Act is Back — and our voice about attainable housing is being heard!
Last Thursday over 425 ACT members stood up and voiced their support to the County Council Members present to pass Bill #78-23 – the Essential Worker Housing Legislation — and for our County to take a bold step in the right direction in making affordable housing attainable. We have a vital opportunity in front of us right now to make a significant difference in the county’s housing crisis. More importantly, passing this bill begins the steps needed to not only increase access to affordable rental and ownership homes — but also to tackle the historic issues of discrimination and racial equity that currently exists within the County’s housing, land use and zoning policies.
We also want this bill strengthened so it can make a greater impact, by,
· Increasing the MPDU requirements to 15% for home ownership and 18-20% for rentals.
· Changing the buyout fee to 3% and applying it to all units built.
· Ensuring that the square footage of the MPDU units are not reduced more than 12%, do not have substandard appliances, plumbing and electrical fixtures and have required energy efficiencies.
Where there are over 31,000 awaiting affordable homes – and black ownership of homes is less than 20%, and 9% for Hispanics, as compared to over 60% of white ownership – ACT is committed to stay in this work for the long term. The bottom line — MPDU’s can be – and are—a proven and critical tool in the box to begin to address the County’s housing crisis.
ACT’s Housing team is meeting Thursday, November 9th at 7 p.m. via zoom to discuss the results of the Council’s Nov. 6th meeting on Bill 78-23 and the new amendments proposed to it. You are welcome to join us. We need your help and action to get this work accomplished by January 8th. Watch for a message early next week with information on (a) letters to send to your council member (b) meetings you can have with your friends and other groups to get them engaged in supporting passage of this legislation, and (c) other action steps identified by the Team.
Meeting Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89495554313
Additional Information, contact Linda Hanifin Bonner or Bonnie Henderson.
