Lots coming up in September! Read on for:
- Getting the word out about Prop 5, super important for local voters and affordable housing.
- It's GO time to help our endorsed candidates!
- Another great year for housing bills in the legislature
- Housing Events in September - community meetings, ADUs, and Ezra Klein
Let's Get the Word out to Vote YES on Prop 5!
The Yes on Prop 5 campaign is kicking off the fight to give local voters the power to address their affordable housing and infrastructure needs. There’s work to do and we all should help!
Plan to attend the Yes on Prop 5 Campaign Kickoff on Friday, September 6th at 10:00 AM. You will join other coalition partners from across the state to hear updates on the campaign, share details on how you and your organization can help, and answer your questions!
Yes on Prop 5 Campaign Kickoff
Friday, September 6th at 10:00 AM
If you haven’t already, here are three actions you can take to support Prop 5:
- RSVP for the upcoming webinar on Friday, September 6th at 10:00 AM.
- Let others in your network know and encourage them to Endorse Prop 5!
- Visit the website at YesOnProp5.org and download and share the Yes on Prop 5 Fact Sheet!
Help Our Endorsed Candidates!
Melinda Orbach for Capitola City Council
Get Involved in Melinda's campaign - she has community outreach going most weekends in September!
John Lewis for Scotts Valley City Council
Get Involved in John's campaign!
Kristen Brown for District 2 Supervisor
Get Involved in Kristen's campaign
Monica Martinez for District 5 Supervisor
Get Involved in Monica's campaign
Legislative Update: Key Housing Bills Head to the Governor's Desk
As the 2024 legislative session concludes, several important housing bills have successfully passed through the California Legislature and are now awaiting Governor Gavin Newsom's signature. These bills aim to tackle housing affordability and streamline development processes across the state.
- AB 1893 (Rivas): Requires larger housing projects to include affordable units to promote more balanced growth.
- SB 937 (Wiener): Allows home builders to delay payment of impact fees until construction is complete, easing financial burdens and encouraging housing production.
- SB 1210 (Skinner): Lowers costs for new housing developments by capping and reducing utility connection fees.
- SB 1211 (Skinner): Provides more flexibility for building Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) on multifamily properties, boosting the supply of affordable rental units.
- SB 1123 (Caballero): Streamlines the approval process for building up to 10 homes on vacant lots in single-family neighborhoods.
- SB 450 (Atkins): Enhances SB 9 by offering clearer guidelines and support for homeowners interested in creating duplexes or splitting their lots.
- AB 2243 (Friedman): Accelerates the approval process for affordable housing developments near transit and job centers to ensure faster construction.
These bills mark significant progress in reducing housing development barriers, increasing transparency, and refining laws to better address California’s housing crisis. Stay tuned as they move closer to becoming law!
Housing Events in September
THIS WEEK: Thurs, Sept 5 @ 7pm: City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission Meeting. The commission will hear a proposal to modify the city's ADU ordinance to both retroactively eliminate the owner-occupancy requirements for ADUs built before 2020, so that they can be rented to non-family members, and to allow ADUs to be sold separately, like a condo. These are both good things that will help add to our housing stock! Full Agenda here.
Mon, Sept 16 @ 6pm: Virtual Public Community Meeting for 1024 Soquel Ave. This community meeting is for a six-story project with 76 homes, a rooftop deck and commercial space on the ground floor. This in a MU-H (Mixed Use High Density) zone and located on a transit corridor near services and amenities.
Webinar Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81098434200
Wed, Sept 25 @ 4pm: YIMBY Action and Ezra Klein: Abundant Housing in Our Backyards. Join YIMBY Action for an evening with The New York Times’s Ezra Klein to discuss how pro-housing laws can make communities across the country more affordable, abundant, and liveable – if they actually get implemented. Ezra will be in conversation with Sonja Trauss, co-founder of the YIMBY (Yes in My Backyard) movement and the Executive Director of YIMBY Law. Virtual tickets are now available to view the livestream of this event!
Santa Cruz YIMBY Book Club Update
We are now reading "Homelessness is a Housing Problem" by Gregg Colburn and Clayton Page Aldern. Want to join the great conversation? Fill out this Interest Form to get added to the communications.
