The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to apply the county’s inclusionary housing ordinance to rental projects as well as for-sale projects, and extended affordability covenants to 90 years.
The supervisors are following up on Housing Element goals to incentivize or require developers to include affordable units in their projects.
The county’s current version of the ordinance requires certain ownership housing projects to have some affordable units, with resale restrictions for 45 years, or pay fees.
The supervisors voted Tuesday to make the requirements apply to rental projects as well, and extend the affordability covenants to 90 years.
In 2030, “more than three-fourths of the existing affordable housing stock by that time, those deed restrictions would have expired,” county housing program staffer Andrew Kish said at the meeting. “If it’s a matter of preserving units and making sure that units are still available for generations of workforce households, the option of a longer-term affordability covenant with 90 years specifically is the route to go.”
The need for affordable housing has increased significantly, and state law has changed, since the ordinance was adopted, staff said.
“Historically, 20 years ago, there was a law that prevented you from requiring inclusionary housing units from rental housing, and that law is no longer in existence, so many jurisdictions have been adopting inclusionary requirements for rentals,” Planning & Development Director Lisa Plowman noted Wednesday.
The county is seeing more rental project applications than for-sale projects right now, she said.
“The reality is, nobody is being subject to the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance anymore because they’re all taking advantage of state density bonus, which does have a mandatory requirement,” Plowman told the Planning Commission on Wednesday in response to questions about the supervisors’ vote. The state density bonus process is seen as more advantageous to developers “because of the concessions that can be achieved.”
For the Housing Element Update, supervisors already approved 90-year affordability covenants for some density bonus projects and supportive housing projects.
Kish said rental restrictions in this ordinance apply when the area’s median rent is higher than what is considered affordable for certain income groups. That’s more likely for projects on the South Coast, where rents are higher.
County staff presented median rental information from Zillow that showed South Coast median rents of $7,237 and Santa Maria median rents of $2,800. In the future, staff will get rental data from Yardi, which gets it from property management companies, Kish said.
The supervisors voted 4-1 to approve the ordinance amendments on Tuesday.
Supervisor Bob Nelson voted against the changes, saying he was worried developers would build fewer projects.
Supervisor Laura Capps disagreed, saying there is a huge demand for housing, and “I just don’t see a slowing down of development interests.”