Community Planning Collaborative and Strategic Economics will host a public virtual meeting to share information about the purpose and goals of the Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdiction Affordable Housing Study. The participating jurisdictions are:
- Gilroy
- Los Altos Hills
- Los Gatos
- Mountain View
- City of Santa Clara
- Sunnyvale
The meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 24, 2025, from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. Please use this Zoom link to join us.
Background
Six jurisdictions in Santa Clara County are collaborating on an initiative to explore updates to and/or enact new affordable housing policies to be applied to new development projects. These policy studies include some combination of residential affordable housing impact fees, inclusionary requirements and in-lieu fees, and commercial linkage fees. If implemented, the policies or policy updates will be applied to proposals for new residential and/or commercial development. The requirements will not affect existing developments.
Different jurisdictions have opted into different components of the study. Some of these jurisdictions currently have affordable housing ordinances in place, and some are exploring them for the first time. Strategic Economics is performing a set of economic analyses to support this effort and will be recommending updates to policies for the various communities later this year. Community Planning Collaborative is facilitating coordination between the cities and Strategic Economics.
Meeting Agenda
At the meeting, Strategic Economics will introduce these studies and explain how they will be used to inform policies that help produce more affordable housing in the six jurisdictions.
The policies under study include:
- A residential affordable housing impact fee that may be charged on new residential development to help fund affordable housing
- An inclusionary affordable housing policy that may require certain residential developments to offer a percentage of the new housing units at a price that is affordable to households at specific income levels. These developments also generally have the option to pay a fee in lieu of the requirement.
- A commercial linkage fee that may be charged on new commercial development (office, life science and R&D, hotel, industrial, and/or retail) to help fund affordable housing.
The meeting will provide an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions. Meeting participants will also be invited to provide feedback on these policies via a follow-up online survey.
Please send any questions or comments to stakeholderfeedback@strategiceconomics.com