The Mountain Housing Council of Tahoe Truckee, Town of Truckee and Placer County took significant steps toward housing solutions at the beginning of 2018.
The Mountain Housing Council, comprised of 25 local agencies, nonprofits, and businesses, unanimously passed policy recommendation to adopt a new definition on Jan. 12 for achievable local housing, which goes beyond traditional affordable housing definitions to include those income levels that are unable to afford housing in the region.
“This is an important step forward in addressing the real needs in the North Tahoe-Truckee region,” said Stacy Caldwell, Chief Executive Officer of the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, which facilitates the council. “This will help address the critical needs of low income residents, as well as those households in our region who find themselves in the middle income brackets – the teachers, police, firefighters, and young professionals that still can’t afford housing here.”
It will be up to each individual agency to decide if and how to implement this new policy recommendation for an expanded definition of affordability.
Additionally, both Placer County’s Board of Supervisors and Truckee’s Town Council approved a memorandum of understanding Jan. 9 with Neighborhood Partners LLC in support of $16 million in state Cap and Trade grant funding (Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program) for the already approved 56-unit affordable housing project called Meadow View Place in Schaffer’s Mill.
“This decision shows a real commitment to work together and to further transportation and housing,” said Luke Watkins of Neighborhood Partners LLC. “This is a great partnership with the town and county, and the Mountain Housing Council should be thanked for facilitating it.”
If the project is awarded the grant, the project could break ground as soon as spring of 2019, Watkins said.
Also on Jan. 9, Truckee Town Council passed its annual update to traffic impact fees and facilities fees charged to new development, changing the fee structure to a per-square-foot basis, rather than per-unit basis.
“The primary goal of this change is to incentivize smaller unit types,” said Town Manager Jeff Loux. “We recognize that this may seem like a small change, but we believe it is actually a pretty significant move, and we hope other agencies will follow.”
The Contractors Association of Truckee Tahoe, which had initial concerns with technical aspects of the change, strongly supported the update after working with town staff.
“I have to give a lot of credit to town staff for really being on top of it and giving this high priority,” said Pat Davison, Government Affairs Manager for the Contractors Association. “We hope this does turn into some actual housing on the ground.”
