Public comment window closes today at 5:00 for Draft Housing Element

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The 30-day public comment period will end Wednesday, March 1, at 5:00 p.m. for those interested in expressing support or opposition to Santa Barbara County's State-Mandated Draft Housing Element.

For those who are unfamiliar, the Housing Element falls under the County's General Plan and is compiled every eight years. It is a way of balancing jobs and the housing supply.

This year, the total number of units assigned to the unincorporated areas of the County stands at 5,664. Of those, 1,522 are required in the North County and 4,142 in the South County; eight times higher than the last cycle.

"It is better for our community and the fabric of our community to have our coaches and our teachers and our nurses and our firefighters and our postal workers and the people that are serving us at restaurants, to be able to live here," said Lisa Plowman, Santa Barbara County's Director of Planning and Development. "It creates a richness and a diversity that's really important."

News Channel spoke to Plowman back in January when the public comment period first opened.

She added that in the County's case, sufficient housing has not been built in 30 years. And, that Santa Barbara County is not the only region in California struggling to meet housing needs.

"In the last five to six years, the state has grown more and more impatient with jurisdictions not building housing to meet the need in our state. And so, they have been passing law after law after law to make it easier to build housing in communities."

Plowman pointed out that for the first time ever, the state is requiring 73% of the units be developed in the South County, between western Goleta and Carpinteria. In past decades, the North County was heavily targeted to meet additional housing needs.

Several areas targeted for rezoning have sparked major pushback, including the Glen Annie Golf Course, agricultural parcels and, the Magnolia Shopping Center.

The range in local salaries and housing prices are two major challenges compounding the County's housing crisis.

Plowman shared two critical, pie-in-the-sky numbers for people wanting to by a home in Santa Barbara County: the median home price (across the north and south) averages to roughly $670,000.

In order to afford a home, with 10% down and not to be "cost burdened," a person would have to make $328,000 a year.

Plowman said at the end of the 30 days, after March 1, the County will look at the public comments and identify where to make changes in the Housing Element, then submit it to the State. It is anticipated that the State will take 90 days to review that document. 

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