Hollister
– A proposed ordinance brought forward by city staff would allow
apartment-to-condominium conversions to resume – but at a limited
pace.
Hollister – A proposed ordinance brought forward by city staff would allow apartment-to-condominium conversions to resume – but at a limited pace.
The City Council and Planning Commission met Wednesday to discuss the city’s condo-conversion moratorium, which the council approved in February. Assistant Planner Abraham Prado offered officials an overview of Hollister’s rental shortage and presented several possible solutions.
The proposal recommended by city staff – and endorsed by the council and the commission – would limit condo conversions to 25 percent of newly constructed apartments, duplexes and other multi-family housing.
Of course, construction of new apartments has been on hold since Hollister’s sewer moratorium went into effect in 2002, but city staffers said that’s exactly why conversion restrictions are necessary to protect the local supply of rental housing.
Councilwoman Monica Johnson agreed that the moratorium doesn’t end Hollister’s obligation to renters.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re in a moratorium,” Johnson said. “We’ve still got kids turning 18, 19, 20, 21 who are living with their parents. … I do respect that it’s your property, but the question is ethically and morally, what’s the right thing to do?”
City Attorney Stephanie Atigh said a shortage of rental housing can hurt the most vulnerable parts of a community.
“Who uses multi-family housing?” she said. “It’s renters; it’s low-income people.”
However, Hollister residents who attended the meeting weren’t enthusiastic about the proposal. Builder David Haro said he’s worked on apartments throughout the Bay Area that were designed for conversion, and he argued that those conversions serve a real need.
“We’re going to have an influx of professionals,” Haro said.
He also said the city needs to distinguish between conversions of small projects like duplexes and conversions of large apartment complexes.
Local resident Marvin Jones, meanwhile, said the proposed policy would end up hurting the people it was trying to help.
“If you put restrictions on apartments, there’s going to be less interest in building apartments,” Jones said.
Before presenting the city’s plan, Prado drew a bleak picture of the city’s rental situation. Although the general plan calls for multi-family housing to make up 20 percent of the overall housing stock – and Development Services Director Bill Avera said 30 percent is closer to an ideal number – Hollister is only 17.3 percent multi-family housing. The city’s 2.1 percent housing vacancy rate is also far below normal, Prado said.
He added that in other cities, such as Santa Cruz, conversions are prohibited until the vacancy rate rises to 5 percent. That policy wouldn’t work in Hollister, Prado said, because the many farmworkers employed by local agriculture make the city’s vacancy rate vary on a seasonal basis.
Now that the City Council and Planning Commission have endorsed the staff recommendation, Avera said he will bring a draft ordinance to the commission in June.
