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Home Resource Center In the News Home Greenbelt Alliance in the News |
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Greenbelt Alliance In the News
April 3, 2005 Affordable housing Letter to the Editor BylineEDITOR: Sonoma County has a serious affordable housing problem, which the Thursday article, "$20,000 fees target affordable housing," glossed over. Many people -- nurses, teachers, retail workers -- are being forced to commute long distances from their jobs here to more affordable areas in Lake or Mendocino counties. These commutes keep people away from their families and worsen traffic and air pollution. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will consider a solution: policies that get developers to do their part to create affordable housing in Sonoma County. Already, all nine of the county's cities have an inclusionary housing policy, which ensures that new residential developments include affordable homes. The second-largest city in the county, Petaluma, already has a jobs-housing linkage fee, which means that commercial developers contribute to an affordable housing fund. This helps ensure that housing creation keeps up with job creation, so working people can live in the communities they serve. If we don't build housing that working people can afford, we will lose our farmland and rolling hills to sprawl, and traffic will clog our roads. That won't be good for Sonoma County's environment, residents or businesses. The board should act now to create affordable housing.
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