Working Towards Housing Equity

Gilroy has a housing shortage and our low and middle-income households face historic rent burden. Undersupply of “Missing Middle” housing, or medium density housing near jobs and transit, is one of the key factors contributing to the displacement and rent burden of our residents. In Gilroy we have 75% of our land zoned for single family homes, 10% were small multifamily (2-4 units), and 12% were medium or large multifamily (5+ units). Our Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) are minimum mandated State standards and we should strive to reach higher than the minimum.   

Thankfully millions of dollars in funding have poured into Gilroy to help our most vulnerable address their rent burden. Data from our housing element shows 21% of households are considered extremely low-income, making less than 30% of AMI. According to recent data provided by ABAG, 59.1% of Gilroy’s population in 2020 was Latinx, 28.0% was White, 9.1% was Asian, and 1.1% was African American. As we finalize 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. 

SB9 allows duplexes on lots currently zoned for single family use only. If your lot is big enough you can split it, and then build up to two units on each of the lots. SB9 contains important protections against displacement of existing tenants. Duplexes contribute needed housing to the City of Gilroy’s housing stock and enhance housing opportunities. ADUs and junior ADUs are allowed on single-family, duplex and multifamily dwelling zoned properties that include a proposed or existing primary residential dwelling. Grant funding available too!

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. State Housing Community Development (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 respond to public complaints if a jurisdiction's actions are in violation with state law.

With the recent adoption of our City’s General Plan 2040, we as a community called for bold actions that include providing high density housing options, affordable housing for all, and continuing to promote cleaner modes of transportation. We encourage existing and proposed development to incorporate Transportation Demand Management (TDM) measures such as car-sharing, transit passes, and unbundling of parking (requiring separate purchase or lease of a parking space) where such measures will result in a reduction in vehicle miles traveled, reduction of required amount of parking or an increase in the use of alternate transportation modes.

The adoption of an Inclusionary Housing Ordinance is an important ordinance that has been overlooked, and was included as an action item in our 2007 housing element, but never implemented. Then again in 2018 according to Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury Report “Affordable Housing: Density is Our Destiny” included a recommendation stating that “Gilroy (should) increase inclusionary housing requirements for the below market housing to at least 15% (of new dwelling units) by the end of 2019. That was never implemented.

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. 

I am supportive of the staff's recommendation to City Council on October 17, 2022. Make a meaningful effort to get a draft submitted to HCD that won’t fail. We have many organizations that have provided public comment letters that stand with us getting this right the first time. Without a complete site inventory to analyze, transparency of pending projects being carried over, proof that some non-vacant sites are willing to build affordable housing; it's not a fair statement to say that rezoning is not needed yet. The final draft for approval will come before the newly elected City Council in early 2023. It’s time to Get Out The Vote (GOTV) and support candidates that are pro-housing, our future generations are counting on us. 

Advance Mobility Options by Eliminating Parking Minimums

In Gilroy, we have many examples of properties where we used to not require vehicle parking many decades ago, before a majority of zoning codes have been adopted that require more land to be developed for parking. With the recent implementation of Vehicles Mile Traveled we look towards increasing alternative options to the single occupant vehicle and creative solutions like those mentioned in our General Plan 2040 to continue to push us all forward. 

In response to the pandemic and the closure of restaurants and small shops, local governments have allowed businesses to expand into on-site and street parking spaces to allow for safe outdoor dining and shopping. These new and more productive uses of parking spaces have shown us the way forward to create more inviting and sustainable neighborhoods, and allow small businesses to survive and in some cases thrive. 

With the recent adoption of Gilroy’s General Plan 2040, we called for bold actions that included continuing to promote cleaner modes of transportation. We encourage existing and proposed developments to incorporate Transportation Demand Management measures such as car-sharing, transit passes, and unbundling of parking. We have planned for projects and have the resources in 2022 to make them successful, but it’s “political will” that keeps getting in the way. Recently, the City of Gilroy, VTA, and Transportation Agency for Monterey County signed an MOU for rail improvements of the Monterey County Rail Extension Project to include Bay Area CalTrain service connection to Salinas. Gilroy, like Salinas, is building future public transportation options within our Downtowns. 

The goals and policies of our General Plan 2040 address a variety of topics, including multimodal transportation, complete streets, pedestrian facilities, bikeways, public transit, vehicular transportation, parking, and goods movement. Consider Transit in Planning and Development Proposals Coordinate with VTA on advance planning projects and development proposals that may have implications for public transit and consider the VTA’s Transit Sustainability Policy/Service Design Guidelines. Coordinate with VTA on the planning of new transit routes within Gilroy and maintain a strong relationship with VTA management to ensure continued cooperation. Our entire Zoning Code is currently being updated to reflect the values of our General Plan 2040 and should be coming to the City Council for adoption soon. By eliminating arbitrary parking minimums and allowing in-lieu fees we can prevent the wasteful overproduction of parking spaces, reduce car dependency, and carbon emissions. It will encourage greater transit usage and more housing and business growth near transit, helping to create revitalized and pedestrian-friendly commercial corridors and our Downtown. This would not prohibit property owners from building on-site parking. Rather, it gives them the flexibility to decide on their own how much on-site parking to provide, instead of requiring compliance with a one-size-fits-all mandate.

Parking lots, especially empty ones, do nothing for us at the local level to be able to maximize our collection of property taxes and a mixed-use project will generate significant property and sales tax. When transit riders shift their modes in getting to transit by walk/bike/ride- share/carpool, they will visit and spend money locally. We are creating more walkable/bikeable places to live that don't require you to own a car while providing much needed housing for our graduating high school seniors, teachers, city employees, and college grads to come home to. 

On-site parking reduces the housing supply by taking up space that could otherwise be used for additional apartments. Providing on-site parking is also very expensive, costing $30,000 to $75,000 per space to build. This cost is passed on to renters and home buyers, regardless of whether they own a car. In fact, in a recent study by Santa Clara University, researchers found that the cost of garage parking to renter households is approximately $1,700 per year, or an additional 17% of a housing unit’s rent. 

Lastly, we are actively embracing, advancing ideas, and projects that promote the concept of free-range people in the City of Gilroy. We advocate for building and planning that considers future generations as well as current residents who don’t own cars. We are a Recreation Destination and Complete Streets community by resolution. Advancing mobility options reflects what we are teaching the youth in our community through Safe Routes to School and why we are nationally recognized as a Bicycle Friendly Community from the League of American Bicyclists, as well as recognized by the World Health Organization as an Age-Friendly Community. 

Housing For All in Gilroy Part 3

Since my last housing post in May 2021, 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 $92,250 is considered low income and eligible for “affordable” housing. The same is true for a household of four who earns $131,750. 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, and the Draft Gilroy Housing Element (Gilroy’s 8 Year Housing Plan) is well underway. This plan will guide residential development and policy decisions during the next Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) Housing Element cycle for 2023-2031. The DRAFT will be released soon for public comment. 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.  It has already been mentioned in meetings that we need to look at 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). 

One legislative item that my office recently had added to a future agenda is Modular Transitional Housing for what’s known as the “Challenge Grant from Santa Clara County”. It’s grant funding available for modular units to be used for transitional housing on city owned properties. There will be another round of Project HomeKey funding that can be used in conjunction with this grant. With the traditional shelter model phasing out for future developments, the modular transitional housing concept has full time wrap-around services for the residents and provides needed privacy for families experiencing homelessness.

The City of Gilroy declared the month of May by city resolution as Affordable Housing Month. In the City of Gilroy, I call upon all members of our community to support housing solutions that are affordable for our workforce, our seniors, youth and special needs populations, and to recognize the successful efforts of the City of Gilroy and its dedicated partners who seek to improve access to housing opportunities in Gilroy and our neighboring communities.

Affordable Housing Month encourages all citizens, legislators, and advocates to collaborate in finding viable, creative solutions to the current housing crisis by reviewing all housing policies and processes in order to meaningfully increase housing opportunities throughout the City of Gilroy.

The culture of "no" and the "status quo" have got to go. A simple (piece of paper) endorsement of the Community Plan To End Homeless by City Resolution last year (which was fought against and denied several times by the majority of the City Council initially https://youtu.be/p6vrc3ecf9k?t=5435), has already made an impact for the residents of Gilroy in ending homelessness. We had left free crucial dollars behind because we didn't have a seat at the table regionally. I'm proud to say that today we do. We will be able to use the $1.3 million Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) to fund program services and our hard working Community Based Organizations. This will allow our Housing Trust Fund (HTF) to stop being depleted and build back up and to do more good work. 

SB9 was recently signed into law and allows duplexes on lots currently zoned for single family use only. If your lot is big enough you can split it, and then build up to two units on each of the lots. SB9 contains important protections against displacement of existing tenants. City of Gilroy has many examples of properties where we used to do this many decades ago before 75% of our city became zoned for single family homes. Duplexes contribute needed housing opportunities for our families and friends in the City of Gilroy. ADUs and junior ADUs are allowed on single-family, duplex and multifamily dwelling zoned properties that include a proposed or existing primary residential dwelling. Grant funding available too! https://www.calhfa.ca.gov/homeownership/programs/termsheet-adu.pdf 

Please feel free to contact the Planning Department if you need further assistance. planningdivision@cityofgilroy.org https://www.cityofgilroy.org/930/Senate-Bill-9-SB9 

Example scenarios like, a family owns a single family home on a larger lot, and they choose to split the lot into two. They build a duplex on the newly split-portion and they keep the existing single family home on the other portion, as well as build an ADU behind the existing home. Now they have options as they raise their family, and can sell either/or property at their discretion.

In 2022, the Area Median Income (AMI) for a four-person household in for Santa Clara County, as defined by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) was $168,500. 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– $50,550 

• Very Low Income (VLI) 31–50% AMI $50,551–$84,250

• Low Income (LI) 51–80% AMI $84,251– $131,750

• Moderate Income 81–120% AMI $131,751- $202,200

• Above Moderate- Above 120% AMI $202,201 +

Above is an updated chart that shows our progress as of April 1, 2021 to meet our RHNA numbers. You can see that we continue to be unbalanced in our categories. At the June 21, 2021 City Council meeting, we decided to not appeal our 2023-2031 RHNA allocation. 

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.

Click on the video link above to watch the March 30th Community Workshop. A few highlights that came out of it are no surprise to what our community has needed for decades and will finally get. 

Highlights-

-38% of our population of 59,520 is 24 years old or less.

-16,608 housing units 60.5% owner occupied 39.5% renters

-$101,600 median household income for Gilroy.

-Max affordable purchase price $303,000 and median home price $1,000,000

Poll from Meeting

Top 3 Focus Programs: 

#1-Inclusionary Units, #2-Build to a Higher Density, #3-Provide Access to Low Cost Pre-Designed ADU’s

Top 3 Housing Issues:

#1-Difficult to Pay Rent, Mortgage, Down Payment, #2-Insufficient Housing Supply, #3-Homelessness