Campbell is taking proactive steps to boost the production of affordable housing, with new proposals shaped in part by the Developer Roundtable SV@Home co-hosted earlier this year.
AUGUST 19 – Campbell City staff brought forward a set of recommendations to the City Council aimed at boosting both market rate housing and affordable housing production. Many of these ideas came out of the Affordable Housing Developers Roundtable that SV@Home co-hosted earlier this year with Campbell, our West Valley city partners, and regional affordable housing developers. That collaboration gave staff valuable insights into the barriers developers face and potential solutions to move more homes forward.
This work could not come at a more urgent time. In Campbell, half of all residents are renters, and nearly 4,800 of them are paying more than they can afford for housing. Over 1,300 households are severely rent-burdened, spending more than half of their income just to keep a roof overhead. These are real families and neighbors struggling to stay in their community, which is why we are so encouraged to see Campbell taking these issues head-on.
Staff’s recommendations represent a proactive and thorough approach. They include extending entitlement timelines and easing impact fees for 100% affordable housing projects, targeted upzonings along major corridors and near transit, and expanded support for “missing middle” housing and ADUs. These proposals build on the City’s recent efforts to make ADUs easier to build and its broader production-focused policies, initiatives that earned Campbell its Prohousing Designation from California;s department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) earlier this year.
We thank the City of Campbell for its leadership and commitment to advancing solutions. SV@Home is proud to be a partner in this work, and we look forward to collaborating with the City and community to ensure these proposals are taken seriously and result in tangible, meaningful housing opportunities for Campbell residents.
We encourage Campbell residents to stay engaged as these proposals move forward, especially since continued community support will be critical when they return to City Council as potential policies.