San Benito County Supervisors approved changes to the county’s
housing element this week
– including a dramatic increase in the number of homes allowed
in areas zoned for multi-family housing – in what some say was a
hasty effort to meet state grant application deadlines.
Hollister – San Benito County Supervisors approved changes to the county’s housing element this week – including a dramatic increase in the number of homes allowed in areas zoned for multi-family housing – in what some say was a hasty effort to meet state grant application deadlines.
The county’s housing element, which the state sent back for revisions after supervisors approved the initial draft in July, must be state-certified in order for the county to be eligible to receive state grants. Director of Community Services and Workforce Development Kathy Flores told the board Tuesday morning she was applying for a state grant of $1.5 million over the next three years, and that the application had to be in Sacramento by 5pm today. If the county does get the grant, she said, it would receive $500,000 a year over the next three years go towards funding a temporary homeless shelter, the Emmaus House and free YMCA after-school programs for needy children.
“As long as our housing element is approved, we would be eligible for the grant,” Flores reminded the board Tuesday morning.
Later that afternoon in a public hearing, the supervisors approved a revised draft of the housing element essentially to get the ball rolling and to make sure Flores’ grant didn’t fall through, they said.
“I feel that we should have been able to review this more closely and also give the opportunity for the public to voice their opinion on it, and that’s very uncomfortable for me,” said Supervisor Anthony Botelho. “(The plan) is very detailed, very confusing, but we had to pass it at that point. I have a ton of questions on it and concerns that need to be answered, but it’s like the state putting a gun to our head as far as making these changes.”
California requires all local governments, both city and county, to update the housing element of their general plan so each community absorbs a share of housing for the state’s burgeoning population. The state will withhold grants to get local agencies to comply.
Though the planning commission did hold a public hearing on the amendments on March 16, some supervisors said they were upset over not having had more time to review the county’s current housing element before approving the changes to the document. While the previous board members had seen the document back in July, Tuesday’s public hearing was the first time Supervisors Botelho, Reb Monaco and Jaime De La Cruz said they had seen the new revisions.
Senior County Planner Mary Paxton said the plan has been held up for several reasons since it was originally approved in July, leading to the last-minute reveal and approval of the new amendments. After the board had submitted the housing element to the state in July, she said, the state wrote back on Oct. 14 to tell the supervisors there were still some changes that needed to be made.
“We had to have time to prepare the changes and present them to the planning commission, and circulate an environmental document. And we had a change-up in the planning commission, so we had to wait for that,” Paxton explained. “It just takes a certain amount of time to take things to commission, and at least a month and a half to circulate an environmental document.”
Paxton added the document’s amendments were not drastic, the most notable change being a hike in the density of homes that can be built in areas zoned for multi-family housing.
“The biggest change is that we will now allow development density at 20 units per acre, before that it was eight or 12, so it’s higher than it’s ever been before,” she said. “The other changes were pretty minor.”
While supervisors said they weren’t clear on all the details of the plan the approved, they wanted to make sure to get a shot at the $1.5 million grants. They also said they should be able to tweak the plan in the future if need be.
“I definitely want to go back and revisit this,” said De La Cruz. “My understanding is, we approved this, we can change it.”
Board Chairman Monaco said Thursday he also hoped the supervisors would have a chance to review the housing element and gain a better understanding of it while maintaining state certification.
“It’s very confusing the way it’s laid out. It’s hard to make sense out of the thing,” he said. “I would like to have the luxury of being able to look at that ten years down the road, and I’m certainly not going to give up on that.”
Paxton said Thursday the supervisors would have the option of making changes to the housing element in the future as long as the state would accept their changes.
The city of Hollister is also in the process of getting its housing element approved by the state. In January, the city council announced it might not be able to meet its own housing element requirements for 2001-2008 due to the 2002 building moratorium and the passage of Measure U, which caps growth at just 244 homes a year. Between these two dilemmas, the city could be around 400 affordable housing units short of meeting state-imposed requirements, and therefore wouldn’t be eligible for state grants.
“The county and the city are sort of in a partnership in order to get our housing element approved so we can provide services to the city of Hollister,” Botelho said.
City Planner Susan Heiser said via e-mail Thursday city staff now believes Hollister may be able to get its housing element certified after all, though the county is much closer to actual certification.
“The City is supporting the County in its efforts to get their element certified. The County is further in the process than the City and we anticipate County support when we are going through our hearing process,” Heiser wrote.
And unlike the county, it doesn’t look as though being a little behind in gaining certification should hurt the city too much as far as grants go, Heiser stated.
“At present, I am not aware of any project within the City that would be applying for any grant funds that does not require new construction,” she wrote. “Since new construction is prohibited by the (Regional Water Quality Control Board) Cease and Desist Order, the City has time to work with HCD towards compliance before we would be making applications for grant funds.”
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
