Supervisors look to big tech for help

SANTA CRUZ >> The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors continue to focus on making decisions that could support temporary and permanent housing.

First, the board approved sending letters to Silicon Valley tech companies to ask for help in funding affordable housing. Second, it approved an ordinance around vacation rentals designed with the habitability of existing residents in mind. Third, it approved an ordinance around accessory dwelling units and other temporary use structures that could provide relief for those affected by recent disasters.

Bringing tech money over the hill

During Tuesday’s meeting, Supervisors Ryan Coonerty and Zach Friend authored an item to direct chair Bruce McPherson to send letters to Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple urging them to commit funding for affordable housing in Santa Cruz County.

Just after approximately 5,000 people were being ordered to evacuate in anticipation of debris flow risks from the coming storm, the supervisors highlighted that though many of the tech companies named are allowing coworkers to work from home, a portion of their workforce does reside in Santa Cruz County — a county with financial deficits around lowincome housing so deep that not even dipping into the pockets of federal, state and local agencies with resources can solve them, the supervisors say in their report. Though local policies around inclusion do exist, those requirements — such as the city of Santa Cruz’s requirement that 20% of units be affordable — present a challenge to market-rate developers.

“Since Santa Cruz is not formally considered part of the Bay Area, these funds have not been available for Santa Cruz housing developments, despite the fact that our high housing prices are significantly impacted by the demand from Silicon Valley workers,” Coonerty and Friend said. “Therefore, it is reasonable for major over-the-hill corporations to help respond to our county’s affordable housing crisis.”

Coastal compromise

After the Board of Supervisors voted to take its ordinance amending the vacation rental provisions to the California Coastal Commission on Jan. 12, the commission the next day found the ordinance suitable with one exception — the numerical permit cap in the Live Oak Designated Area. The commission asked the board to adjust the permit cap in that area to reflect the current number of vacation rental permits issued, amending the rental cap from 220 to 262.

The already proposed permit cap for hosted rentals is 18, bringing the total cap to 280. County principal planner Jocelyn Drake explained that the Seacliff/ Aptos/La Selva Designated Area and the Davenport/ Swanton Designated Area had their permit caps lowered last summer to below the county’s current limits, a system based on percentage rates.

McPherson said that the county received more than it gave in terms of negotiating with the commission, but some residents had concerns voiced both by phone call during the meeting and by email prior to the meeting. Friend provided background on the ordinance.

“The county went from a completely unregulated vacation rental market to a very, very controversial initial regulation of the market to an expansion of those regulations to where we are today,” Friend said. “As time went on, we continued to have… a conversion of homes into long-term rentals, both into vacation rentals and hosted rentals… It was very hard to revoke permits when there were problematic actors, which is disproportionately within Supervisor (Manu) Koenig’s district and my district.”

Coonerty called the ordinance a balance of competing interests and a balance of competing regulatory bodies; ultimately, he appreciated Friend’s perspective and seconded his motion.

With its approval, the board has enabled the vacation rental moratorium to expire after the ordinance goes into effect.

Leaving leeway

There was hardly any talk at all around the approval of a second county ordinance, an ordinance that the Coastal Commission agreed with except for modifications around the potential for a Coastal Development Permit requirement for cargo containers as well as temporary structures.

In the county staff report, they cite how the amendments associated with temporary permitting will allow businesses to find new models through temporary use permits and provide greater flexibility in terms of accessory dwelling units. On both fronts, it will ease the damage done by the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes, especially the temporary permitting, will help with housing by permitting spaces to replace lost local housing inventory including inventory for those who lost their homes in the CZU Lightning Complex fire.