July 2021 Newsletter
We spent our last meeting (June 6) with YIMBY Action's Laura Foote and YIMBY Law's Jon Wizard talking all about Housing Elements. Have you signed up to be Housing Element watchdog for your favorite California city or county?
Next Meeting - July 8 @ 5:30pm
Join us for our next meeting on Thursday, July 8 at 5:30PM…..in person! We will be meeting at Abbott Square in downtown Santa Cruz. It will be a casual meeting, with a (no-host) happy hour and mingling with other YIMBYs. At 7PM, Rafa Sonnenfeld will lead a walking tour of “missing middle” in the downtown area. We look forward to seeing you there!
Local Housing News
California Rebuilds Housing in the Wake of Wildfires | Housing Santa Cruz County. As part of a bigger package, the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) has approved a plan to allocate over $12 million in annual federal fire recovery tax credits to Santa Cruz County.
Check out this Reddit Thread where a local urban planner highlights new housing coming in Santa Cruz. (Caveat: Not all of the projects listed have been approved, but all are underway at least in review)
City Selects Affordable Housing Partner for Library Mixed Use Project and Doubles Units to Up to 107 | City of Santa Cruz Newsroom. Eden Housing and For the Future Housing (FTF) will develop and manage up to 107 units, all of which are reserved for “very low income” individuals and families.
State budget includes $14.5 million for Santa Cruz homelessness | Santa Cruz Sentinel. State lawmakers approved a budget this week including $14.5 million to addresses homelessness issues in Santa Cruz.
ADU changes head to County supervisors after planning commission OKs, with tweaks — what that means for you | Lookout Santa Cruz. ADU changes likely to be on the Supervisors' agenda for August 10.
California Legislative Session
Focus on Housing Bills
Past the halfway point! Bills are working their way through committees in the second house of the California State Legislature. Committees have a deadline of July 14 to meet and report, then everyone goes on summer vacation.
Why don’t you make it a point to call your State Senator or Assemblymember a few times these next two weeks?
Don’t know your State Senator or Assemblymember? See Maps below or use this tool to look them up.
What's Coming Up in the Assembly
Assemblymember Mark Stone:
Easy form for Email
Sacramento Office Phone: (916) 319-2029
Assemblymember Robert Rivas:
Easy form for Email
Sacramento Office Phone: (916) 319-2030
Vote YES on:
✅ SB 9 - Allows homeowners to divide their property into two lots and allows two homes to be built on each of those lots.
✅ SB 10 - Streamlines the planning process to allow cities to easily legalize buildings with 3-10 homes in non-sprawl areas.
✅ SB 477 - Collects data on state housing reforms - its just about collecting data!!
✅ SB 478 - Prevents cities from using technicalities like floor-area ratios to block multi-family homes.
✅ SCA 2 - Ends the racist prohibition of affordable housing in high opportunity communities by repealing Article 34.
Vote NO on:
🚫 ACA 7 (Oppose) - Empowers local NIMBYs to permanently shut their city to more housing, undoing years of effort by the state legislature and pro-housing advocates to end the housing shortage and affordability crisis.
And thank them for past support of housing bills and a good summer vacation break!
What's Coming Up in the Senate
State Senator John Laird:
Easy form for Email
Sacramento Office Phone: (916) 651-4017
State Senator Ana Caballero:
Easy form for Email
Sacramento Office Phone: (916) 651-4012
Vote YES on:
✅ AB 215 - Ensures cities’ General Plan Housing Elements have concrete actions and timelines for affordable housing.
✅ AB 345 - Lets ADUs be sold or conveyed separately from the primary residence to a qualified (low income) buyer.
✅ AB 602 - Level the playing field for smaller, more affordable, multi-family housing. Calculate impact fees based on size not number of units, so smaller individual homes pay smaller fees.
✅ AB 787 - Give cities the option to claim Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) credit for the conversion of market-rate units to deed-restricted affordable units (and address the shortage of low and moderate-income housing!)
✅ AB1401 - Ends costly parking mandates that can add as much as $80,000 per home to the cost of new housing. Parking mandates also exacerbate air and climate pollution by creating incentives for more driving.
✅ SCA 2 - Ends the racist prohibition of affordable housing in high opportunity communities by repealing Article 34.
Vote NO on:
🚫 ACA 7 (Oppose) - Empowers local NIMBYs to permanently shut their city to more housing, undoing years of effort by the state legislature and pro-housing advocates to end the housing shortage and affordability crisis.
And thank them for past support of housing bills and a good summer vacation break!
Santa Cruz YIMBY Elizabeth Conlan, atop Mount Shasta, wearing her Legalize Housing shirt
What We Are Reading 📚
Fire risk amid a housing crisis — California's challenging new reality | CalMatters. At least 2.1 million residents living in wildfire-prone areas could soon find themselves without homeowners’ insurance.
Zoning rules change in Buffalo shows parking reform could reenergize downtowns | Techxplore. The business case for removing parking requirements.
MapLab: Could Wide Streets Be Used for Housing? | Bloomberg CityLab. Cities could use it for bike lanes, transit, or green spaces, as many already are. It could also be used for housing….
House Hunters Are Leaving the City, and Builders Can’t Keep Up | New York Times. With a rise in remote work, exurban areas look more appealing.
Charlotte moves to ban single-family zoning to confront segregation | Slate. Charlotte, NC abolishes single-family zoning, legalizing duplexes and triplexes citywide. (When will Santa Cruz?)
Is Group Housing - Housing? | YIMBY Law. This is the question at the heart of YIMBY Law’s lawsuit with Simi Valley, which they have won at the superior court level.
What We Are Streaming 🎧
Jake Gotta ground truthing San Diego’s Housing Element | Tik Tok
Juneteenth and Housing in America | YIMBY Action. Panelists discuss the significance of Juneteenth, the White House’s stance on housing, and their experiences as Black YIMBYs.
The Unhoused House Sitters of Los Angeles | The New Yorker: Politics and More | New Yorker Podcast - WNYC. A new form of gig work.
Bubble Guppies Build Me A Building | YouTube (Just Fun)
Stay in touch!
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