September 14th, 2026 Napa City Council Council Chamber, City Hall 955 School St, Napa RE: Item 7.A: Deed Restricted Affordable Housing Impact and Building Fee Reduction
and
Waiver
Program
Generation Housing writes in strong support of the policy proposal reducing building permit
fees
and
development
impact
fees
for
affordable
and
workforce
housing
units,
including
small
accessory
dwelling
units.
We
appreciate
the
work
City
staff
put
into
developing
this
proposal.
Impact and permit fees fund important infrastructure, but for affordable housing projects,
they
can
total
over
$1
million
on
a
single
project,
making
it
harder
to
secure
the
financing
needed
to
build—a
challenge
that
has
stalled
many
projects
across
the
North
Bay.
Reducing
these
fees
removes
a
significant
barrier
to
getting
affordable
housing
built.
This approach works. Sacramento adopted a similar fee waiver in 2019 and tripled its affordable
housing
production
at
a
cost
of
roughly
$3,000–$4,000
per
unit.
Santa
Rosa
and
Sonoma
County
have
since
launched
their
own
fee
reduction
pilots
and
those
efforts
are
beginning
to
see
results.
The
need
is
clear:
Napa
has
reached
only
2%
of
its
RHNA
goal
for
very
low-income
units
and
21%
for
low-income
units.
We additionally ask the Council to consider two things going forward: 1. Review the policy's impact after an initial period to inform future expansion. 2. If the policy proves successful, consider expanding the unit caps in the impact fee
resolution
to
extend
its
impact
further.
The
current
cap
of
250
very
low-income
and
250
low-income
units
is
a
reasonable
starting
point,
and
we'd
welcome
future
increases
tied
to
progress
across
the
City's
RHNA
requirements.
We thank you for your service and continued commitment to ensuring all members
of
our
community
enjoy
the
benefits
of
a
safe,
stable,
and
affordable
home.
In partnership, Jen Klose Executive Director, Generation Housing
From: Richard Tippitt
To: Clerk
Subject: Supporting the waiver process for affordable housing Date: Tuesday, September 15, 2026 03:16:16 PM
[EXTERNAL]
Hi,
I know it's last minute, but I wanted to send an email in support of the proposed fee waiver process for affordable housing pilot program. It is agenda item 7a for today's meeting. I hope city council will consider adopting this program and tracking its feasibility through real outcome based goals.
Thank you!
Rich
~~~
Richard Tippitt
901-832-3156