Options sought for affordable housing money

There was support for using the funds to build affordable units, though it seemed there was greater interest in acquiring and converting housing to rent at below-market rates as well as rehabilitating existing affordable units.

“Six-million dollars doesn’t sound like much and it would go further to preserve existing affordable housing,” said resident Cesar Gonzalez, citing high construction costs — which average about $600,000 per affordable unit — and the city’s track record of being slow to build affordable housing.

A home is generally considered affordable if it costs no more than 30 percent of a household’s monthly income.

According to the California Department of Housing and Community Development, the median income for a four-person family in San Mateo County is $118,400 a year, with extremely-low income for that family size being $44,000 a year, and up to $142,100 a year to be considered moderate income.

As for short-term approaches to the affordability crisis, many celebrated existing programs they were unaware of prior to Tuesday’s meeting. To that end, they suggested beefing up outreach efforts to spread awareness of a city program offering low-interest property improvement loans, for example, or a home-sharing program offered by HIP Housing.

“There should be more publicity of the results of these initiatives and the number of people who benefit from them, that would make them more real,” said Kit Durgin, who also attended the meeting.

Some speakers also suggested many city fees are too high and discourage landlords from rehabbing and maintaining their properties, which indirectly impacts renters, they argued.

Tom Linebarger, another resident in attendance, called for transitional or creative housing options, referencing the floating homes at Docktown as an example.

The meeting was part of a series of housing-related workshops complemented by other recent outreach efforts, including pop-up meetings in May and June and an online survey.

The discussion also prompted commentary beyond the issue of spending guidelines for impact fees, with many speakers calling for additional renter protections such as just-cause evictions in addition to the recently passed minimum lease terms and relocation assistance ordinances. Many celebrated the city’s new inclusionary housing ordinance, which requires 20 percent affordable units in multi-dwelling developments, though some wished it specifically addressed extremely low-income renters.

And rent control cropped up throughout the meeting as well, with several speakers describing it as the only effective response to evictions and soaring rents, though the City Council has repeatedly confirmed the controversial policy is not in the cards.

Many of these approaches have been suggested or pursued by the city to varying extents and, throughout the meeting, officials presented recent housing-related efforts, including developments on city-owned land such as the Bradford senior housing project, which will bring 117 very-low-income units. In addition to the inclusionary housing and renter protection ordinances, the city recently streamlined production of accessory dwelling units, also known as in-law units, and starting next year tax revenue from short-term rentals will fund affordable housing.

Feedback from the meeting will be considered by officials before spending guidelines for the affordable housing fund are discussed by the Housing and Human Concerns Committee June 12 and by the City Council June 25.

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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