What: City Council study session on affordable housing impact fee
When: Tuesday, March 6, 5:15pm-6:30pm
Where:
Our ask to MVCSP members: Please attend and speak in favor of the impact fee.
Why: B/C affordability is key to sustainability. This impact fee is a tool to create affordable housing. Without support from the public, Council will likely decide not to use this tool.

Affordable housing is a key part of any sustainable community? Why? Because when there isn't a big enough supply of housing at all different price points, including less expensive homes, then workers are forced to drive long distances to get to their jobs. This worsens air pollution and climate change. It also has negative social and economic impacts for our City. In short, it's bad for all of the things that MVCSP stands for.

This is why we are urging people to attend the City Council study session on Tuesday, 3/6. You'll be commenting on the issue of an "Affordable Housing Impact Fee". In case you haven't been following the saga, affordable housing creation in California is in BAAAD shape. Many of the tools we could once count on (redevelopment agencies, inclusionary rental housing policies, etc.) have been eliminated. This has left cities grasping at straws, and looking for any solutions to get affordable housing in CA built. Here in Mountain View, we have such a solution! It's in the findings of the City's Nexus Study.

Last year, the City studied the economic impacts of building market rate housing. The findings of the study showed that building new market rate homes generated a need for below market rate (aka affordable) homes! To grossly oversimplify the reasons for these findings, we'll explain by saying that every new home brings new residents to town. These new residents will use the local dry cleaner, buy coffee at a nearby coffee shop, etc. The jobs (or little pieces of jobs) will be generated by these new customers and the people that hold these jobs need a place to live. Hopefully close by.

The nexus study justifies charging developers an "impact fee". This impact fee would then be used to build affordable housing in the City. (Again, this is simplified.) MVCSP supports the idea of adopting an impact fee of 3% of the total cost of each market rate unit.

We hope you do too. MVCSP members are urged to give up a little bit of their evening this Tuesday to go speak in favor of the adoption of the an impact fee for affordable housing. It's part and parcel of being sustainability-minded Mountain View residents. The meeting will be held from 5:15 to 6:30 in the Plaza Conference Room.

p.s. Just like the Valentine's Day Council meeting we asked you to go to, this will be over early and quickly so you can get home to your dinners!