The City of Santa Barbara will be applying to receive official designation as a “prohousing” city, opening up additional funding sources and giving the city an inside track toward grants for housing-related projects in the future.
The Santa Barbara City Council unanimously approved the application Tuesday, and now the city will join the county in seeking the prohousing designation from California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Receiving the prohousing designation would also allow the city’s partner agencies — the Housing Authority, Metropolitan Transit District (MTD), and Santa Barbara Association of Governments — to gain access to more competitive funding opportunities.
A draft of the city’s application is available for public comment for the next 30 days, after which the city will send the application to HCD for approval. The application consists of a self-scoring sheet, covering the city’s prohousing policies, ordinances, programs, and projects, and granting enhancement points for meeting statewide housing priorities such as mitigating climate change, promoting fair housing, and preventing displacement of tenants.
State officials require a minimum score of 30 points to receive a prohousing designation. The city’s early draft details more than 30 prohousing measures taken by the city, combining for a total of 68 points.
City staff met with HCD several times since April to ensure the application is accurate, and the city expects the updated application to be “approved by HCD in a timely manner,” according to the staff report written by Interim Principal Planner Rosie Dyste.
There wasn’t much discussion regarding the application during Tuesday’s council meeting, and no members of the public commented on the item during the open hearing.
Once the city’s application is submitted, HCD will conduct a formal review. If approved, the City of Santa Barbara would join 40 other cities and counties in the state that have received a prohousing designation. To review the application, visit santabarbaraca.gov/Prohousing.
