronado Planning and Design Review Commission, offered the most detailed policy list. She proposed reforming SANDAG's weighted vote to give built-out communities more flexibility, ensuring military jobs are counted in the correct jurisdiction for Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) purposes, and crediting existing Navy housing toward the city's 912-unit allocation.

"In the last cycle, SANDAG's initial allocation of more than 1,000 housing units to Coronado was a drastic jump from about 50 in the previous cycle," King wrote in her forum response.

King also called for re-evaluating the city's "Tier 3" historic homes, which she said no longer require historic review before demolition as of 2025. She proposed monitoring SB 79, a 2025 state law that overrides local zoning near major rail and rapid-bus stations. King and fellow candidate Andrew Gade both noted the law does not currently apply to Coronado.

Gade, a small business owner, pointed out that the city's two bus routes, the 901 and 904, do not qualify as major transit stops under SB 79. He said taller buildings would damage the city's aesthetics and character, and he supports challenging state laws that override local zoning.

Appointed Councilmember Kelly Purvis called the 912-unit RHNA number unrealistic. She serves on the California League of Cities' Housing, Economic, and Community Development Policy Committee and said cities at the league's recent annual conference passed a resolution calling for stronger local control and reasonable housing allocations. Purvis also cited her role as a proponent of 2007's Prop J, a local initiative to stop home demolitions and lot-splitting that passed by seven votes but was overturned by the courts.

Ricky Hoyt, a Navy Reserve pilot and business owner, emphasized the city's existing partnership with the Navy. He noted that 374 Navy housing units are already included in Coronado's housing-capacity analysis, covering about 41 percent of the 912-unit RHNA allocation. The council elected in November will be in office as the city begins the next housing cycle, Hoyt said, and he urged strengthening Navy relationships well before 2029.

The RHNA methodology has been a recurring concern. King warned in a Sept. 21 housing Q&A published by The Coronado News that the city must confirm jobs-housing balance inputs are correct so Coronado is not again assigned requirements that belong to another jurisdiction.

The state Department of Housing and Community Development found Coronado's current housing element in substantial compliance in August 2024, according to an HCD letter. That finding included Program H-1.E, which requires the city to track Navy housing development.

Two council seats are on the Nov. 3 ballot. Vote-by-mail ballots are scheduled to be mailed Monday, Oct. 5.