What is Santa Cruz City government doing about the housing crisis? City Council is focused on the issue and has created a Housing Blueprint Subcommittee to gather community input and make suggestions.
The result of this process is the Santa Cruz City Housing Blueprint. In the blueprint, subcommittee members outline “first priorities” which have been selected after considering both City Council recommendations and community feedback. They are:
- Community Engagement
- Legalization of Unpermitted Dwelling Units
- Accessory Dwelling Units
- Housing Affordability and Inclusionary Housing
- Parking Policy Considerations
- Density Bonus
- Recommendations on Moving Forward with Zoning and Density
- Downtown Housing Creation
- Additional recommendations (see document)
To see each priority outlined in detail, click here.
According to this article, one important part of the sub-committee’s proposal will come into play if the Rent Control and Just Cause for Eviction measure is not voted into law: landlords may still have to pay tenant relocation assistance if they raise rents by more than 10 percent in one year or 15 percent in two consecutive years. While creating a burden for landlords, this change would be significantly less harmful than the Just Cause for eviction portion of the proposed ordinance.
We still have a while to go before changes are made, but some of these proposals may make a meaningful difference in our City’s housing shortage.