Executive Summary
Summarize the fair housing issues, significant contributing factors, and goals. Also include an overview of the process and analysis used to reach the goals The Napa/Sonoma Regional Fair Housing Plan was a planning process for local governments and public housing agencies (PHAs) to help jurisdictions meet their fair housing requirements in a meaningful way and take actions necessary to overcome historic and current patterns of segregation, promote fair housing choice, and foster more inclusive communities. The regional approach undertaken here, a first for the two counties, helps to ensure that the goals are applied consistently and collaboratively across the region and fosters a more inclusive community for everyone that calls the area home.
The Regional Fair Housing Plan (Plan) follows the template for the Assessment of Fair Housing that was created by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule. While following the HUD template was not required at the time this report was written, the Project Team chose to follow this approach to reflect their commitment to collaborative, regional approaches to identifying and addressing the regional impediments to fair housing.
The Plan includes objectives, goals, and concrete actions to be taken at the jurisdictional and regional level to increase access to neighborhoods of opportunity and reverse patterns of segregation. Once approved by each participating local government, the final regional plan will be provided to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
This Plan represents a commitment by all participating jurisdictions to a set of strategies to affirmatively further fair housing across the entirety of the region. It is designed to both increase access to high opportunity areas by members of protected classes as well as increase investment and resources in communities that have suffered disinvestment.
The City of Santa Rosa’s 2015-2019 American Community Survey data shows that approximately 54.6% of residents are White, non-Hispanic, 32.8% are Hispanic or Latino, 5.9% of residents are Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders, 2.4% of residents were non-Hispanic Black, and 0.7% of residents were non-Hispanic Native Americans, and 3.5% are multiple races. Over time, Santa Rosa has become more diverse, regarding the white and Hispanic populations. Additionally, the percentage of seniors has grown to 19% of the population and seniors are likely to become a larger part of the City’s population in coming years due to the aging of the baby boomer generation.
In consultation with stakeholders, research, and data analysis, the City of Santa Rosa (City) has identified the following contributing factors as to segregation, lack of access to opportunities, and lack of fair housing:
Access to proficient schools by students with disabilities; Access to financial services;
Access to publicly supporting housing by persons with disabilities; Access to transportation systems for persons with disabilities; Admissions and occupancy policies and procedures, including preferences in publicly supported housing; Availability of affordable, accessible housing units in a range of sizes; Availability, type, frequency, and reliability of public transportation; Community opposition to housing projects for lower income households; Deteriorated and abandoned properties;
Displacement of and or lack of housing support for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual assault; Displacement of residents due to economic factors;
Impediments to housing mobility;
Inaccessible government facilities or services;
Inaccessible public or private infrastructure;
Lack of access to opportunity due to high housing costs; Lack of affordable in-home or community-based supportive services; Lack of affordable, integrated housing for people who need supportive services; Lack of assistance for housing accessibility modifications; Lack of assistance for transitioning from institutional settings to integrated housing; Lack of community revitalization strategies;
Lack of local private fair housing outreach and enforcement; Lack of local public fair housing outreach and enforcement; Lack of meaningful language access for individuals with limited English proficiency; Lack of private investment in specific neighborhoods;
Lack of public investment in specific neighborhoods;
Lack of regional and local cooperation;
Lack of resources for fair housing agencies and organizations; Lack of state or local fair housing laws;
Land use and zoning laws;
Lending discrimination;
Location and type of affordable housing;
Location of accessible housing;
Location of employers;
Location of environmental hazards;
Location of proficient schools and school assignment policies; Loss of affordable housing;
Occupancy codes and restrictions;
Private discrimination;
Quality of affordable housing information programs;
Regulatory barriers to providing housing and supportive services for persons with disabilities; Siting, selection policies, practices, and decisions for publicly supported housing, including discretionary aspects of Qualified Allocation Plans and other programs; Source of income discrimination;
State or local laws, policies or practices that discourage individuals with disabilities from living in apartments, family homes, supportive housing, and other integrated settings; and Unresolved violations of fair housing or civil rights laws in apartments, family homes, supportive housing, and other integrated settings.
To address the contributing factors described above, this assessment proposes the following goals and strategies, which are detailed in Section V of this report.
Increase the supply of affordable housing in higher opportunity areas and areas with ongoing or threatened displacement.
Promote affordable housing bond issues at multiple levels of government.
Adopt or modernize inclusionary housing and commercial linkage fee ordinances.
Provide low-interest loans to single-family homeowners and grants to homeowners with household incomes of up to 100% AMI to develop accessory dwelling units (ADUs) with affordability restrictions on their property.
Prioritize publicly owned land and reduce permit fees for affordable housing.
Meet the housing and services needs of migrant and year-round farmworkers.
Reform zoning and land use laws to permit safe farmworker housing in areas where agricultural uses predominate.
Target through affirmative marketing farmworkers for affordable housing opportunities in towns and cities and provide local support for developments seeking funding for farmworker housing.
Reduce zoning and land use barriers to the development of housing that is affordable to low- income households, including low-income people of color and low-income persons with disabilities.
Create affordable housing overlay districts to enable multifamily housing with a significant affordable component in higher opportunity areas.
For qualifying jurisdictions, as per California Senate Bill 10, adopt an ordinance to allow up to ten dwelling units on any parcel that is within a transit-rich area or urban infill site.
Update the zoning codes across the region to reflect recent changes to California laws that are designed to increase affordable housing.
Increase access to opportunity for Housing Choice Voucher households.
Advocate for housing authorities to adopt small area fair market rents or exception payment standards for regional sub-markets.
Engage municipal attorneys in enforcing prohibitions against source of income discrimination.
Prevent displacement by preserving affordable housing and protecting tenants’ rights.
Expand funding for tenants in landlord-tenant proceedings.
Track the viability of rent stabilization for mobilehome parks.
Track and collaborate to preserve affordable housing developments with expiring subsidy contracts countywide.
Evaluate a right of first refusal for manufactured home park residents to purchase their communities when owners seek to sell or redevelop their properties.
Reduce homelessness by expanding the supply of Permanent Supportive Housing Prioritize HOME and CDBG Funds for developments that include Permanent Supportive Housing units.
Advocate for Public Housing Authorities to Adopt Preferences in their Housing Choice Voucher Program for Individuals with Disabilities Who Are Institutionalized or at Risk of Institutionalization.
Increase Support for Fair Housing Enforcement, Education, and Outreach.
Revise the definition of “family” in the Santa Rosa City Code to avoid violating the Fair Housing Act.
Prioritize funding for the creation of affordable, multi-family housing for low-income households.
The AFH lays out a series of achievable action steps that will help the City of Santa Rosa and County of Sonoma to not only meet its obligation to affirmatively fair housing but to be a model for equity and inclusion. 11 1
1 Exhibit B
Draft Napa/Sonoma Regional Fair Housing PlanSanta RosaExhibit B Draft Napa/Sonoma Regional Fair Housing PlanSanta Rosa
Exhibit B
Draft Napa/Sonoma Regional Fair Housing Plan
Santa Rosa
Exhibit B
Draft Napa/Sonoma Regional Fair Housing Plan
Santa Rosa