County supervisors moved forward a proposal to build workforce housing on two county-owned parcels.
Santa Barbara County officials are considering two downtown county-owned properties as potential sites for workforce housing. According to a report by Ryan P. Cruz in the Santa Barbara Independent, the two sites were narrowed down from a longer list of county properties, some of which were not appropriate for housing development.
Cruz explains, “The county did months of legwork, meeting with housing developers, community advocates, housing authorities, chambers of commerce, and school districts to research the best options for addressing the need for housing. These recommendations included updates to the county’s inclusionary ordinance, pursuing a ‘pro-housing’ designation with the state to gain access to more funding, and converting county properties into housing.” The county has issued a Request for Proposals for one of the sites.
One supervisor opposed the plan, saying the county should sell the land and use the revenue to fund housing in other locations.
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