Supervisors Re-Examine Affordable Housing

Mar 13, 2007 By Anthony Ha Hollister- The Board of Supervisors will discuss revising the county's affordable housing policies at its meeting today. County Planning Director Art Henriques said he will present a series of staff recommendations and ask the supervisors to provide further direction. Those recommendations include reducing the county's 30 percent inclusionary housing requirement, changes to its inclusionary housing fees and the addition of a full-time housing analyst to the county's planning staff. According to Henriques, the last sizable affordable housing development built in unincorporated San Benito County was the Riverview Estates, a development completed in 2002. The supervisors held a special study session on Jan. 30 to discuss affordable housing issues. At the meeting, planning staffers acknowledged that existing policies haven't led to the creation of much affordable housing - only three developers have paid the county's inclusionary housing fee since the fee was approved in 2003. And of those, two have received refunds. Many of the meeting's speakers were critical of the county requirement that developers sell 30 percent of their housing at less-than-market rates or pay in-lieu fees. Beverly Bryant, executive director of the Home Builders Association of Northern California, southern division, said the inclusionary housing requirement is too high and scares developers away from San Benito County. And since development is needed to fund affordable housing, everyone loses, she said. "I think what the county needs to do is look realistically at what it's set up," Bryant said. "If there has to be inclusionary zoning, there are ways to do it to make more housing available, more housing at lower cost." Henriques said the 30 percent requirement is much higher than that found in neighboring counties. "Our sense from surveys is that 15 to 20 percent is not unreasonable for communities in California that have (a similar) requirement," Henriques said. At January's meeting, county planner Byron Turner said that if the inclusionary housing fee is updated to match increasing affordability requirements, it could jump from $27,019 to $109,755 per unit. Henriques said Monday that the supervisors are interested in lowering the fee, as well as broadening it to include the builders of individual homes, not just the developers of large subdivisions. Henriques said the supervisors will need to tell staffers which efforts should take top priority. "Working on these issues takes staff time," he said. The lack of time, Henriques added, is the main reason he's recommending the addition of a full-time housing analyst who would both work on county housing issues and coordinate with the City of Hollister, local nonprofits and developers. "We don't have a person who can pull all this together," Henriques said. Supervisor Pat Loe said she's interested in looking at policies in other counties. She noted that - as described by Assemblywoman Anna Caballero in her recent visit to San Benito County - Salinas has an a flexible inclusionary housing requirement, ranging from 20 to 35 percent. Developers who provide more affordable housing also have more flexibility about how they build, Caballero said. "That's a good place to start," Loe said. Many believe that the supervisors aren't going to resolve the issue at today's meeting, or at their retreat next week. "The solutions are going to take a while," Bryant said. "They're not going to come overnight." Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or aha@freelancenews.com.