Hollister
– Members of the County Board of Supervisors said Tuesday that
they would support the creation of a team to tackle affordable
housing issues in San Benito County and Hollister.
Hollister – Members of the County Board of Supervisors said Tuesday that they would support the creation of a team to tackle affordable housing issues in San Benito County and Hollister.
County Administrative Officer Susan Thompson said the collaboration should help increase the county’s meager supply of affordable housing.
“Part of our problem in addressing this issue is having the staff resources necessary to bring projects forward,” she said.
As currently proposed, the team would consist of four city and county staff members who would manage existing affordable housing projects and development new ones. Thompson said that with the supervisors’ go-ahead, she will include funding for the team – estimated to cost the county around $150,000 per year – in her draft of the county budget for fiscal year 2007-2008.
Riverview Estates, the county’s last sizable affordable development, was completed in 2002, and local officials have complained that the area’s expensive housing costs – the median price for homes sold in April was $589,950 – have made it hard for the county and other employers to recruit young professionals.
Supervisor Anthony Botelho said he supports the team concept, but he noted that construction in San Benito County and Hollister is constrained by the city’s sewer moratorium and the county’s 1 percent growth cap.
“I don’t quite understand what policies they can bring forward that can change the realities we have and that the city has,” Botelho said.
Although the moratorium won’t end until 2008, Board Chairman Don Marcus said it makes sense to plan ahead, because projects can take years to move from conception to construction.
Thompson said that in the coming months, she plans to flesh out the idea and look at possible funding sources.
The team’s extra costs to Hollister will be much lower, because the city has already budgeted to hire two housing staffers.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
