SLO DESERVES A BOUQUET FOR DOING ITS HOMEWORK
February 2007
Viewpoint by Dave Romero, Mayor
Being a little old fashioned, I’m a supporter of tradition. However, the Tribune’s tradition of “brickbatting” the SLO City Council for not giving affordable housing a “high enough” priority in our goal setting process has me feeling blue. Here’s why…
Every two years, our City Council convenes in an all day workshop to develop a short list of community goals for the next two years. After considering hundreds of suggestions, we identify about 10-15 goals as worthy of our highest priority goal designations. Housing affordability has been among our priority goals for the last four years, and was identified again as a major city goal for 2007-09.
The Tribune quibbles over ratings and individual council votes, and gives us a traditional “brickbat.” But what counts in the actions of legislative bodies – and this is basic Government 101 – is the outcome. And the outcome is that housing affordability continues to be among the highest priorities of SLO City government. And because it is, we have accomplished much in tackling a daunting problem: Housing costs in California, especially along the coast.
There isn’t a magic bullet to solve this problem, either. But softening its impact by creating more opportunity is possible, and we are working in many ways to achieve this:
• We established an Affordable Housing Fund, and last year used it to allocate $1.5 million to affordable housing projects, including to People’s Self Help Housing, the Housing Authority, and new affordable housing on Broad Street;
• We have provided affordable housing assistance to the Judson Terrace senior apartments;
• We adopted an award winning Housing Element, and this has allowed us to receive State housing grants now totaling $400,000, with another $50,000 in the works.
• We have set aside hundreds of thousands of dollars of Federal Grants to support affordable housing projects, and we have also used these grants to hire a full time Housing Programs Manager (who seeks more grants and implements our many Housing Element programs);
• We waive fees for deed-restricted affordable housing units and low income Housing Authority construction;
• We streamlined requirements in our regulations, rezoned commercial and manufacturing zones to residential uses, and give density bonuses for smaller, more affordable housing units;
• Our downtown housing policies are paying off, and significant residential projects are in the works, like Chinatown and the Garden Street Terraces;
• We approved plans for the Margarita area to build 868 housing units, and three subdivisions totaling 315 units, including 49 affordable homes, are moving forward. These subdivisions are also dedicating 3 acres to the Housing Authority for a project;
• Planning is underway for 1,000 housing units in the Orcutt Road area;
• We have contributed $120,000 to the County Housing Trust Fund in support of their affordable housing work;
• We lead the way in small towns meeting the needs of the homeless, including support for the Homeless Shelter and the Prado Day Center.
• We actively lobbied CSU University officials to support more housing for Cal Poly, and 800 new student beds are now occupied, another 2,700 beds under construction, and 68 units of faculty housing on the market. These projects help free up added housing in our local market.
There is more to do, and our 2007-09 Major City Goal for housing sets the bar higher by requiring that we “Strengthen efforts to increase affordable housing, including ways of augmenting existing funding.” Our challenge is to do this within the confines of the marketplace and the availability of public resources. Our challenge is also to push for solutions without destroying what makes San Luis Obispo so desirable in the first place.
The Tribune certainly has a nose for news. But instead of using it to sniff out the negative and hurl a brickbat, by looking at our housing goals from a more positive angle, they just might discover the waif of a bouquet in the air. Gee, I’m feeling better already!
|
