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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

November 20, 2002

Santa Rosa to kick-start housing fee plan

Council members say they will only stay with affordable housing fee if other cities join

Santa Rosa's City Council agreed Tuesday to forge ahead with a countywide effort to raise $35.5 million over five years from commercial and industrial developers to build 1,200 affordable housing units.

But council members reiterated that they would probably pull out of any deal that doesn't include the county and all eight of the other cities charging a housing fee on all new commercial and industrial developments.

"It's going to be difficult to get the nine cities and county to agree on it, but we need to get started," Councilman Steve Rabinowitsh said.

The so-called "work-force housing linkage fee" is the byproduct of a $100,000 study completed in December. It was commissioned by the county and all nine cities to determine how those creating new jobs should contribute to efforts to build lower-cost housing for workers. The fee -- proposed to range between $2.08 and $3.59 a square foot depending on whether it is retail or industrial space -- would be coupled with other local, state and federal subsidies to build 1,200 housing units countywide over five years.

Officials from the county and the cities have had sporadic talks about the fee, but have yet to come to any formal conclusions. Exactly how the fee would be collected, how it would be disbursed by jurisdiction and whether all cities would be involved are all questions yet to be resolved.In an effort to crystallize the issues, each city and the county are being asked to appoint one elected official and one staff member to a study group in hopes of developing a plan all can agree upon.

Santa Rosa Councilwoman Janet Condron asked to be Santa Rosa's representative but the council agreed to withhold the appointment to see if her narrow Election Day lead for the third council seat on the Nov. 5 holds up. She had a 119-vote lead over incumbent Marsha Vas Dupre but thousands of late absentee ballots are still being counted. The winner is expected to be announced within the next week.

Housing advocacy groups praised the council's decision to move forward. "It's an important first step to generate affordable housing," said Kelly Brown, a field representative with the Greenbelt Alliance.

David Grabill, spokesman for the Sonoma County Housing Advocacy Group which is suing Santa Rosa over a general plan it contends inadequately addresses low-income housing issues, agreed. "It sends an important message that local government cares," he said.

Others, however, said placing another fee on those who want to create jobs in the community would encourage them to locate elsewhere. Michele Gervais, chairwoman of the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce's governmental review council, said tacking on an extra fee, particularly when the economy is struggling, could be tantamount to "killing the golden goose."

Terry Hilton, spokesman for the South and West Business Association, agreed. "We're not going to solve the homeless issue on the backs of our businesses," he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mike McCoy at 521-5276 or mmccoy@pressdemocrat.com.

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