Page 14 - Sonoma County Gazette - May, 2018

HOUSING cont’d from page 1
Many people are taken aback by this number – a number that far exceeds any official growth projections, and isn’t reflected in any approved city or county plans.
In May, county planners plan to ask the Board of Supervisors to formally adopt the combined county/city goal of 30,000 new housing units as part of a series of housing policy changes and rezoning that are already underway. Such sweeping changes of this magnitude are usually undertaken during a very public General Plan update process, but that has been delayed due to the fires until later this year or 2019.
Several proposals support this approach: updating the Downtown Specific Area Plan in Santa Rosa and Petaluma generating more fees to build affordable housing. A countywide affordable housing bond is also in process.
See the new county housing initiatives website for details:
Before the fires, an estimated 8,500 affordable housing units were needed among all the cities and towns by 2022 to fulfill state housing laws. Most cities have not met those goals, but the county was on track to meet its allocation for 936 new homes in the unincorporated areas.
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/PRMD/Regulations/Housing/News/First-Set-of- Housing-Initiatives-to-Be-Considered/
The city of Santa Rosa is also forwarding streamlined housing and development policies: https://srcity.org/2802/Resilient-City-
In 2017, Sonoma County set a goal to build 3,375 new homes in unincorporated areas by 2022. These numbers don’t include the estimated 10,000 homes, apartments, condos and other types of homes that have been approved across the county and cities, but not yet built.
Development-Measures, as are Petaluma and Rohnert Park.
These expedited processes could go far to help the fire recovery and rebuild and provide more affordable housing. Elected officials are clearly committed to upholding voter- approved Urban Growth Boundaries and focusing growth within unincorporated communities such as the Springs, Guerneville and Larkfield-Wikiup.
HOUSING CONVERSATION MAP
In order to facilitate the housing conversation, Greenbelt Alliance recently created a map that shows where
we want to put
new housing, and
where we don’t.
See https://www. greenbelt.org/blog/ after-the-sonoma-fires- a-map-for-our-housing- conversation/
WEBSITE FEATURES: Open the
map in Adobe Acrobat abd CLICK
on Table of Contents button in the left column to TOGGLE each layer on and off to show different combinations.
However, some housing advocates and environmentalists are concerned about ordinances now underway that seek to add housing outside of cities and towns, fail to require affordability and that significantly reduce public and environmental review. In addition, several cities recently rolled back affordable housing requirements for developers.
Housing Numbers: Sonoma County lost 5,300 homes lost in the
fires, and the rebuild that is underway faces many obstacles ahead.
The regional Plan Bay Area program, which went through extensive public review, projects that that Sonoma County can expect 30,000 new households by 2040 (more than 20 years away).
The 30,000 new units proposed by county and city planners appears to be derived primarily from economic projections in a study commissioned by the county’s economic development department. It is not entirely clear as there are several numbers being cited in different venues.
HOUSING cont’d on page 15
EVERYONE deserves a
home they can afford.
Working together, we can create
a more equitable Sonoma County by thinking as a COMMUNITY about which neighborhoods might see more change as we also work together to protect our vital natural and agricutural lands.
14 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 5/18