This is not a debate about affordable housing. It is really a debate to force the wealthy to live in a city that has government creating slums via “affordable” housing. Like NY, Chicago and other Democrat cities, affordable housing is the last step toward making a community a slum, a crime magnet.
Now there is talk to pass an affordable housing bond—thus making those owning property in the city to pay more in property taxes. 60% of the residents live in expensive rentals—that means if the bonds pass, the cost of rent will go up, since the property owners will pass on the cost of the bonds to them.
“About 75% of Santa Barbara’s housing stock was built before 1975. About 53% of the housing is considered “good condition,” according to the draft housing element. About 6.5% of that land is vacant. In Santa Barbara, six out of 10 people are renters and the rest are homeowners. About 12% percent of rental homes are considered “overcrowded,” which is more than one person living in a room. About 50% of renters are “cost burdened,” which means they are paying more than 30% of their income for rent. Another 26% are “cost burdened severely,” which means they are paying more than 50% of their income for rent.
Frank Rodriguez, a policy advocate for the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), said the city needs to start research now for a possible bond measure in 2024 to fund affordable housing.”
Yup, Santa Barbara is planning to make itself a high prices slum—just like San Fran.
Need for More Affordable Units at the Center of Debate Over Santa Barbara’s Housing Element
Suggestions for addressing the issue include a vacancy tax, a bond measure, and an emergency ordinance for rent stabilization
By Joshua Molina, Noozhawk, 7/26/22
Santa Barbara’s draft Housing Element is 250 pages long, but one theme dominates the hefty document: the need for more affordable housing.
“We have failed a large portion of our community in not building affordable housing,” Gabe Escobedo, chair of the city’s Planning Commission, said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
He was among the many public speakers who sounded the alarm that the city needs to create more affordable housing and find a way to pay for it.
Santa Barbara City Councilman Oscar Gutierrez said the city needs to show leadership and take action against vacant buildings.
“My residents and I are just sick and tired of seeing a lot of these properties just going vacant, some of them for about two decades now,” he said. “We need to be a lot more strict about that since we are in a crisis. We need to start acting like we are in a crisis by doing things like eminent domain. We want to talk about building housing downtown, then maybe the city — us — should be the first to do it.”
City leaders and activists have suggested creating a vacancy tax on commercial buildings. Gutierrez said maybe a vacancy tax should also exist for residential homes.
“There are some properties on the Westside I know of in particular that have been vacant for years as well,” Gutierrez said. “The houses are literally just rotting away. They could be housing for community members.”
The State of California requires cities to submit housing elements that show a plan for providing housing for community members. It’s a planning document for 2023 to 2031.
The city is taking public input and holding community meetings and will eventually submit the document to the state for certification.
About 75% of Santa Barbara’s housing stock was built before 1975. About 53% of the housing is considered “good condition,” according to the draft housing element. About 6.5% of that land is vacant. In Santa Barbara, six out of 10 people are renters and the rest are homeowners. About 12% percent of rental homes are considered “overcrowded,” which is more than one person living in a room. About 50% of renters are “cost burdened,” which means they are paying more than 30% of their income for rent. Another 26% are “cost burdened severely,” which means they are paying more than 50% of their income for rent.
Frank Rodriguez, a policy advocate for the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), said the city needs to start research now for a possible bond measure in 2024 to fund affordable housing.
Linda Honikman, the housing chair for the League of Women Voters of Santa Barbara, said the city needs to take immediate action even before the Housing Element is certified.
“The only way to be eligible for a taller building should be with a high percent of units affordable to the very low to moderate incomes,” Honikman said.
She also said the league supports an emergency ordinance for rent stabilization. The city, she said, should also identify a few city-owned parking lots for affordable housing, and develop a short-term funding source to leverage other dollars for affordable housing funding.
Councilwoman Meagan Harmon said the information in the Housing Element shows the reality that many people are living with housing insecurity and instability.
“Let this be an opportunity for us to be aspirational for what we envision in how we want our community to be housed and how we want our community to remain,” Harmon said. “Let this document be our dream document, and what’s incredible — and what I am sort of getting chills about here tonight — it’s clear that though we may differ in how we get there … we all share that same dream.”
Mayor Randy Rowse was less hopeful. He reminded the council that the city has a structural deficit and that bonds and ballot measures might not work. He said he has started conversations with local state representatives about ways to leverage the state’s $97 billion surplus to create funding for affordable housing.
“But I do think punitive taxes, more bond measures, more taxing ideas are, if they are successful great, I just don’t see it at this point in time,” Rowse said.
