December 2022 Newsletter

Dear Generation,

No matter how much our staff works, no matter how smart or passionate or determined we are, this small and mighty team of 6 cannot do this work without YOU.  

I want to thank YOU for showing up for housing. I want to thank the 4,884 of you who have signed up to receive our emails and newsletters, the 2,887 social media followers, 2,140 event attendees, 927 action alert sign-ups, 879 petition signers, 308 donors, and 247 members. You are the people and organizations who power our work every day.  

We are winding up our first three years this month, and with your help, we’ve helped pass state and local policy designed to spur development, we’ve endorsed and fought for 21 housing projects with a total of 3,718 homes. And we’ve laid the groundwork and made the plans necessary to accelerate this progress in the New Year and the coming years.

Are you writing your list of New Year’s resolutions? If you’re like us, your New Year’s resolutions involve getting outdoors more often, spending more time with friends and family and less time on social media, and committing to helping lift up the community we love. 

That’s why we’re asking you make one of your resolutions this year to stand with Generation Housing  — whether it’s for the first time or it’s standing taller — to help make Sonoma County a place where the families who live here, and the people who work here, can find housing that meets their needs at a price that allows them to do more than just make the rent. 

Here are three ways to get involved or increase your engagement:

1. Become a member of Generation Housing to help us continue to lead Sonoma County’s pro-housing movement in 2023.
2. Support Generation Housing’s pro-housing advocacy with a one-time or monthly donation.
3. Sign up for our action emails and, once you have (or if you already have, resolve to take one pro-housing action each month in 2023. 

By including us in your New Year’s plans, you're making our communities better places for everyone to live. Thank you.

Our very best wishes for a healthy and happy holiday season and New Year.

Jen Klose, Executive Director

It's not too late to join us in 2022! Together, we can lift up our most vulnerable, improve the health and educational outcomes of our kids, spur the local economy, and protect and improve our environment. It all starts with housing.

This holiday season, take the first step towards housing solutions.

If you have not yet joined as a member, join We Are Gen H today. Together, we can increase the power of our own voices and create meaningful and lasting change.

If you are already a member, consider an additional end of year gift or gifting membership to someone who might be interested in housing solutions.

Important Meetings in the New Year!

Generation Housing plans to attend the following January meetings and encourage you to consider joining us, as they will have a significant impact on the respective jurisdictions' long-term planning for housing. The agendas for all of them have yet to be released - but until then, please MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

• 1/3 Sebastopol City Council, Housing Element Review and Possible Adoption (w/o HCD certification)
• 1/10 Santa Rosa City Council, Budget Priorities; Update to City Council Policy 000-40 Legislative Advocacy; Residential Permit Program
• 1/12 Rohnert Park Planning Commission, Housing Element Review and Consideration of a Resolution for City Council to Adopt the Housing Element
• 1/24 Santa Rosa City Council, Study Session: Annexation opportunities for Santa Rosa; State Legislative & Federal Legislative Platform
• 1/24 Rohnert Park City Council, Housing Element Review and Possible Adoption (w/o HCD certification)
• 1/26 Santa Rosa Planning Commission, Review and Possible Resolution Recommending the Santa Rosa City Council adopt the 6th cycle Housing Element

Sonoma County Housing Element Digest

We continue to monitor progress on respective Housing Element processes and timelines as the January 31, 2023 deadline approaches. After this deadline passes, some jurisdictions might become subject to the “Builder’s Remedy”. To qualify, projects would need either 20% of the units in the project to be affordable to lower-income households, or 100% affordable to moderate-income households. If the project meets these criteria, then it would allow developers to bypass the local zoning code and general plan of cities with a non-compliant Housing Element. 

For your information - If you live in a jurisdiction that has already submitted their draft Housing Element to Housing and Community Development for the 90-day review, you can still submit public comment to the jurisdiction, just be certain to carbon copy (“cc”) - housingelements@hcd.ca.gov. We would also love to see your comments too, so feel free to add calum@generationhousing.org to your cc line.

• Cloverdale: The draft Housing Element was officially submitted to HCD on December 9, 2022 for the 90-day review period.
• Click here to track Housing Element updates on their website
• You can submit public comment to the City of Cloverdale by emailing CloverdaleHousingElement@4leafinc.com or mail/deliver to Cloverdale City Hall (124 N. Cloverdale Blvd)
• Click here to get Cloverdale specific action alerts!
• Cotati: The draft Housing Element was officially submitted to HCD on November 21, 2022 for the 90-day review period. 
• Click here to track Housing Element updates on their website
• You can still submit public comment by emailing Cotati@TheCivicEdge.com.  
• Click here to get Cotati specific action alerts!
• Healdsburg: The draft Housing Element was officially submitted to HCD on November 15, 2022 for the 90-day review period.
• Click here to read the draft Housing Element
• You can still submit public comment by emailing HousingElement@Healdsburg.gov
• Click here to get Healdsburg specific action alerts!
• Petaluma: The draft Housing Element was officially submitted to HCD on October 31, 2022 for the 90-day review period. 
• Click here to track Housing Element updates on their website
• You can still submit public comment by emailing planpetaluma@cityofpetaluma.org. 
• Click here to get Petaluma specific action alerts!
• Rohnert Park: The draft Housing Element was officially submitted to HCD on September 20, 2022 for the 90-day review period. On Tuesday, December 13, 2022 they released an updated draft for a 7-day review. 
• Click here to track Housing Element updates on their website
• The Housing Element Environmental Document is now available at the link above as well. Public comment on this document extends through December 23, 2022. 
• You can still submit public comment on the draft by emailing housingelement@rpcity.org. 
• Click here to get Rohnert Park specific action alerts!
• Santa Rosa: The 90-day review period by HCD has ended. The City has received and posted to their website a letter from HCD that provides comments and additional direction on addressing some outstanding issues. Additional work is being conducted by the City with Generation Housing and other stakeholders to refine the draft before submitting a revised version to HCD for a second review period of 60 days. For more information about this, please email our Policy Director Calum Weeks at calum@generationhousing.org. More information will be released soon from the City of Santa Rosa and all updates will be shared.
• Click here to track Housing Element updates on their website
• Comments on the draft Housing Element can still be submitted via email srforward@srcity.org, through their website comment form, or by mailing or delivering handwritten comments in person to the following address: 100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Room 3, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
• Click here to get Santa Rosa specific action alerts!
• Sebastopol: HCD concluded their 90-day review of Sebastopol’s draft Housing Element and provided comments via a digital letter available for review on their website (link below). On December 13, 2022, the Sebastopol Planning Commission prepared a resolution recommending the City Council adopt the draft Housing Element prior to HCD certification. We still have outstanding concerns regarding the Sebastopol draft Housing Element and we will share those comments prior to the next City Council meeting discussing adoption on January 3, 2023.
• Click here to track Housing Element Updates on their website
• You can still submit public comments on the draft by emailing the Planning Director Kari Svanstrom at ksvanstrom@cityofsebastopol.org. 
• Click here to get Sebastopol specific action alerts!
• Sonoma: The draft Housing Element was officially submitted to HCD on October 26, 2022 for the 90-day review period. 
• Click here to track Housing Element updates on their website
• You can still submit public comment on the draft by emailing publiccoment@sonomacity.org. For a redlined version of this document, please email watkins@sonomacity.org. 
• Click here to get Sonoma specific action alerts!
• Windsor: The draft Housing Element was officially submitted to HCD on November 2, 2022 for the 90-day review period. 
• Click here to track Housing Element updates on their website
• You can still submit public comment on the draft by emailing pstreeter@townofwindsor.com. 
• Click here to get Windsor specific action alerts!
• County of Sonoma: The draft Housing Element official 30-day public comment period has closed. All additional commentary should be sent to the Permit Sonoma email below and the HCD email listed at the top of this update. At the time of writing this update (12/19), the County had yet to submit their draft Housing Element to HCD for their 90-day review.
• Click here to track Housing Element updates on their website
• Comment on the draft Housing Element can be submitted via email to PermitSonoma-Housing@sonoma-county.org or by regular mail to Permit Sonoma, Attn: Eric Gage, 2550 Ventura Ave., Santa Rosa, California 95403.
• Click here to get Unincorporated County of Sonoma specific action alerts!

2023-24 State Legislative Endorsement Alert

We’re proud to announce our early endorsement for SB-4 “The Affordable Housing on Faith Lands Act” which would make building affordable housing easier, faster, and cheaper on land owned by faith-based institutions and nonprofit colleges. (See a little more info below.) We think this is a very powerful opportunity to increase the amount of land that can be developed, and at reduced cost and are sending the attached early letter of support.

This is an earlier endorsement than Generation Housing regularly gives, but we would like this to get some early momentum and publicity. This same bill has come close to reaching the Governor’s desk in the past, but has ultimately died in Assembly committee’s twice before. Both Senator McGuire and Senator Dodd offered their full support each time.  

Per a study by the UC Berkeley Terner Center, there are approximately 38,800 acres of land—roughly the size of the city of Stockton—used for religious purposes and are potentially developable. Unfortunately, the land that these organizations hold can often be locked into complicated and cost-prohibitive local zoning rules and regulations. This bill was introduced as SB 899 in 2020 and as SB 1336 in 2022. As of now, the bill already enjoys the support of the Carpenters Union, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), California School Employees Association (CSEA), Jewish Public Affairs Committee (JPAC), Nonprofit Housing of Northern California (NPH), Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing (SCANPH), and 80 plus faith-based groups across the state. This same coalition was behind the landmark passage of AB 2011 during the 2022 Legislative Session.

Heading into the new year Generation Housing continues to monitor the first 12 months of the Housing and Community Development department’s (HCD) Prohousing Designation – the award that gives jurisdictions preference on housing, transit, and climate-related grants. HCD has recently awarded six new jurisdictions the designation (primarily concentrated in Southern California), who join Sacramento as the only cities to receive the prioritization. The award is expected to open millions of dollars of funding in competitive grant applications as a reward for policies that remove barriers to building such as excessive parking requirements, exclusionary zoning, and high impact fees.

As Sonoma County’s jurisdictions wrap up their Housing Element process, many will be reviewing and preparing their own applications for the Prohousing designation at the start of the new year. Generation Housing has taken the lead on coordinating with HCD to better understand the extensive requirements for the award as well as to get a head start on HCD’s best-in-practice models for encouraging building across multiple cities and neighborhoods. In December we have:

• Conducted meetings with HCD staff to get a clearer picture of their review process, preferences for documentation, and goals for opening early lines of communication with interested jurisdictions
• Created a toolkit for councilmembers and planning commissions that includes a basic FAQ, easy-to-reference scoring templates based on winning applications, and a sample policy compendium to highlight the range of adaptive solutions to housing constraints (coming soon). Please email Joshua Shipper (joshua@generationhousing.org) for more information.
• Reviewed proposed changes to the Prohousing designation application for revised criteria that make the designation stronger, including requirements for community engagement, compliance with AFFH, and a new Inclusionary Zoning criteria
• Partnered with 4Leaf, Inc. consultants to assess and compile an early draft of Healdsburg’s application, identifying areas for improvement and documentation standards
• Taken first steps to establish a Prohousing Community Connector group who will serve in an advisory capacity to review city policies and offer needed feedback to ensure the equitable outcomes of specific prohousing plans  

As more jurisdictions apply for and receive the designation, receiving a higher score on the prohousing index will be crucial. We will work with our Sonoma County city governments to conceive of the most visionary prohousing policies in order to be competitive for the funding we need to get housing built in our communities.

January House Party

Thursday, January 19

5:30-6:30 P.M | Doors Open at 5:00 P.M

Latino Service Providers, 1015 Center Dr, Suite A

Santa Rosa, CA 95403

We are thrilled to announce our January House Party, which will be co-hosted with our partners at Latino Service Providers!

Join us for a quick catch up on housing happenings and Generation Housing’s work around the county, and then spend some time getting to know other housing advocates!

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” prohousing 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. 

Do you belong to a service, social, political, faith club or organization that wants to make a difference in our community? 

Housing is an issue that affects everyone in our communities. We need plenty of it, in order to house all of our community members, specially the workers who help power our local economy, and aren't forced to leave the north bay in search of better opportunities elsewhere. We need housing that people can afford, to make sure that their families have a decent quality of life, and the cost of housing does not get paid at the expense of other basic needs.

However, we need public and political will to ensure we meet our housing production goals. That is why, as part of our #WeAreGenH Public Will Building Campaign, we are looking for opportunities to introduce the work of Generation Housing to your club or organization. Because together, building a prohousing voice, we will make a difference. 

Please send any contact information to ramon@generationhousing.org or (707) 934-7124. 

Generation Housing has created endorsement criteria to help identify projects that will be prioritized for support. The endorsement criteria are designed with three key factors:

• Generation Housing’s guiding principles,
• Projects that will have a large impact in addressing local housing needs, and
• Projects that may require greater levels of support relative to other comparable projects.

The endorsement criteria are designed to serve as a tool for Generation Housing to prioritize allocation of its organization capacity in helping advance impactful projects for our community.

Thanks to all who participated in our Ugly Holiday Sweater contest at the December House Party. And another thank you to Mountain Mike's on Cleveland for hosting! #WeAreGenH

Aviara Apartments - located on West College Avenue with conveniences in mind - is in the full swing of construction! As project superintendent Rory Simon of McKellar McGowan said, “We're kind of doing it all at once, trying to beat the weather.”

A refuge postponed: Roseland divided over future of 20-acre open space eyed for Santa Rosa park| Press Democrat

Sonoma County’s planning department, Permit Sonoma, has been making the rounds of commissions and councils the past couple of months in its final effort to gain consensus on its preferred SDC Specific Plan, which will guide redevelopment of the 945-acre Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) site in Glen Ellen.

The U.S. Needs More Housing Than Almost Anyone Can Imagine | The Atlantic

For Americans to live a productive, prosperous, happy life, homes need to be truly abundant.

Get Used to Startups Trying to Reinvent Housing | Wired

WeWork’s controversial cofounder Adam Neumann is not the only entrepreneur to see opportunity in the generation of Americans unable to buy homes.

Deconstructing the 'Housing Crisis' | Othering & Belonging Institute

For a several years now I’ve observed with growing alarm, then despair, as California’s housing woes—astronomical prices, skyrocketing rents and rates of annual appreciation, knee-jerk opposition to new housing.

Petaluma’s 180-unit Sid Commons project takes a big step forward | Petaluma Argus-Courier

A judge struck down an appeal by Save North Petaluma River and Wetlands that challenged the Sid Commons development on environmental grounds.

Napa County will offer financing to build 'granny units’ | Press Democrat

Napa County approved forgivable loans to cover a portion of construction costs. The money for accessory dwelling units will be available in cities and unincorporated areas.

A developer wants to build a plaza near downtown Sonoma. Here’s why some residents are suspicious | Press Democrat

Though the plan for a plaza in the Springs neighborhood is nothing more than a loose concept at this point, the involvement of developer Ken Mattson has quickly galvanized opposition.

County education office buys Santa Rosa property for teacher housing | Press Democrat

Initial plans envision 60-70 units that will prioritize educators in the Bellevue neighborhood of Santa Rosa that will be within a 30-minute commute of most of the county’s 40 school districts.

San Jose Eliminates Parking Minimums | planetizen.com

The California city is the largest in the country to abolish parking requirements, joining a bevy of other localities that are shifting to less car-oriented development.

The Climate Impact of Your Neighborhood, Mapped | The New York Times

Where and how you live shapes your household’s contribution to climate change. Explore differences across the nation.

Demystifying Housing Policy:

Five Housing Terms Everyone Should Know

Housing affects all of us, yet the terminology used to discuss housing can be fraught with insider lingo and it can be difficult to fully grasp. So we’ve compiled a brief list of some of the most common terms used in the housing policy world to help everyone better understand and engage in the housing conversation.

SUPPORTIVE HOUSING 

Combines affordable housing with individualized health, counseling and employment services for persons with mental illness, chemical dependency, chronic health problems, or other challenges. Generally it is transitional housing, but it can be permanent housing in cases such as a group home for persons with mental illness or developmental disabilities.Supportive housing is a solution to homelessness because it addresses its root causes by providing a proven, effective means of re-integrating families and individuals into the community by addressing their basic needs for housing and on-going support.

TRANSITIONAL HOUSING 

A loosely defined term covering a number of housing facilities that serve the formerly homeless, people trying to get off welfare, or people released from institutions. Usually the term of stay is restricted to one to two years. The most common form is apartments or shared living facilities for the formerly homeless or single female parents with children. When treatment and supervision is involved, a facility is usually called a halfway house or group home.

SHELTERS 

Also called emergency housing. Provides temporary overnight living accommodations. Shelters often are not open during the day.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY PROGRAMS 

A loosely defined term used to describe various programs that assist the homeless, people on welfare or public housing tenants in getting training, day care and employment. HUD funds or promotes several self-sufficiency programs for public housing tenants and tenants with HUD rent subsidies.

SUBSIDY

In housing, money is put into a deal to lower the monthly debt service on an individual home or in a larger project. Low interest second mortgage loans are the most common source of subsidy. Tax credit investments can also act as a subsidy. Rent subsidies are given to landlords to reduce rents paid by tenants.