A message from Generation Housing Executive Director |
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Happy Fall!
We’ve got two big events in the next week and hope you can join us for one or both. Today, October 27, is our webinar Climate is Housing, Housing is Climate, at which our panel of experts will discuss the intersection between housing development and our environment and environmental justice. And Tuesday, November 2, we’re holding a virtual Housing Innovations Conference with expert speakers on innovations in housing development efficiency, housing policy & advocacy, sustainability, and finance. You won't want to miss what is sure to be an informative and inspiring event.
See below for information on both and we look forward to seeing you soon!
Take care,
Jen
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Sign up for ACTION ALERTS! |
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This month’s update will dig into SB 9 & SB 10. |
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While the 2020-2021 California Legislative Session was largely dominated by the COVID-19 health crisis, there were significant efforts made at changing statewide housing policy. The Legislative Session included over a dozen housing bills, building on legislative efforts in recent years to tackle California’s housing crisis. Most notably, Senate leadership put forward a 2021 Housing Production Package, referred to as “Building Opportunities for All,” which included eleven Senate bills all aimed at expanding the state’s housing supply. Out of those eleven bills, nine of them passed both houses and were sent to the Governor’s desk for signature. Each of those has the potential to inch us toward our housing goals; Generation Housing prioritized and supported the following:
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Board Member Spotlight: Michael Allen |
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Michael Allen was born and raised in Los Angeles by his Latina mother who immigrated to the United States after she married an American mining company attorney. When his mother was widowed when he was just 6 years old, Michael learned first-hand the value of hard work as his mother raised him on her own and worked as a seamstress to support them.
He began his career initially working at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles; then after moving to Northern California he worked as a psychiatric nurse for the Sonoma County Crisis Clinic. Michael later put himself through law school and joined the Sierra Club Legal Defense Team on the Warm Springs Dam initiative before ultimately finding his calling as a negotiator, mediator, and consensus builder at the Sonoma County Organization of Public Employees.
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Sign up to volunteer at community events to meet people, talk housing, and engage them in our work. |
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You've been hearing from us a lot, and that's because this is an exciting time for housing and there is lots gong on! (Click on images to register) |
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Don't miss our first Annual Innovations in Housing Development Conference: |
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And of course, our Monthly House Party: |
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Check out these other events happening around the county:
All You Need to Know About Prefab & Modular ADUs! | November 4th 6:00 pm - 7:30PM
Join our partners Napa Sonoma ADU for a discussion with prefab and modular ADU builders and ask them your questions LIVE! They'll cover:
- The differences between factory built, manufactured, and modular ADUs
- Considerations for building prefab, modular or stick built ADUs
- Examples of prefab and modular ADUs from the companies that make them!
Webinar: How to Create an ADU Permit Application | November 16th 6:00 pm - 7:30PM
Join our partners Napa Sonoma ADU for a primer on how to put together a successful accessory dwelling unit permit application! They'll walk you step-by-step through the key elements to include in an ADU permit application - including common mistakes that can slow down the permit approval process.
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Jacque
Jacque moved to Rohnert Park in 2014 when she transferred to Santa Rosa Junior College. While in college, she rented multiple apartments and shared housing situations that were priced too high. Now, Jacque is currently staying with her boyfriend while she works as a business and operations freelancer to pay the bills, which has been made more difficult due to the pandemic.
Jacque is house hunting in Sonoma County in order to find a home to buy for her mom, who is on disability. But the prices, coupled with the high taxes and fire insurance, are making it very difficult to find anything. Her Mom qualifies for section 8 housing, but Jacque has found it to be an impossible process and also hasn’t been able to find any helpful resources.
Jacque moved around a lot as a kid and didn’t ever get an opportunity to cultivate a community. She really wants to stay in Sonoma County, which feels like home, and hopes to be able to find a place to buy for her family. She states that “about 90% of my friends have moved away to more affordable areas since 2017 after the Tubbs fire. That has been heavy on my heart. If I wasn’t so lucky with affordable rent through personal connections I wouldn’t be able to afford the rent here anymore either.”
Help Generation Housing ensure housing availability for people like Jacque by joining #WeAreGenH now!
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We are teachers, first responders, farm workers. We are grocers, we are artists. |
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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.
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Generation Housing is proud to endorse two new 100% deed-restricted affordable housing projects proposed for development in Sonoma County. Both projects are located in Santa Rosa and Cloverdale, respectively. Below, we share a brief description of each project and how they help lift up important values of sustainability and inclusion for ALL members of our community. |
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1385 West College Avenue, “Aviara” | Santa Rosa |
Proposed by McKellar McGowan LLC, 1385 West College Avenue, or “Aviara” will provide new homes affordable to low- and very-low income families that earn between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income (AMI). Affordable housing is in short supply and Generation Housing is excited for the potential of this proposal to help alleviate the economic pressure of working families in Sonoma County. It features 84 2 Bedroom/1 Bath units, 52 3 Bedroom/2 Bath units accompanied by a private balcony or patio with adjacent storage.
Aviara is an infill project, with close proximity to several transportation options and important healthy amenities, such as: a grocery store, a hospital, and a city park. We welcome the location and high-resource character of this project. It offers ample opportunities for low-income families to maintain safe, healthy, and productive lives.
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Alexander Valley
Apartments | Cloverdale
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The Alexander Valley Apartments, located at the intersection of Asti Road and Railroad Avenue, is another 100% deed-restricted affordable housing project set on the periphery of Cloverdale’s downtown core. It will offer 75 units that range from 30 percent to 60 percent AMI.
We applaud this project for its commitment to reduced parking and a bicycle-friendly design. The close proximity of the Alexander Valley Apartments to public transportation and a full-service grocery store are also welcome features that promote a healthy lifestyle while also taking measures to reduce our overall carbon footprint.
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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.
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SRJC celebrates new student housing project with groundbreaking ceremony | The Oak Leaf
"Nearly thirty years after demolishing its first student housing, Santa Rosa Junior College broke ground for construction of new and affordable on-campus dorms able to house 352 students on the southeast corner of Elliot Avenue and Armory Drive on Friday Oct. 22."
The Affordable Housing Crisis Is Destroying Relationships and Families| Newsweek
"Susan, a call center employee, moved in with her boyfriend, Eugene, after they had been dating for just over two months. "We couldn't afford to live by ourselves," she explained. Eugene, who worked two jobs, was barely breaking even, although he split rent with a male roommate. Adding Susan to the household was no one's first choice, but they all understood it was financially what they needed to do."
As Santa Rosa neighborhoods simmer over vacation rentals, council poised to vote on temporary rules| The Press Democrat
"The Santa Rosa City Council on Tuesday evening will vote on adopting an “urgency ordinance” regulating the properties, following an accelerated policy making process in recent months. If passed, the ordinance could impact more than 350 properties officials believe to currently be on the vacation rental market."
In wake of newspaper investigation, Sonoma County launches review of affordable housing oversight| The Press Democrat
"Sonoma County’s top housing official is reviewing the county’s affordable housing compliance monitoring and enforcement after a Press Democrat investigation showed limited oversight at an apartment complex run by developer Bill Gallaher’s companies."
The municipalities are among 10 local governments in Marin appealing ABAG’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation, the state directive for new residences to be created. The edict calls for more than 14,000 additional homes to be approved in Marin County between 2023 and 2031.
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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.
HOUSING ELEMENT
A required element of all California city general plans, housing elements identify and analyze housing needs and include goals, objectives, policies, and programs for providing a city’s fair share of affordable housing needs. Although state law mandates that jurisdictions rezone enough land to meet their regional housing needs allocation and each jurisdiction is required to have an approved housing element, jurisdictions retain local land use control and Housing Elements are only plans for housing. Advocates then push for implementation of these plans and work tirelessly to get these cities and counties to produce the homes their communities desperately need.
INFILL DEVELOPMENT
A strategy for accommodating growth and preventing sprawl through greater density and efficiency in land use development within existing urban boundaries.
LAND TRUST
In the strictest sense, a nonprofit organization that sells affordable homes but retains ownership of the land under them in order to control, through the lease, the long-term affordability of the homes. The lease ensures that the home is resold to a low-income family, sold at a below-market price, and/or sold with a share of the appreciated value going to the nonprofit. The term is used more loosely to describe programs that subsidize fee simple homeownership for low-income families and impose similar kinds of long-term affordability controls.
MODERATE INCOME
A person or household with gross household income between 80% and 120% of Area Median Income, adjusted for household size, often including registered nurses and police officers. This housing, also called Work Force Housing, is typically built by for-profit developers in exchange for incentives offered by local jurisdictions (density bonuses, etc.)
Visit our website to learn more housing terms at our Publications and Resources page and check out our Housing Glossary.
INCLUSIONARY ZONING
A requirement that developers of new housing include a certain percentage of below market rate homes. Inclusionary Zoning is a local law and each city that passes this law decides how
many units must be affordable, and what price is considered affordable. Often developers
can pay the city an “in-lieu fee” instead of including affordable units, which allows the city to
use the money to build new affordable homes. In California, there is a legal challenge to
Inclusionary Zoning’s application to rental housing, which is now being debated at the
California State Supreme Court.
HOUSING ELEMENT
A required element of all California city general plans, housing elements identify and analyze housing needs and include goals, objectives, policies and programs for providing a city’s fair share of affordable housing needs. Although state law mandates that jurisdictions rezone enough land to meet their regional housing needs allocation and each jurisdiction is required to have an approved housing element, jurisdictions retain local land use control and Housing Elements are only plans for housing. Advocates then push for implementation of these plans and work tirelessly to get these cities and counties to produce the homes their communities desperately need.
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