Too Much Housing in One Part of Goleta Will Affect Traffic and Views

I have been repeatedly asked about my disapproval of the council’s proposed actions to gain state approval for the Housing Element. My concern comes from two areas, the process used to decide on appropriate sites for rezoning to enable new housing and the outcome in terms of the impacts on the adjacent neighborhoods from the proposed sites.

First, some background. Cities are required to show the state Housing and Community Development (HCD) how they would accommodate the state mandated target number of new housing units. The state is looking to see that the cities commit to rezoning lands presently not now zoned residential, with a focus on lands that are vacant or underutilized. In particular, the state wanted to see low-income housing. However, at this stage in the process, the state relies on a proxy: Any new housing that is zoned at above 20 units per acre or greater is deemed to be “low income” for the purpose of getting a Housing Element approved.

Previously Goleta sent other versions of our proposed “housing element” to HCD. However, HCD has indicated that the city’s sites inventory has a 637-unit shortfall in lower-income category (plus an additional buffer of around 15 percent or 96 units, bringing the total to 733). Thus, for the past several weeks, the City Council’s discussions have been to identify non-residential sites that could be zoned at 20 units per acre or greater, which the state would then count toward fulfilling the requirement for low-income housing. The sites with zoning densities below that level are surely helpful for HCD approval but are not the fulcrum upon which HCD approval is determined. The city exceeded the HCD target of 733 units of lower-income housing by 89 units. Below is a table displaying the sites that were chosen.