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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

June 26, 2002

County lagging in affordable housing

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A review of local housing elements -- state-mandated housing plans which Bay Area jurisdictions were due to update by the end of 2001 for the first time in a decade -- shows most locales aren't doing well, and some didn't even meet their update deadline at all.

The study was conducted by the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California, the Greenbelt Alliance and the Nine County Housing Advocacy Network.

In San Mateo County, Daly City and Redwood City received failing grades, while East Palo Alto made the "honor roll."

Redwood City's performance surprised the city's housing coordinator, Debbi Jones-Thomas, who said she had not seen the full report Tuesday.

The city doesn't have an inclusionary zoning ordinance, she said, which would require that every housing development set aside a percentage of units for affordable housing.

"Inclusionary zoning has always been something that the council has chosen not to look at," she said.
But the city meets other criteria set out in the study, Jones-Thomas said, including "smart growth" and results-oriented housing programs that produce measurable results.

"We have been one of the leaders in the County in terms of producing actual units," she said.

Jones-Thomas said that, as about three-quarters of cities studied needed improvement, failed or were incomplete, the standards were set very high.

East Palo Alto was the only city in the County to make the "honor roll" in the study, and Mayor Duane Bay said the city has aggressively pursued affordable housing and made it a priority. For example, he said Tuesday, the city recently approved the Nugent Square development downtown, which will include 32 housing units.

"We were given a big target by ABAG (the Association of Bay Area Governments)," Bay said, adding that this was partly because the city has some undeveloped land. "Rather than fussing about it, we see it as an opportunity for us." City officials are also concerned with reducing displacement of residents from gentrification, Bay said. But, he said, housing must be built in order to generate the affordable housing units.

The study focused on the region's 40 largest and fastest-growing places, where 80 percent of new Bay Area households are expected to settle by 2006. Of those, 72 percent failed, needed improvement or were incomplete in their plans.

"A lot of people are throwing up their hands and saying, 'There is no solution.' We don't believe that," said Non-Profit Housing Association regional coordinator Shannon Dodge, explaining this study's findings provides a road map to success for cities and counties. Failing grades denote the cities' and counties' future plans, but the past hasn't been rosy, either. Of the 40 key cities, only Richmond succeeded in building all of the affordable housing it was deemed to need from 1988 to 1998, while Brentwood and Petaluma came close.

Across all 40 of those localities, only 32 percent of the affordable housing needed was built.
Only a few localities -- East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, Petaluma, San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Berkeley -- made the "honor roll" with strong strategies for affordable housing growth.

Affordable housing is defined as costing no more than 30 percent of household income in a household earning less than 80 percent of the region's median income. For example, 80 percent of the median income for a family of three averages $51,360, so that family could afford up to $1,284 per month for housing.

The report identifies three key actions cities and counties should be taking to encourage affordable housing growth: smart zoning decisions, local funding and policies requiring inclusion of affordable housing in all new residential developments.

"You really need all of those working together to produce affordable housing," said Janet Stone, livable communities program director for the Greenbelt Alliance.

First, local governments should make zoning decisions encouraging construction of apartments and condominiums in downtown areas close to transit, shopping and jobs.

Second, cities and counties should provide more local funding to help shoulder affordable housing's cost. State and federal money doesn't cover it all, and local funds often are the first committed to a project, serving as "seed money" to let developers buy land or create plans.

State law requires city redevelopment agencies to set aside 20 percent of their tax increment funds -- the increase in property taxes over time within a redevelopment area -- for affordable housing.

Oakland sets aside 25 percent, while cities such as San Jose, Milpitas and Palo Alto set aside 30 percent.

If each of the 40 key cities and counties studied would set aside 30 percent, the study claims, the region could boost affordable housing production by nearly 8,000 more homes in the next decade.
Local funding also can come from jobs-housing linkage programs, usually one-time fees local governments place on commercial development to offset the increased housing need they create.

Local cities with such programs include Alameda, Berkeley, Livermore and Pleasanton; other cities -- including Oakland, Fremont, San Mateo and Vallejo -- have proposed them.

Third, cites and counties should adopt inclusionary policies requiring or encouraging market-rate housing developments to make 10 to 20 percent of their units affordable to low- and/or moderate-income households. Half the 40 key cities and counties have such policies, including San Mateo, East Palo Alto, San Ramon, Livermore, Pleasanton, Richmond and Berkeley. Oakland and Fremont have proposed such policies.

"San Mateo and the rest of the County are doing their best, but there are always going to be those people who feel they can do more," said the director of the County's Office of Housing, Steve Cervantes. "It's a very difficult, complicated issue and cannot be solved overnight. There's a real dilemma, Cervantes said, but I was pleased that at the Board of Supervisors meeting, the county manager felt affordable housing was a priority that needs to be addressed and accommodated in the budget."

Staff writer Suzanne Zalev and Correspondent Deanna Yick contributed to this story.

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