A long-awaited and urgently needed adaptive reuse ordinance comes before the Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday. We strongly support this measure while emphasizing that keeping our inclusionary housing requirement is key to ensuring it delivers on Santa Barbara’s values of fairness and affordability.
Currently, for projects that convert existing downtown buildings into housing (i.e., adaptive reuse), the council is considering scrapping a requirement that the project either include a modest percentage of affordable units or pay an in-lieu fee. The in-lieu fees are direct contributions to the city’s affordable housing fund and help finance other projects.
To get rid of this requirement would be a serious mistake. Removing inclusionary housing would mark another concession in a series of escalating development pressures, risking a downtown dominated by luxury apartments that are out of reach for the diverse workforce that gives our city life…