Local governments in Santa Barbara County are beginning to analyze the region’s housing needs over the upcoming decade.
State law requires regional government boards, such as the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG), to manage the Regional Housing Needs Allocation process. Through this, the state sets housing goals for each region, after which regional councils like SBCAG determine how this number is split between local jurisdictions.
“In essence, it’s a fair share housing law to ensure that any burden associated with providing housing is shared by all local governments,” SBCAG Planning Director Michael Becker said during the board’s July 16 meeting.
The county’s last plan was approved in August 2013, and the next one needs to be adopted by August 2021, Becker said. In the last plan, the county was allocated to build 11,030 housing units, only 41 percent of which were built.
According to an SBCAG report released in June, the majority of jurisdictions throughout the state fall short of meeting their housing needs, especially low-income units. The report states that among all cities in the county, Guadalupe came the closest to meeting its goal by building 73 percent of the houses it was allocated. Lompoc fell the shortest of its goal and only built 11 percent of the units it was allocated.
Lompoc city officials acknowledge that the housing shortage is a significant concern for the city, which is in the process of attempting to annex land on its west side for news homes. Additionally, the city recently sued the Mission Hills Community Services District over a 20-year-old agreement that Lompoc officials say is holding up the build-out of more than 400 housing units in the city.
In addition to increasing the supply and mix of housing types in jurisdictions, Becker said the Regional Housing Needs Allocation process is intended to improve the relationship between jobs and housing in a region. According to the SBCAG report, 60 percent of the county’s jobs are located along the South Coast, while only 23 percent are in the Santa Maria area, 10 percent are in the Lompoc area, and 7 percent are in the Santa Ynez Valley.
The report states that Lompoc and Santa Maria have job deficits of 4,700 and 12,600, respectively.
“As a result of these job deficits commuting to the South Coast from both these areas is each over 3,000 workers daily to employment opportunities on the South Coast,” the report states.
During the July SBCAG meeting, Becker said the state hasn’t provided the region with its housing allocation amount for the next eight-year cycle, but he anticipates it’ll be higher than the previous amount. While jurisdictions are responsible for being able to accommodate however many homes they’re allocated, the decision to build housing is up to developers.
“Ulitmately it’s up to the market to deliver on that number,” Becker said. “I don’t think our region has ever produced what the [Regional Housing Needs Allocation] number has been.”
This article appears in Jul 23-30, 2020.