Hollister
– San Benito County’s affordable housing programs aren’t
working, according to many of the speakers at Tuesday’s Board of
Supervisors meeting.
Hollister – San Benito County’s affordable housing programs aren’t working, according to many of the speakers at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
In fact, there hasn’t been any low-income housing built in the county since 2002.
The meeting was a special study session to discuss affordable housing issues. The supervisors heard from county staff, developers, affordable housing providers and local residents.
Many of the speakers criticized San Benito’s inclusionary housing ordinance, which requires developers on unincorporated county land to either sell 30 percent of their units below market rates or to pay a fee that is intended to fund a similar number of affordable units elsewhere in the county.
In neighboring counties, the affordability requirement is between 10 and 20 percent, according to county planners.
Beverly Bryant, executive director of the Home Builders Association of Northern California, southern division, said she had opposed increasing the affordability housing requirement in San Benito County from 20 to 30 percent in 2004. Bryant argued that the intervening years had backed her warning that the requirement would just scare developers away.
“Inclusionary zoning does not become a reality until builders build homes,” she said.
Scott Fuller, who is both a board member of Habitat for Humanity of San Benito County and the general manager at the San Juan Oaks Golf Club, had a similarly critical take on the inclusionary housing ordinance.
“It hasn’t really provided the framework for affordable housing to occur,” he said.
County planner Byron Turner noted that there have been problems in both the affordability requirement’s fee formula and implementation. Turner said the formula has not been updated for several years; if the formula is updated to match increasing affordability requirements, it could jump from $27,019 to $109,755 per unit.
Turner also said that only three applicants have paid the affordability fee since the current ordinance was passed. Of those applicants, he said, two should not have been asked to pay and have received refunds.
Another developer should have paid the fee but did not, and the county is currently trying to get payment.
“This is not going to happen again if we continue with the program,” Turner said. “But I think it’s clear there are problems with the program as it exists today.”
County Planning Director Art Henriques said there are a number of factors driving the county’s need for affordable housing.
For one thing, San Benito has been experiencing tremendous population growth – 192 percent since 1970, with a 349 percent increase in Hollister. In addition, he said, the county’s median home price has nearly doubled since 2003, while the median income has grown at a much slower rate.
Henriques said the county can tackle these issues from a number of angles, including forming community land trusts that can acquire land for affordable housing, creating special programs that target specific populations like public safety officials and teachers, and supporting self-help housing programs like Habitat for Humanity.
“Community partnerships consistently come across as very, very important,” Henriques said.
Riverview Estates, the county’s most recent affordable housing development of note, is one example of this partnership. San Benito provided the land to South Valley Housing and the Community Services Development Corporation, which helped the two nonprofits build and sell homes to low- and moderate-income families.
CSDC Executive Director Brian Abbott noted that when the group interviewed applicants for moderate-income residences, 11 out of the 12 families still weren’t making enough money to afford the homes.
Abbott said buying a house, even with assistance, remains out of reach for many San Benito residents. Because of that, he said, the county needs to focus more energy and funds on affordable rental housing.
At the end of the meeting, a number of supervisors agreed they need to do more to address affordable housing needs. Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz said he’s worried that in-county housing will become so expensive that the working class could be driven elsewhere.
“If we don’t do something, the community will transform into – we don’t know what it will be,” De La Cruz said. “It could be another Carmel.”
The county will hold another study session on March 13. Henriques told the Free Lance the supervisors will likely direct staff and community members to come up with a more concrete action plan after that meeting. He also encouraged residents with questions or comments to contact the planning department at 831-637-5313.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or ah*@fr***********.com.
