By Khalida Sarwari
Saratoga is moving forward with plans to participate in a countywide affordable housing study, joining four other Santa Clara County cities.
The countywide “Housing Nexus Study” aims to explore the relationship between new housing or jobs and the need for affordable housing in the community with the ultimate goal of creating a framework for affordable housing requirements and impact fees for both residential and commercial development.
“I think the study makes a lot of sense in terms of us trying to figure out down the future how we may participate in this whole effort of affordable housing in our community as well as in the county and as a region,” said Vice Mayor Manny Cappello. “This is a really good first step in laying the groundwork for this type of thing.”
Saratoga will be contributing $25,000 toward the preparation of the study; the Silicon Valley Community Foundation has offered to provide a grant that will cover the cost for a coordinated effort involving Saratoga as well as nine other cities in Santa Clara and Alameda counties, including Campbell, Los Altos, Santa Clara and Milpitas.
Community development director Erwin Ordonez noted that merely participating in the study doesn’t obligate the city to adopt a new affordable housing impact fee.
“It’s just really the very first step in terms of studying the issue; [that] is what this would commit us to,” he said.
SVCF is following in the footsteps of San Mateo County by developing a joint nexus study as a cost-saving measure. In that county, cities banded together to jointly fund a nexus study that each city can then use to establish a housing impact fee. This approach has reduced the cost for each city because they’re sharing countywide data within the study.
Saratoga initiated the process to join the study in May of last year when it added an implementation measure in the General Plan housing element stating the city will work with other Santa Clara County cities to prepare a joint nexus study with the purpose of establishing an affordable housing impact fee.
The reason several cities have adopted impact fees on new residential and commercial development is to help fund affordable housing production, an approach they’ve resorted to due to reduced state and federal funding and loss of redevelopment agencies, according to a city staff report.
With the council approving the resolution on Oct. 7, city staff will begin working with a Nexus Study consultant to develop components of the study that are tailored specifically to the Saratoga community. They are expected to report back to the council with an update next summer.
Link: Saratoga to join four other cities in study of affordable housing
