The Workshop is really aimed at the developers and owners of new and rehabilitated affordable housing rental properties. The owners and developers of rental properties, who rent to persons with lower incomes, are subject to rent level guidelines. These guidelines limit the rents they can charge, the idea being, of course, that rents must be kept low enough to be affordable to lover income tenants. The Housing Authority establishes and enforces the guidelines.

Now, the Housing Authority has changed their guidelines to build in what they call an "Energy Efficiency-Based Utility Allowance." If landlords implement various energy efficiency measures, they can charge the tenants higher rents. This should actually benefit the tenants, however, since they'll save more money on their energy bills than they have to pay in increased rent. It's an all around good idea, and the owners of rental properties can actually get cash subsidies, if they invest in energy efficiency improvements. If you're an owner or developer, you can find out more on Thursday.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

Housing Authority Website
http://www.hamonterey.org/

For information and to RSVP please contact Puja Manglani at 916-962-7001; Email:

Local contact: Mary Jo Zenk - 831-775-5020; Email:

I've been focusing many of my recent Land Use Reports on housing issues, since these are so important for the future of our local communities. Monterey County residents might want to attend a Workshop to be held tomorrow, sponsored by the Monterey County Housing Advisory Committee. The Workshop will be held in the Multi Purpose Room of the Monterey County Health Department, at 1270 Natividad Road in Salinas. The Workshop begins at 5:30 p.m. The focus of the Workshop is the County's Workforce Housing and Affordable Housing Developer Incentive Program.

"Affordable" Housing generally means housing that is capable of purchase or rental by persons with very low, low, or moderate incomes. "Very low" income persons are those who have incomes equal to or less than 50% of the median income in the county. "Low" income persons have incomes from 51% to 80% of the median income. "Moderate" income persons have incomes from 81% to 120% of the median income. For persons who have incomes greater than 120% of the median income of the county, but who still can't afford "market rate" housing, categories of "workforce" housing have been established. The County is trying to find incentives to get builders to build such "workforce" and "affordable" housing. That's what this Workshop is all about. It should be worthwhile.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

Housing Advisory Committee Web Page
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/bcandc/housingadv.htm

For information on the Workshop call Marti Noel - 831-786-1353

The City of Santa Cruz is definitely willing to be "entrepreneurial." The controversial Coast Hotel project, for instance, is based on a very significant $30 million investment by the City, which is supposed to pay off in increased revenues. In essence, the City would be going into the parking garage business, using money borrowed by the City's taxpayers to make more money for the City (or at least, so the Council hopes).

Another entrepreneurial possibility is the redevelopment of the old Salz Tannery facility, located at 1040 River Street, right near its junction with Highway One and Highway 17. Today and tomorrow, the City Planning Commission and the City Historic Preservation Commission will be holding special meetings at the Tannery site, and will provide public tours from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. If you're interested in how the tannery property might be renovated and rehabilitated, taking one of these tours might be quite a bit of fun. The hope is that the City's redevelopment efforts could catalyze a combination housing and commercial development focused specifically on the arts.

After the tour on Thursday, the Planning Commission and the Historic Preservation Commission will recess to a 7:00 p.m. special meeting in Room 107 of the City Hall Annex, to discuss the Tannery project. A copy of the Tannery Arts Center Draft Environmental Impact Report can be found on the City's website.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

City of Santa Cruz Website
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/

A Santa Cruz County listener has contacted me, to follow up on some of the affordable housing issues I've been mentioning in this Land Use Report. He begins his email by saying, "I'm as frustrated as the next local person who isn't a home owner in Santa Cruz over the skyrocketing price of houses in this area." Here are some of his questions:

• How can you claim that increasing supply isn't going to help?
• Are there housing programs that give preference to locals?
• What about lower prices for locals?
• Could UCSC house more of its staff?

Let's take the last issue first. Could UCSC do more? The short answer is "yes." The largest single cost of providing housing is acquiring the land on which it's built, and UCSC certainly has lots of land. The University could invest money in housing development on-campus, and this could help attract and retain both faculty and staff, as well as mitigating its impacts on the local housing market. CSUMB, incidentally, is doing just that. This is not a decision that any local government can make, but local government can lobby. Comments on the EIR for the Long Range Development Plan are also still timely, and could help force a decision by the University to minimize environmental impacts by building on?]campus housing for faculty, staff, and students as the campus grows in the future. I'll continue with these questions tomorrow

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

UCSC Long Range Development Plan
http://ppc.ucsc.edu/cp/projects/11408

I'm following up on questions from a Santa Cruz listener. Here they are again:

• How can you claim that increasing the supply of housing isn't going to help?
• Are there housing programs that give preference to locals?
• What about lower prices for locals?

I've put references to more extensive documentation on the KUSP website. In short, however, increasing housing supply won't help average and below average income persons unless the new supply of housing is price?]restricted. That's because the price of housing, absent any governmental control, is set by the market, and the "demand" for housing in Santa Cruz County so much exceeds the amount of new housing that Santa Cruz could supply that any new housing produced will bring a market price far above what an average or below average income person can afford. Strong inclusionary housing programs impose price restrictions, and that's the policy that LandWatch Monterey County, the California Nonprofit Housing Association, and others have been promoting.

Can locals get preference, including preference to purchase price-restricted units? "Yes." On the website is a reference to a set of housing policies that could accomplish just that. Again, though, such rules can be imposed only on "new" housing, not to existing housing. What's already in the market will remain there, and you can't restrict the owner's rights over existing housing without paying for it.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

Policies establishing a "local preference" for new housing can be found in LA Community Plan for Salinas"

http://www.landwatch.org/pages/issuesactions/
salinasgp/081602salinasplan.html

Similar policies are also contained in the "Community General Plan" for Monterey County:

Housing - Policy #13

First Right To Rent or Purchase - Monterey County shall establish, maintain, and either directly administer or cause to be administered a list of persons who live in or who work in Monterey County, and who may wish to rent or purchase new housing to be constructed in the County. The County shall give written notice to persons on this list who may be eligible for such housing whenever a new housing development of five or more units is proposed, and is set for public hearing. When residential housing developments are approved within Monterey County, it shall be a condition of approval that the new residential units constructed shall first be offered for rental or sale to individuals who currently live in or work in Monterey County, and who have indicated their interest in renting or purchasing new housing constructed in the community by having their names placed upon the list maintained by the County for that purpose.

The "Real Cause of High Housing Prices"
http://www.landwatch.org/pages/issuesactions/
housing/052202prices.html