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Press ReleaseApril 26, 2006 Contact: Contra Costa County Planning Commission delays affordable housing plan Despite broad support for proposed policy, Commissioners delay action Martinez – Despite years of talking about affordable homes and months of hard work, the Contra Costa Planning Commission delayed adoption of an inclusionary housing ordinance that enjoys broad community support.
Over 150 cities in California have inclusionary housing ordinances, which require a share of new housing developments to be affordable to people earning moderate incomes or less.
A diverse coalition, including faith-based groups, environmental organizations, housing advocates, community-based organizations, and the League of Women Voters, spoke in support of the legislation.
"People in our community have needed homes they can afford for a long time," explained Reverend Phil Lawson of East Bay Housing Organizations. "Delaying this decision is denying families the opportunity to have affordable homes," continued Lawson.
The County has been actively working on an inclusionary housing ordinance for the last two years and discussing the concept since 2000. "Every day that passes we are losing the opportunity to create balanced communities with more housing options," said Kate O'Hara of Greenbelt Alliance. "The lack of affordable homes pushes people and development outward, away from jobs and into the greenbelt," concluded O'Hara.
From 1988 to 1998, Contra Costa County created over twice the numbers of market rate units for people earning $98,000 a year or more. In that same time period the County produced only twenty percent of the housing needed for families earning $25,000.
The County's inclusionary housing ordinance will apply to the unincorporated communities including Bay Point, North Richmond, Alamo, and Crocket. Development in the unincorporated areas of the county accounts for about half of the total development of all the cities and the County combined. The policy, as proposed, requires twenty percent of all new residential developments to be affordable to incomes between $40,600 per year and $97,440 per year. The ordinance will create about 250 affordable homes every year.
Many cities in Contra Costa County already have inclusionary ordinances,
including Brentwood, Pittsburg, Concord, Walnut Creek, Danville, Pleasant
Hill, San Ramon and Richmond. About Non-Profit Housing Association About East Bay Housing Organizations ### For 50 years, Greenbelt Alliance has been the San Francisco Bay Area's advocate for open spaces and vibrant places, with offices in San Francisco, San Jose, Walnut Creek, Fairfield, and Santa Rosa. www.greenbelt.org
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