Santa Barbara County Pushes for Locals-First Housing 

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On Tuesday, the County’s Board of Supervisors took steps to implement a housing marketing program aimed at people who work and live on the South Coast and Santa Ynez region. They also gave preliminary approval for updating the county’s inclusionary housing code, allowing housing projects to split their market-rate and affordable housing units onto two nearby properties. 

As initially presented to the board, the county’s marketing program would have required developers of market-rate projects on the South Coast to create a plan for marketing to locals and submit it to the county. Developers with projects that include at least five new units would have to market to local people for 21 days before marketing to general audiences. The county would also require that developers advertise in a local newspaper and on social media platforms for at least six weeks, as well as conduct outreach to local employers, housing organizations, and jurisdictions. 

County Planning Director Lisa Plowman called the marketing program uncharted territory.

“We’re sort of on the cutting edge here of trying to do something,” Plowman said, adding that county staff did not find examples of marketing programs for market-rate housing in other parts of the state or in other states. She said staff found examples of marketing programs for affordable units that had operated elsewhere without challenge.

Second District Supervisor Laura Capps said she thought the marketing period needed to be at least 12 weeks long — and that a standard marketing plan is six to 18 months. 

“This is about giving people a chance to live where they work, and this is the whole reason why we are fighting so hard, and we all share this value,” she said. 

Plowman said she had spent time discussing the program with local developers, who were concerned a longer timeline would prompt pushback from their  financing companies. She said initially, she had approached developers with a two-month timeline, and had compromised to six weeks. Still, Plowman said, the matter was “up for discussion” with the board. 

The supervisors unanimously approved the first reading of the marketing plan but with significant changes. Those changes included extending the 21-day period of initial marketing to a 12-week period, and extending the six weeks of newspaper and social media advertisements to 12-week periods. They also voted to allow developers to give price ranges to account for changes in the market. Finally, they voted to include the Santa Ynez Valley in the program. 

The marketing program includes a list of who developers should prioritize when it comes to leasing or selling affordable units, with commuters who work in the region but live elsewhere topping the list. Second in priority are people who live and work in the area, or work in the area and have experienced a no-fault eviction from the area in the past two months.

[Click to zoom] A map of the county’s housing market areas. The county’s marketing program would apply to the South Coast HMA and the Santa Ynez HMA. | Credit: Courtesy of Santa Barbara County

Updating the county’s inclusionary housing law was a separate item on the supervisors’ agenda, although 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann said they came “hand-in-glove.” Joe Dzvonik, assistant director of Housing and Community Development, said that the update is the first in more than a decade and that in that time, the need for affordable housing in the area has grown. 

The changes allow developers with projects that include affordable housing to place affordable units on a separate site, within one mile of the market-rate units. Developers would have to use comparable materials and build in comparable styles on both sites, so that one development did not significantly differ in quality from the other. The affordable units would need to be constructed before or concurrent to the market-rate units. 

Housing program specialist Andrew Kish said the change would ensure the county is aligned with state laws and allow developers to apply for tax credit financing for the 100 percent affordable housing sites. Density bonuses, which are offered based on the total portion of affordable units, would apply to both sites. 

A separate change would update the list that outlines who should receive priority for newly built affordable units on the South Coast, such that a person renting the affordable units should either live or work in the area.  

Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County, an affordable housing builder and provider, requested that county staff work with them on several points, which the county agreed to do over the course of the next six months. Those points include amending the chapter such that it explicitly supports county partnerships with nonprofit affordable housing developers, establishes an annual stakeholder review meeting, and amends the county code to provide more flexibility for nonprofits to finance affordable housing. 

“The reality is that building housing here is an incredibly hard thing to do,” said Jessica Wishan de L’Arbre, the organization’s chief executive officer. “We need smarter partnerships. Developers can build at scale and habitat can ensure those homes stay affordable for local families.” 

County supervisors unanimously approved the initial reading of the proposed updates. 

Both the market-rate housing program and the inclusionary housing updates will be on the administrative agenda on May 5, when county supervisors will vote on whether to formally adopt them.