Since my last housing post in June 2022, Gilroy has made strides to plan and promote housing opportunities for our workforce that are typically more affordable. This is needed more now than ever before. The State recently released new income guidelines, a household of one whose income is $96,000 is considered low income. The same is true for a household of four who earns $137,100. This is many of us. We’ve reached a boiling point where we need to be taking advantage of the many tools before us.
You can build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on any residential property in the city, you can build duplexes on single family home lots, staff's work plan includes developing an inclusionary housing ordinance which is a policy that exists in many cities that requires a percentage of affordable homes in each development (this will be contracted out and approval should be very soon), and the 5th Draft Housing Element (Gilroy’s 8 Year Housing Plan) after being approved by the Gilroy Planning Commission and Gilroy City Council, has been sent to State HCD for approval. This plan will guide residential development and policy decisions during the next Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) Housing Element cycle for 2023-2031. This next RHNA cycle’s housing assignment is going to take some creativity on housing production, and that includes small projects to big ones. We can't grow or consider ourselves equitable and diversified in housing type when 75% of our land is zoned for single family homes. This may have worked in the past, but now that these homes are out of reach for most families, we need to course correct. We can continue to create a diversified housing stock to meet the needs of our residents. The 5th Draft Housing Element contains programs to build missing middle housing (this translates to rental opportunities, duplexes, triplexes, and four-plexes, a technical way for saying smaller homes that are more naturally affordable).
76% of homes sold in Silicon Valley last year were above $ 1 million; 30% were above $2 million. In contrast, only 8% of all homes sold within the region were below $600,000 (28% of which were all-cash sales, a likely sign that those units were being sold to buyers for renovation as opposed to being available for lower-income buyers to afford, live in, and gain home equity/wealth).
Gilroy's Planning Commission and City Council approved 40 Opportunity Sites that we are planning to build housing on. (Page 306 of the 5th Draft)
The Opportunity Site selection process examined zoned capacity, existing uses, and recent development trends to determine which parcels to include to meet the remaining RHNA after considering pipeline projects and ADUs. Both vacant and non-vacant sites are included in the Opportunity Sites Inventory. The opportunity site selection process took site characteristics, surrounding uses, and development constraints into consideration when evaluating each site’s development potential.
The Gilroy City Council established a Housing and Community Services Division during the FY24/FY25 budget process. (FY24/FY25 Budget Page 210) This new division will focus on housing efforts, public service grants, unhoused efforts, below market rate home ownership programs, and is a resource to connect Gilroy residents to homebuyer assistance programs, accessory dwelling unit (ADU) programs, emergency housing, unhoused services, rental assistance, tenant/landlord services, and mortgage relief assistance. The Division implements the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of Housing and Community Development (HCD), and the City's Housing Trust Fund (HTF). These funds assist Gilroy's vulnerable communities and create safe and healthy neighborhoods for all.
The Housing and Community Services Division will collaborate with Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing (OSH) and other partners to develop affordable housing such as the one at 8th/Alexander St, including partnering on community outreach, communication, and development processes from beginning to completion. The Division works with OSH on Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) funding process, allocation, and implementation of grant funding for nonprofit service providers to assist Gilroy's vulnerable communities, unhoused individuals, and families who are experiencing, or at risk, homelessness. Through conducting monthly meetings with Gilroy's Unhoused Service Providers Network, the Division works to increase collaboration and partnership among service providers and the City of Gilroy to connect the unhoused with services. To expand community outreach and education on housing resources, the Division partners with Community Based Organizations (CBO) to host workshops to inform residents of assistance programs and funding opportunities, on a monthly basis on average.
The City places a high priority on providing quality housing opportunities for all residents. The creation of this focused Division within the Community Development Department, and establishing the Housing and Community Services Manager position, will enable the City to make more concentrated efforts on affordable housing production, preservation, and protection of residents. The Housing and Community Services Manager will provide a higher level of expertise and lead a Division focusing on housing functions. With the Division consisting of the Manager and Technician position, the Division will implement projects and programs to address housing needs for a diverse community and provide assistance to families and individuals that are experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness.
In the budget we funded several plans and policies including a Transportation Demand Management (TDM), Vehicle Mile Traveled (VMT), and Climate Action Plan. These will help enhance all of our developments to shift modes of transportation and connect them to transit in line with our General Plan 2040. Gilroy’s multi-modal transportation infrastructure consists of buses, trains, bikes, scooters, and walking. While there might be portions of our city that are isolated from transit, there are many ways to continue to draw residents towards transit. Gilroy has a fully connected bike network and transit options. Many residents are employed outside of Gilroy, but we have a large population that work, play, attend school, and are retired in Gilroy. They benefit from local transit and rideshare. Gilroy has the vision that the glass is half full, and we have the ability to innovate and adapt to programs that will further reduce our VMT. We are providing year-round education and encouragement through County Measure B funds. We have programs and policies that promote our community leaving their car at home and choosing to walk/bike/roll/ and take transit. This helps teach our residents safe walking and biking skills, reduces traffic and air pollution, and helps you get more physical activity.
In 2023, the Area Median Income (AMI) for a four-person household in Santa Clara County, as defined by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is $181,300. Based on this, the following are the income limits for the 5 affordable housing categories (family of four):
• Extremely Low Income (ELI) 0–30% AMI $0– $53,550
• Very Low Income (VLI) 31–50% AMI $53,551–$89,200
• Low Income (LI) 51–80% AMI $89,201– $137,100
• Moderate Income 81–120% AMI $137,101- $217,550
• Above Moderate- Above 120% AMI $217,551 +
Above is an updated chart that shows our progress as of April 1, 2022 to meet our RHNA numbers. You can see that we continue to be unbalanced in our categories. Data comes from our March 20, 2023 City Council Agenda.
The annual SB 35 list based on past housing performance was published June 2023 and contains cities and counties subject to SB 35 streamlining provisions when proposed developments include ≥ 50% affordability. Gilroy is one of the jurisdictions that has insufficient progress toward their lower income RHNA (Very Low and Low income) and are therefore subject to the streamlined ministerial approval process (SB 35 (Chapter 366, Statutes of 2017) streamlining) for proposed developments with at least 50% affordability.
The State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) reinforced the fact that they no longer consider the Housing Element Update to be a paper exercise, but instead a contract between jurisdictions and the state on housing commitments for eight-and-a-half years. To this end, HCD’s new Housing Accountability Unit will be monitoring implementation and will hold jurisdictions to the commitments laid out in the Housing Element’s plan. HCD detailed how they will not accept the rationale that the lack of subsidies for affordable housing development is an insurmountable impediment to fulfilling housing commitments. Instead, they advised jurisdictions to find ways to spur development through land use reforms and additional financing mechanisms. These might include adopting a strong local density bonus program, an inclusionary housing ordinance with a robust in-lieu fee structure, or other impact fees as a mechanism to support affordable housing development. HCD also recommended looking into ways of lowering costs by deferring or waiving fees and taxes.
HCD cautioned that jurisdictions with non-compliant Housing Elements will be ineligible for, or face delays in receiving, state funding. Jurisdictions would also be unable to use inconsistent zoning/general plan standards to deny affordable housing projects, and could be subject to additional legal ramifications and fines. HCD will review actions and inactions submitted in the Annual Progress Report by local jurisdictions and they will take action on jurisdictions that are inconsistent with their Housing Elements. HCD will also respond to public complaints if a jurisdiction's actions are in violation with state law.
The City of Gilroy and Gilroy City Council have made huge steps towards housing for all residents since I took office in December 2020. Data from our Housing Element shows 21% of households are considered extremely low-income, making less than 30% of AMI. As we prepare for the next Housing Element, we will need to examine the ways at which the 75% zoning can be the limiting factor as we work towards affordability, equity, and not continue to have communities that are segregated based on incomes and race. The consequences of failing to effectively and aggressively confront this crisis is hurting thousands of our residents, robbing future generations of the chance to call Gilroy home, stifling economic opportunities for workers and businesses, worsening poverty and homelessness, and undermining our environmental and climate objectives.
