The Santa Cruz City Planning Commission will vote tomorrow Aug. 20, 2020, to change the way the affordable housing requirement is handled on new construction in Santa Cruz.
This is IMPORTANT.
If the SC Planning Commission votes to pass the purposed ordinance stating if a Section 8 voucher holder cannot be located (subject to the landlord/property managers approval) the unit can then be rented to a person with a salary which is 20% above the median salary range which
would not be considered affordable by many residents of Santa Cruz. This is a bad idea.
Currently in Santa Cruz, developers are required to put in 20% of their units as affordable this new ordinance would make a loophole into that housing requirement. It would not be difficult for a property manager to state they could not locate a Section 8 renter that meets the qualifications the manager is looking for. 

**This is important. Write a planning commissioner today. You can attend the 7 pm Planning Committee Meeting online.

We do not need more housing for out of the area renters who can pay high rents. Currently, there are high rent apartments in Santa Cruz that remain vacant. You will see them regularly on craigslist.
Write at least one of the commissioners on the SC Planning Committee and tell them you think it is a bad idea to change this ordinance and to vote "No" on the change. Here is the email of one of the commissioners.  Miriam Greenberg miriam@ucsc.edu  Here is the Agenda with the proposed ordinance change. Copy and paste the link here and click on the link in the title on the agenda which reads "Citywide ordinance" 

https://ecm.cityofsantacruz.com/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=1527&doctype=1
Taking action is imperative to help Santa Cruz have the housing it needs for its current residents. Thank you to all who take action and tell others to take action.