June 2022 Newsletter

A message from Executive Director, Jen Klose

Happy Pride month! It’s fantastic seeing Pride flags all over Sonoma County this month at fire departments, schools, banks, storefronts and offices. Generation Housing proudly supports LGBTQ+ rights, and works to celebrate and uplift LGBTQ+ voices, and we want to take a moment to recognize the long road and all the hard work it took to get to where we are today. We also think it's important that we are clear-eyed about the housing challenges this population has endured and continues to endure, even right here in progressive Sonoma County.

Pride wasn’t officially recognized in Sonoma County until 1992. And it was only last year — 2021 — that federal protection from housing discrimination was granted to LGBTQ people by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the Fair Housing Act. Numerous studies show significant bias still occurs for LGBTQ Americans seeking housing to buy or rent. One HUD study found that housing providers in multiple U.S. cities discriminated against gay men and transgender people by telling them about fewer available units than heterosexual men and cisgender individuals. This is why we need to continue to advance policy change, ensuring we have more legal protection for LGBTQ rights to housing.

Sonoma County has one of the highest per-capita populations of LGBTQ people and a progressive culture. And this still doesn’t prevent LGBTQ individuals from being affected by our housing challenges. According to the 2021 Portrait of Sonoma report, LGBTQ residents “are disproportionately likely to experience homelessness” and 16 percent of unhoused residents identify as LGBTQ.

Preliminary data from our current research project studying the impacts on families when they spend too much of their income on housing, indicate that local LGBTQ respondents were more likely to report facing hunger and not getting healthcare due to finances. For physical healthcare this was statistically significant, with 46% of self-identified queer respondents saying lack of money prevented them from getting physical healthcare as opposed to 21% of the rest of the population (please note these are preliminary data and final results will be published this fall). When housing costs are too high, it doesn’t leave enough to pay for other expenses.

Something I can’t forget after reading the Portrait was our local youth homelessness rate. About 28 percent of youth experiencing homelessness in Sonoma County identify as LGBTQ. We can do better for our youth. Let’s increase the affordable housing supply in our area. Let’s come together with the goal of a brighter, more equitable future where everyone can afford a home.

Join us for an online Youth & Housing Town Hall on Tuesday, July 21 at 5:30 p.m. We would love to hear from the younger crowd about their hopes and concerns for the future of housing in our area. Spread the word to the students, children or grandchildren in your life! Please register for this (free) event at generationhousing.org/events. Hope to see you there. We can do this!

In partnership,

Jen Klose

Read Jen's Message Online

Policy Update June 2022

What’s Happening in Sonoma County?

Help Shape Santa Rosa’s Future!

The City of Santa Rosa released their 6th Cycle Draft Housing Element for public consumption and review!

The following are three ways you can submit your feedback on the Draft Housing Element to the City. Please submit all comments on the Draft Housing Element by July 3, 2022.

(1) Use "Let's Connect SR"

To make this an easier process, we are using the platform Let’s Connect SR, a free access online platform where our community can provide comments, questions, and feedback on the city’s future housing opportunities, needs, and solutions on the document itself. With this tool, it is also possible to review and see what others are saying about it, all in real time. To access and use the platform:

Go to Let’s Connect SR: https://letsconnectsr.com/general-plan-update
Read the whole housing element draft document or any part of it that you are interested in
Click on any area of the document and add your comment(s), questions, and feedback
Share it with your organization(s), contacts, family, and friends

(2) Submit your comments directly to staff

You can also submit comments directly to City staff via email at srforward@srcity.org or through the Comment Form on this website.

More draft Housing Elements will be released over the next month, so be sure to look out for our Action Alerts or turn on those social media notifications so you can get engaged — YOUR voice matters!

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Help to Reimagine Downtown Santa Rosa!

The City of Santa Rosa is also offering a unique opportunity for the community to reimagine the design for Mendocino Avenue between 4th Street and College Avenue in Summer 2023! If you value protected bike lanes, and a vibrant, walkable Downtown, then be sure to participate in the survey and let your voice be heard! They will be soliciting feedback through June 30, 2022. To learn more, click here.

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Weigh in on the Future of the Springs!

The Draft Environmental Impact Report (“DEIR”) for the Springs Specific Plan has been released and will be accepting public comment until July 19, 2022.

The Springs Specific Plan is a long-term plan to re-imagine the Hwy 12 corridor as a diverse public space with a community plaza and safety improvements for people walking and biking. The project provides increased opportunities for housing, along with additional recreational, commercial and office space to serve the Springs community.

To learn more and participate in this process, be sure to visit the Permit Sonoma website for more information!

What’s happening at the State level?

This month was fast and furious in the State Legislature. Prohousing advocates across the state worked feverishly to lobby both elected and their staff to support AB 2011, AB 2053, AB 2097 and move them out of the Senate Housing Committee. We’re happy to report - it was a SMASHING SUCCESS! Generation Housing is proud to support (and endorse!) all three of these bills. We look forward to their continued success and implementation. Each one of them will play a critical role in helping further spur more, more diverse, and more affordable housing.

In other news, California state Senator Scott Wiener, who frequently authors housing reform bills, has introduced a plan to streamline the approval process for affordable housing projects on property owned by faith-based institutions like churches, mosques and synagogues, as well as some nonprofit colleges. Senate Bill 1336, or SB 1336, would allow these institutions to build 100 percent affordable housing projects on their property for low-income residents “by right,” even if local zoning prevents such development.

For our more wonky members - the last policy committee hearings of 2022 are coming up next week! Headlining for us: Senate Governance & Finance on Wednesday 6/29 (morning, after adjournment of the floor), featuring AB 2011 (housing in commercial zones) & AB 2053 (social housing). If you want to see these bills sent to the Senate and then the Governor for approval like we do, then be sure to reach out and we will send you all the information needed to ensure your voice is heard!

As more information becomes available, we will be sure to share the updates!

Get Involved

Summer Calendar of Events

Make Generation Housing a part of your summer plans and join us for one of our FREE summer events! All of our events are simultaneously translated in Spanish as well as closed captioned.

Youth & Housing Town Hall

July 21st | 5:30 - 6:45PM

Virtual Webinar

Hear from youth voices about their hopes, concerns and vision for housing in Sonoma County.

Housing is Health

August 18th | 5:30 - 6:45PM

Virtual Webinar

Join a discussion on how housing policies can foster a healthier Sonoma County.

September House Party

September 15th | 5:30 - 6:30PM

Location TBD

Meet other housing champions and learn more about Gen H and updates on housing happenings across the county.

Housing & the Economy

September 29th | 5:30 - 6:45PM

Virtual Webinar

Investing in housing solutions can be an economic engine powering a more prosperous and economically resilient Sonoma County

Project Endorsement

595 Dutton Ave | Santa Rosa

Generation Housing is proud to announce our endorsement of the multi-family development proposed at 595 Dutton Avenue.

In the early stages of seeking community input, 595 Dutton Avenue will eventually become a 44 unit, 4 story apartment project in a single elevator building on a vacant underutilized parking lot zoned for high density residential use in the Sebastopol Road Corridor in Roseland, Santa Rosa, with 5 units designated as affordable for Very Low Income residents (30-50 percent of Area Median Income). 45 parking stalls are proposed, 100% of which are proposed as EV capable. Resident amenities include a children's play structure, teen ball area, barbecues and outdoor dining on a rooftop terrace, rooftop drainage biotreatment beds incorporated into landscaping at building perimeter, secure bike parking at each floor of the building, short term bike parking for guests, apartment floor plans with rooms and alcoves designed to accommodate home offices for remote working, pet area, resident community room, leasing office, resident fitness room, and in-unit laundry closets.

Generation Housing is excited to see the project has requested a density bonus to allow for the creation of additional homes in an effort to make more efficient use of the land. The project is well-located near several public transit lines, and made a request for reduced parking, aligning with Generation Housing’s efforts for a more sustainable and environmental approach to housing.

The proposed site for this project is also located within the Roseland Priority Development Area, which allows for a more expedited review process and streamlines the timeline for bringing this development into service. While many features of this project stand out, we were particularly impressed by the inclusion of a rooftop terrace - a rare and special feature for multi-family developments in Sonoma County. Creating opportunities for people to live where they work or enjoy the benefits of public transit is the best path forward for us to achieve our climate action goals.

Generation Housing is proud to endorse this project and looks forward to it coming to fruition!

Be part of the SOLUTION!

Become a Volunteer Here

Affordable Housing Monitoring & Compliance

In response to citizens’ complaints and reports published in The Press Democrat, the 2021-2022 Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury (Grand Jury) investigated the monitoring of Affordable Housing within Sonoma County.

Thank you to the hardworking volunteer grand jury members for their service! The two reports produced provide valuable overviews, insight, and recommendations for affordable housing in Sonoma County.

Affordable Housing: Monitoring & Compliance

Affordable Housing: Past, Present & Future

#WeAreGenH Campaign

We are teachers, first responders, farm workers. We are grocers, we are artists.

Together, each of you, all of us, and all residents of Sonoma County. We Are Gen H, and we all need affordable places to live.

The “We Are Gen H” pro-housing campaign lifts up the experiences of workers, artists, and students in the community and organizes community members to take action and show support for more construction of more types of housing in Sonoma County.

Ready to make this a reality? Join us!

Housing Happenings

Sonoma County Housing News Digest

In case you missed some of the key news items of the last few weeks on local housing, Generation Housing has procured a bevy of news articles from around Sonoma County.

America Needs to End Its Love Affair With Single-Family Homes | Time

How Steamboat solves this conundrum could have implications for communities across the country that are struggling with affordability as their populations grow.

UC study finds affordable homes don’t increase crime or dent property values | Mercury News

Any community that has considered where to build affordable housing has probably heard some version of these concerns: “If you put this in my community, crime is going to go up and my housing value is going to go down.”

Twilight of the NIMBY | NY Times

Suburban homeowners like Susan Kirsch are often blamed for worsening the nation’s housing crisis. That doesn’t mean she’s giving up her two-decade fight against 20 condos.

Latest Sonoma Developmental Center plans draw dozens of protesters | Press Democrat

On Monday afternoon, the California Department of General Services invited potential developers to take a self-guided tour of the 945-acre Sonoma Developmental Center property in Eldridge, a treasured site the state is attempting to sell off.

Sonoma Planning Commission approves 15-unit housing plan, despite misgivings | Press Democrat

A proposal to build 15 housing units on Fifth Street West was approved by the Sonoma Planning Commission last week, despite less-than-enthusiastic reviews by planning commissioners and staunch opposition from some neighbors.

Close to Home: Get involved to make housing affordable | Press Democrat

If you’re interested in affordable housing in Sonoma County, there’s one thing you can do right here, right now to make a huge difference. And it won’t cost you a dime.

California needs more housing and good jobs. There’s a bill to create both | LA Times

What if California could encourage developers to replace shuttered big-box stores, half-vacant offices and decrepit strip malls with apartments, condominiums and townhomes, with some or even all of the units being affordable? And what if the construction workers building those projects were paid union-level wages and, in some cases, received healthcare, thus creating lots of good-paying jobs.

Santa Rosa to hear public comment on plan to meet upcoming housing goals | Press Democrat

Santa Rosa wants residents to help develop a plan to meet the city’s state-mandated housing goal of permitting nearly 4,700 new homes over the next eight years, increasing the city’s housing stock by 7%.

The Real Villain in the Gentrification Story | The Atlantic

One of the worst labels that can be applied to an upwardly mobile urban dweller is that of gentrifier. The word implies a lot—for one, that culpability in the broad phenomenon of neighborhood change can be assigned to individuals.