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One of the Elements of the General Plan is the
Housing Element. It is a key linchpin to the whole General Plan since
everything has to be consistent within the Plan and the State mandates that
each city in the State build their "share". As you may
imagine, many communities fight the State to have as little affordable
housing as they would prefer, so the State is tough about it. The
Housing Element must by updated and newly required housing built every 8
years. St. Helena has not met its last goal and now there will be a
new goal. NCTPA says that St. Helena must build 152 units by 2022 --
can't imagine that will be accomplished by infill. From what I understand,
St. Helena's Housing Element is due to the State officially by June 2014
and late by December; therefore, issue will be at the forefront of local
politics from now to the Nov. election.
To be informed and contribute your opinion about
this important issue, please attend the Community Housing Workshop: Tuesday
(tomorrow), April 29, 2014, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm, Fire Station Training
Room / 1480 Main Street (enter from Railroad Avenue). (BTW, The
City had not placed notice of this meeting on its website until I asked for
the agenda today.) St. Helena is very short of affordable housing for
the people who work here so they must commute, creating gridlock at commute
times, which adds to the City's high carbon emissions, which is why the
State is tough about it.
Sandy
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