(A) San Benito County goals and general plan.
(1) The Board of Supervisors finds that a decent home and suitable living environment for all is a priority of the highest order; this priority conforms to state and federal policies. A key goal of the county is to achieve a balanced community with housing available for persons of all economic levels, with priority given to those persons currently residing or working within the county.
(2) The Board of Supervisors finds there is an inadequate supply of housing in San Benito County that is affordable to very low, low, and moderate-income households. Federal and state housing finance and subsidy programs are not sufficient in themselves to meet that need.
(3) The Board of Supervisors finds that the cost of housing in new developments has increased and will continue to perpetuate this housing shortage. Further, land for residential development in the county is limited, and the amount of land which can be used for development of housing for very low, low, and moderate-income households is being depleted by development of high cost housing.
(4) The Board of Supervisors finds that the provision of housing affordable to very low, low, and moderate-income households is a county-wide responsibility, and the provision of such housing is a goal of the housing element of the county general plan. A county-wide inclusionary housing program will assist in alleviating the use of available residential land solely for the benefit of households that are able to afford market rate housing because such market rate development will be required to contribute to the provision of affordable housing for the entire San Benito community.
(B) Provide for workforce.
(1) The Board of Supervisors finds that the housing shortage for persons of very low, low, and moderate-income is detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare, and particularly finds that provision of very low, low, and moderate-income housing is fundamental to the maintenance of an adequate, growing workforce and market place for the local economy, as well as to provide housing for additional employees whose jobs serve the increasing population living in new market-rate housing.
(2) The Board of Supervisors acknowledges that if very low, low, and moderate income workers cannot find housing in the county, then employers will have difficulty in securing a labor force; and employees will be forced to commute. Employee commutes use limited gasoline resources and increase air pollution.
(C) Benefit to the county. The Board of Supervisors finds that a county-wide affordable housing program will benefit the county as a whole. Each property that contributes to inclusionary housing augments the housing mix, increases the supply of housing for all economic segments of the community, and thereby provides for a balanced community, which is deemed to be in the public interest.
(D) Resale restrictions/shared equity recapture.
(1) The Board of Supervisors finds that the effect of an affordable housing program is severely diminished if it benefits only the first occupants of very low, low, and moderate-income housing, and affordable for-sale and rental units are resold at market prices. Therefore, the Board of Supervisors recognizes that resale control, to ensure the continuing availability of affordable units to extremely low, very low, low, and moderate-income households, is a necessary consideration in order to prevent undermining of the credibility of the whole program, particularly because of the loss of the unit itself as an affordable for-sale and rental unit.
(2) If the project site is receiving state- administered funding and the State Housing & Community Development Agency does not allow resale restriction requirements, the project must develop a supplemental requirement to maintain the affordability of the unit and recapture any loan funding.
(E) Public purpose. The Board of Supervisors finds that public housing programs and housing subsidy programs can meet only a small portion of the need for very low, low, and moderate-income housing. The vast majority of housing units has been and will continue to be produced by the private housing industry. This industry has the knowledge and ability to produce housing affordable to extremely low, very low, low, and moderate-income households given supportive government policies, including incentives and public investment as appropriate. Therefore, the Board of Supervisors finds it is a public purpose of the county to seek assistance and cooperation from the private sector and non-profit agencies in making available an adequate supply of housing for persons of all economic segments of the community.
(F) Benefits of the application of this chapter. Application of this chapter may benefit the public through increased housing opportunities in all areas of the county, an increased supply of very low, low, and moderate-income housing, and an increased availability of funds for very low, low, and moderate-income housing projects.
(G) Collection of in-lieu fees. Fees can be paid in lieu of building units and will be based on an in-lieu fee study. The fees permitted by this chapter will be fair and effective because the fees will be imposed at a later date after an in-lieu fee study is performed. The Board of Supervisors finds that the fees required or permitted by this chapter will be appropriate and permissible.
(1) The fee amount will be based on the amount necessary to construct or subsidize an affordable unit or affordable units as called for by this chapter, so that when a developer applies to pay an in-lieu fee, funds will be available to reach the county’s overall affordability target, without excessive payments and without setting varying fee standards on a case-by-case basis;
(2) The fees collected will be used in a specific time frame for the provision of extremely low, very low, low, and/or moderate-income housing;
(3) Fees will be adjusted annually based on the Construction Cost Index. A new in-lieu study will be conducted every five years.
(H) Other objectives.
(1) The Board of Supervisors finds that an objective of this chapter is to meet the housing needs of all types of very low, low, and moderate-income groups in a manner that is economically feasible and consistent with their needs.
(2) The Board of Supervisors further finds that extremely low, very low, low, and moderate- income housing best achieves the broader community goal of integrating households of all economic levels into the community when such housing is provided throughout the community and that a specific objective of this chapter is to provide housing opportunities throughout the community, in all planning areas of the county for very low, low, and moderate-income households.
(3) The Board of Supervisors further finds that an objective of this chapter is to provide housing opportunities for very low, low, and moderate-income household members currently residing or working in the county, on a priority basis.
(Ord. 866, § 1(part), 2010; Ord. 951, § 1(part), 2016; Ord. 1,014, §§ 2 and 3, 2020; Ord. 1059, § 2 (part), 2023)