The County of Santa Barbara may be getting into the housing game.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors directed staff to look into developing the Probation Department site at 123 E. Carrillo St. in Santa Barbara into housing for county employees.

The Community Services Department gave a report about potentially turning some of the county’s property into workforce housing for employees. Specifically, Tuesday’s report focused on the current Probation Building and the County Administration Building at 105 E. Anapamu St., both located in downtown Santa Barbara.

Jesús Armas, the department director, started the discussion by calling it an important day and acknowledged that the county has been facing a housing crisis.  

“It’s a small step. It’s not the complete solution, but one step we can take is to utilize county assets (and) county facilities as a means of tackling a very significant issue,” Armas said.

In a 4-1 vote, the board directed county staff to review what it would take to develop the Probation Department building into housing units and whether there could be additional uses for the site. The county also decided not to move forward with installing solar panels at the site.

The county broke ground on a new Probation Department building at 1019 Garden St. in September 2024. The new site, proposed to open in 2026, would replace the current building.

Most of the supervisors expressed support for workforce housing at the property on East Carrillo Street and seemed interested in converting the County Administration Building into housing or another use.

The only supervisor who opposed the proposal was Steve Lavagnino, who said he didn’t believe that the engineering building is located in an area that is appealing for housing.

“We’re sitting on probably the most expensive piece of real estate, and it’s tough to recruit and have people come work anywhere near there anyway,” Lavagnino said.

“I think that’s something we need to look at. I don’t know what it would be turned into, but any proceeds from any sale or anything could be put into whatever project we’re talking about doing.”

The move to develop workforce housing on county land is part of an attempt to provide affordable units for employees. Santa Barbara County is one of the most expensive counties in the state, and housing has been a hurdle for companies attempting to hire employees.

“Santa Barbara County is experiencing widespread housing affordability challenges,” said Lucille Boss, the HCD Housing programs manager. “More specifically, the lack of housing affordable to our workforce affects every aspect of our lives, from local businesses and schools struggling to hire and retain workers, to (amplified) child care challenges and between homes and workplaces, increasing freeway congestion and carbon emissions.”

The median monthly rent for all types of homes in Santa Barbara County was $3,304 as of May 2024, according to a county report.

The same staff report stated that 39% of households in unincorporated Santa Barbara County are cost burdened, which means they spend more than 30% of their income on housing expenses.

Boss also shared that between May 2019 and May 2024, median home prices in the county increased 61% compared with a 50% increase in the county’s median income during that same period.

During public comment, speakers ranged from support for the proposed workforce housing to frustration over the county using its land to build on.

Andy Caldwell, executive director of the Coalition of Labor, Agriculture & Business opposed the proposal for more housing and said the board was looking at the situation incorrectly.

“The problem here is you have too many poor people in the county that can’t afford to live here. But it’s not necessarily the price of housing, and it certainly can’t be solved by the county converting their own land. It’s an issue of creating better-paying jobs or allowing for the creation,” Caldwell said.

In support of the plan was Dianne Black, representing the League of Women Voters of Santa Barbara. In her comments, Black said the organization appreciated the county’s plans but called for a focus on providing housing for low-income workers.

Black also asked the board to prioritize local funding for workforce housing and speed up the local preference policy for projects.

“We can’t afford to build new housing units for people who don’t work and live in our community,” Black said.