What’s Happening in Sonoma County?
Be a Champion, Speak up for Housing!
The drafting of Housing Element’s continues in Sonoma County. So far, the City of Santa Rosa is the only jurisdiction to submit their draft to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (“HCD”). More importantly, several of our jurisdictions have opened up their mandated 30-day public review periods of their drafts. We need your local knowledge and input on housing in your community NOW more than ever!
Here’s an overview of the Housing Element’s currently available for public review:
- Rohnert Park – the public has until September 4th to review the document and provide feedback.
- City of Sonoma – the public has until September 7th to review the document and provide feedback. No additional public meetings are planned to discuss this document prior to HCD submission.
- Windsor – released on August 15th, the public has until September 22nd to provide comments. Additionally, the Windsor Planning Commission will hold a meeting on Tuesday, September 13th at 5:30 P.M. to open up an opportunity for in person comments from the public. The Town Council will offer the same opportunity on Wednesday, September 21st at 6:00 P.M. We strongly encourage everyone to attend and share your concerns around housing in the Town of Windsor or the draft Housing Element more specifically.
- Petaluma – released on August 29th, the public will have until September 28 to provide input. The City of Petaluma will also be hosting a Housing Element Public Draft Virtual Open House on Tuesday, Sep 20, 2022 – 6 PM. To register for the event and receive information about joining the meeting – click here.
We expect Cloverdale and Cotati to release their drafts early to mid-September. Healdsburg’s draft will likely not be available until late September. The County of Sonoma will not have a draft prepared until late October.
To learn more about the Housing Element process and to track the progress for each jurisdiction, click here. You can find information about the Housing Element process here as well. If you want more information on how to get directly involved with Generation Housing’s Housing Element work, email us at info@generationhousing.org!
————————————————
Downtown Santa Rosa Surplus Parking Update
25 percent of the total landmass of downtown Santa Rosa is dedicated to parking – and even during our highest peak times of the week such as 1:00 PM on a Friday afternoon, our utilization of this parking averages about 26 percent.
The City of Santa Rosa has launched a study session series that will provide a holistic overview of the opportunities and challenges of intensifying underutilized parking assets in the downtown core. The first of three study sessions was held on Tuesday, August 23rd and a recording of this meeting can be found here. During the first study session, the staff shared that a whopping 74 percent of all parking spots in downtown are vacant, a sharp decline from the already high 42 percent vacancy found in the 2019 pre-pandemic parking study.
In actual numbers, there are 3,245 public parking spaces (6,463 between public and private parking spaces) sitting vacant during Santa Rosa’s peak business hours. Even during an event like Pliny the Younger — which draws thousands from out of town who form day-long lines that wrap around a city block — only 45 percent of the parking is actually utilized.
If we are to meaningfully tackle our housing challenges and drive city-centered growth, it’s time to better leverage our downtown assets and create conditions that make development feasible.
Don’t miss the next two opportunities to engage on this important issue and so much more!
September 13, 2022: Santa Rosa Civic Center Project Feasibility Analysis Review
- This meeting will discuss the relocation/redevelopment/consolidation of Santa Rosa’s City Hall and campus to a site yet disclosed.
October 11, 2022: Surplus Lands Act and its impact development opportunities; direction from City Council on next steps
- This meeting will discuss the consideration of designating some public-owned parking assets as surplus parking which then allows developers the opportunity to submit proposals for redeveloping the site. Previously, the discussion has largely centered around redeveloping the 3rd Street Garage (built in 1965) which now has an estimated repair cost of $4M to $6M and would only create 15 to 20 more years of useful life. The D Street Garage (built in 1970) would similarly require an investment of $6M+ to prolong service life. Parking garages have an average service life of 40-50 years.
What’s happening at the State level?
It’s official, the Senate and the Assembly have both passed Generation Housing endorsed, AB 2011 (Affordable Housing and High Roads Job Act of 2022) and AB 2096 (Residential, commercial, or other development types: parking requirements)- two landmark bills years in the making! These votes bring us one step closer to a pivotal moment for our state and the Governor’s signature will set the stage for us to redefine housing statewide.
To date, Governor Newsom has signed Generation Housing endorsed bills SB 886 (California Environmental Quality Act: exemption: public universities: university housing development projects) and AB 2244 (Religious institution affiliated housing: place of worship).
In other news, Generation Housing endorsed constitutional amendment SCA 2 (Public Housing Projects) continues to move forward and at the time of this update being written, it had yet to be voted on by the Assembly Floor. If approved on the Floor and signed by the Governor, SCA 2 will then be taken to the ballot for a statewide vote in Summer/Fall of 2023.
This is the last of our state endorsed legislation that has either been signed by the Governor or is seeking his signature. Governor Newsom will have until Sep 30, 2022 to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature.
Watch our social media for more updates soon!
If you haven’t already, be sure to send Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (author AB 2011) and Assemblymember Laura Friedman (author AB 2096) a note of appreciation either via phone, email, or social media. Don’t forget to share your appreciation with our local leaders as well – Senator Mike McGuire, Senator Bill Dodd, Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Assemblymember Jim Wood, and Assemblymember Marc Levine. We’re so incredibly grateful for all of their steadfast dedication towards creating more, more diverse, and more affordable housing in California!