SONOMA VALLEY HOUSING AFFORDABILITY ROADMAP
An action plan to address our community’s housing affordability crisis over the next three years, funded by Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund.
The Roadmap Advances the 3 P’s of Housing
Preserve Affordable Infill Homes
Keep lower-income people in their affordable homes by partnering with philanthropy and other funds to assure that subsidized, below-market-rate homes in Sonoma Valley stay that way.
Produce Affordable infill homes
Add your pricing strategy. Be sure to include important details like value, length of service, and why it’s unique.
Protect precariously housed residents
Programs aimed at keeping people at risk of homelessness housed and preventing homelessness.
and…
Focuses on homes for local workers and residents with limited means, excluding homeless services
Builds on local governments’ Housing Elements and Homes for a Sustainable Sonoma Valley.
Funded by Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund, and based on in-depth research and interviews
STRATEGIES OVERVIEW
Click on strategy to skip to section.
Create A Sonoma Valley Community Development Entity
A mission-driven nonprofit to coordinate affordable housing development and preservation.
Assure Affordability Commitments Are Kept
Local governments jointly create a rental registry that delivers transparency, accountability, and tracking.
Preserve Existing Affordable Housing
Buy out deed-restricted units before their affordability expires, to prevent loss to the open market.
Improve Zoning & Land Use Rules
Modernize local policies to incentivize and streamline affordable infill housing projects.
Public or Nonprofit Ownership of Land
Land banks, housing land trusts, and cooperatives enable permanently lower costs of owning or renting homes.
Workforce Housing
A focus on farmworker housing and first-time homebuyers.
Keep Renters Housed
Expand accessible services: landlord-tenant negotiation, housing navigation, rental assistance, and eviction prevention.
Build Local Funding to House Our Community
Local funding sources help bring in state and federal dollars, and are more flexible.
STRATEGY 1
Create A Sonoma Valley Community Development Entity
Summary
Sonoma Valley needs a mission-driven nonprofit to plan, coordinate, and facilitate the development and preservation of affordable and workforce homes. A community development corporation (CDC) is a proven model, filling gaps left by existing agencies. A Sonoma Valley CDC would track housing needs, identify development opportunities, coordinate stakeholders, and overcome barriers to housing production and preservation.
STRATEGY 2A
Adopt a strong rental registry
Summary
Sonoma City and County need a rental registry to track rental costs, occupancy, evictions, and displacement patterns across mid- and low-cost rental housing in Sonoma Valley. Without this data, policymakers cannot identify and address issues in the housing market.
STRATEGY 2B
Ensure that people living in income-restricted homes are those who need them
Summary
Identify subsidized homes (including “inclusionary units”) and ensure that those units are indeed rented to qualifying low-income residents. Absent this follow-through, deserving people are being excluded from affordable homes.
STRATEGY 3A
Buy out subsidized homes before their subsidies expire, so they can be affordable into perpetuity.
Summary
Sonoma Valley already has many protected, below-market homes, but most of them have time-limited protections that will expire, leaving those units and their occupants vulnerable to the extreme prices of the open market. A coalition of property owners, government agencies, and nonprofits can rescue those subsidized units and extend their subsidies perpetually.
STRATEGY 3B
Identify unsubsidized “naturally affordable” housing in Sonoma Valley and ensure its permanent affordability.
Summary
Sonoma Valley still has lower-cost homes, studios, mobilehomes, and apartments. We need to locate those homes and rally partners and agreements to keep them affordable even as overall housing costs rise.
STRATEGY 3C
Preserve mobilehome parks
Summary
About 10% of Sonoma Valley’s residents live in mobilehome parks, mostly seniors and lower-income families, so it is paramount that these communities remain affordable. We need to strengthen local mobilehome park closure and conversion ordinances and prevent conversion of mobilehome parks. Ample examples across California show the way.