Encinitas Council approves changes to density bonuses for housing projects [The San Diego Union-Tribune] The Encinitas City Council gave final approval Wednesday to new rules for higher-density housing projects that receive special city building code exemptions under a state law. The state’s Density Bonus Law, which was initially enacted in the 1970s and has undergone repeated revisions in recent years, aims to encourage the construction of low-income housing by allowing developers to put more homes than would normally be allowed on a given lot, if they agree to designate some of their proposed housing for low-income families. Proponents say the law helps create much-needed, lower-cost housing in a state with astronomically high housing prices. Opponents contend that not much low-income housing actually has been built recently, saying cities are mostly ending up with tons of high-density, market-rate housing. The law’s been particularly controversial in Encinitas lately and critics have been pushing the city to set stricter standards.