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The city of Grass Valley — which has been struggling, along with the rest of the county, with retaining young, working-class families — is set to discuss and approve a Moderate Income Homeownership Ordinance at the City Council meeting tonight.
The ordinance, which will impact residential developments of 10 or more dwelling units, is intended to replace the far more stringent affordable housing policy already on the books.
Since March 2008, a council committee composed of council members Chauncey Poston and Jan Arbuckle has been working to boost the affordable housing supply, with a particular focus on housing for first-time homebuyers, by replacing the city's current Inclusionary Housing Policy with an law that would offer more flexibility in how affordable housing could be built.
The city currently requires a developer of 10 or more units to make 20 percent of the units affordable. Affordability is defined as 80 percent of the median county income — currently about $50,000 to $60,000, Poston said. And the units were required to remain affordable housing for 30 years, Poston added.
“When I first came on the council, as a Realtor in this county for well over 20 years, I recognized this was untenable,” he said. “It was way too restrictive. So we made it a goal, back in 2006, to change the affordable housing program to something that is more realistic and obtainable.”
Poston said that rental units and low-income housing is not an issue in Nevada County — but that middle-class housing definitely is.
The changes include lowering the requirement from 20 percent to 10 percent of the units, and raising the income standard from 80 percent to 120 percent of the median income.
“Before, no one could qualify for a loan,” Poston said. “We expanded the pool of potential buyers.”
The units now must remain affordable for only seven years, instead of 30.
“That was a disincentive for any buyer,” Poston said. “Now, they know if they stay in the home for seven years and take great care of it, at the end of the day they'll be able to make some money on it and hopefully move up and stay in our community. We want young working people to stay in our community.”
The new ordinance will also allow a developer of a housing project to either provide an affordable unit, pay an in-lieu fee, dedicate land or transfer their development rights to another property within the city.
If the developer chooses to pay an in-lieu fee, the percentage goes up from 10 percent to 15 percent, Poston explained.
“We want the developer to build the units, but if someone wants to build a high-end subdivision and they're willing to pay, they can, and it will go into a trust, to be used for purchasing property, maybe even a loan pool,” he said.
The amount for an in-lieu fee has not yet been decided; until then, it will not be available for someone to pay, Poston said.
In other council business tonight at 7, the planned Community Recovery Resources campus at West Main Street and Sierra College Drive may have to jump a few more hurdles. On Sept. 15, the Planning Commission recommended the City Council approve the CoRR Center for Hope project. The project consists of a proposed campus for a health treatment center for substance and chemical dependency, with four buildings totaling 3,520 square feet on 3 acres of land.
The council is scheduled to rezone some acreage from residential to commercial, amend the General Plan land-use designation on 5 acres from urban low density to commercial, and approve the development review application and certify a mitigated negative declaration as adequate under the California Environmental Quality Act.
The General Plan amendment and rezone applications include an adjacent 2-acre parcel, but no development is proposed on the adjacent parcel.
The project has been planned in four phases, which include a 13,433-square-foot service center for offices and out-patient services; a 12,955-square-foot residential treatment and housing facility; a 4,682-square-foot support housing building; and transitional housing within an existing 2,450-square-foot home. Primary access to the site would be from a newly constructed driveway off Sierra College Drive, while Brentwood Drive would be widened to serve as a secondary option. The site would be improved with parking, landscaping, lighting and signage.
To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call 477-4229.
The ordinance, which will impact residential developments of 10 or more dwelling units, is intended to replace the far more stringent affordable housing policy already on the books.
Since March 2008, a council committee composed of council members Chauncey Poston and Jan Arbuckle has been working to boost the affordable housing supply, with a particular focus on housing for first-time homebuyers, by replacing the city's current Inclusionary Housing Policy with an law that would offer more flexibility in how affordable housing could be built.
The city currently requires a developer of 10 or more units to make 20 percent of the units affordable. Affordability is defined as 80 percent of the median county income — currently about $50,000 to $60,000, Poston said. And the units were required to remain affordable housing for 30 years, Poston added.
“When I first came on the council, as a Realtor in this county for well over 20 years, I recognized this was untenable,” he said. “It was way too restrictive. So we made it a goal, back in 2006, to change the affordable housing program to something that is more realistic and obtainable.”
Poston said that rental units and low-income housing is not an issue in Nevada County — but that middle-class housing definitely is.
The changes include lowering the requirement from 20 percent to 10 percent of the units, and raising the income standard from 80 percent to 120 percent of the median income.
“Before, no one could qualify for a loan,” Poston said. “We expanded the pool of potential buyers.”
The units now must remain affordable for only seven years, instead of 30.
“That was a disincentive for any buyer,” Poston said. “Now, they know if they stay in the home for seven years and take great care of it, at the end of the day they'll be able to make some money on it and hopefully move up and stay in our community. We want young working people to stay in our community.”
The new ordinance will also allow a developer of a housing project to either provide an affordable unit, pay an in-lieu fee, dedicate land or transfer their development rights to another property within the city.
If the developer chooses to pay an in-lieu fee, the percentage goes up from 10 percent to 15 percent, Poston explained.
“We want the developer to build the units, but if someone wants to build a high-end subdivision and they're willing to pay, they can, and it will go into a trust, to be used for purchasing property, maybe even a loan pool,” he said.
The amount for an in-lieu fee has not yet been decided; until then, it will not be available for someone to pay, Poston said.
In other council business tonight at 7, the planned Community Recovery Resources campus at West Main Street and Sierra College Drive may have to jump a few more hurdles. On Sept. 15, the Planning Commission recommended the City Council approve the CoRR Center for Hope project. The project consists of a proposed campus for a health treatment center for substance and chemical dependency, with four buildings totaling 3,520 square feet on 3 acres of land.
The council is scheduled to rezone some acreage from residential to commercial, amend the General Plan land-use designation on 5 acres from urban low density to commercial, and approve the development review application and certify a mitigated negative declaration as adequate under the California Environmental Quality Act.
The General Plan amendment and rezone applications include an adjacent 2-acre parcel, but no development is proposed on the adjacent parcel.
The project has been planned in four phases, which include a 13,433-square-foot service center for offices and out-patient services; a 12,955-square-foot residential treatment and housing facility; a 4,682-square-foot support housing building; and transitional housing within an existing 2,450-square-foot home. Primary access to the site would be from a newly constructed driveway off Sierra College Drive, while Brentwood Drive would be widened to serve as a secondary option. The site would be improved with parking, landscaping, lighting and signage.
To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call 477-4229.
