DOES ANYONE CARE ABOUT HOUSING?
On Tuesday afternoon, Mono Supervisors and Planning Commissioners held joint workshops on the state of its county housing policy (in preparation of a 2027-2035 update to the housing element in its General Plan), followed by a workshop on the usage of Recreational Vehicles as residences.
Consultant Ryan Lester led the housing policy discussion.
Repeating all the usual (and dire) statistics that a consultant repeats to stay on the payroll.
The stat that housing consultants love to use is the one regarding cost burden – that it is considered inhumane/unfair for a person to spend more than 30% of their income on housing.
Interestingly, Lester said 37% of local, owner-occupied properties pay more than 30% on housing.
Whereas just 15% of renter-occupied units pay more than 30%.
Which I read as, to get a foot in the housing market, there’s definitely pain involved.
And of course, Lester estimated a housing unit shortage in the unincorporated county of some 700 units.
While 40% of the housing stock is vacant. The majority of those vacancies are second homes.
Supervisors John Peters and Paul McFarland drilled down a bit deeper on some alarming trends.
As Peters sees it, in north county, you’ve got declining tourism, declining services, and an increasing number of seniors. And a ton of second homeowners in Bridgeport.
Planning Commissioner Scott Bush added that there no jobs, ag’s dying, and the remaining ranchers are selling off property to conservancies.
It’s a difficult recipe. “The need [for new housing] continues to grow,” said Peters.
Paul McFarland observed that the housing stock is not growing fast enough to keep up with demand. The upshot: “The longer you live here, the better you get at saying goodbye.”
But while all the speechmaking took place, Dennis Domaille and his daughter Denise sat quietly in the audience.
They are the owners of the Mobil Mart in Lee Vining.
Their proposal to build 100 workforce housing units was shot down a few years back by the Board. It was actually a 2-2 vote (Rhonda Duggan and Bob Gardner voting against) with Stacy Corless gutlessly opting out (claiming a conflict because her husband owned the Tioga Pass Resort at the time).
Scott Bush asked the Board directly, how would this current Board look at the Domaille project now?
Further, he said, if we’d look at it the same way now as then, why bother [with any of this housing discussion]?
Which I interpreted as, you had a NIMBY [Not In My Back Yard] Board then. Has anything really changed?
The current Board responded by punting.
McFarland said “the real work is in ensuring sustainable projects.” A bromide meaning absolutely nothing.
Peters pointed to Lester’s presentation slide which was titled “Pro-housing Strategies.”
He said he supported the policies outlined in the last three bullet points.
Which included:
– Provide grants or low interest loans for ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units)
– Direct funds to assist in the preservation or construction of affordable housing
– Provide subsidies for housing affordable to extremely low-income households
In other words, the Board is supportive of nibbling around the edges of the housing issue, but it has no champion – or at least a champion willing to put his/her peers on the spot.
The second discussion related to RVs as residences.
Public surveys revealed essentially a 50/50 split as to whether an expansion of permitted RV use is a good idea.
Currently, said Community Development Director Wendy Sugimura, one is only allowed to live in an RV as residence if it’s parked on-property during construction of a permanent dwelling, or if it’s on a property where the main residence is occupied.
But as Mono County Housing Analyst Patricia Robertson said in her presentation, an estimated 1 million people nationwide have lived in their vehicle at some point over the past year.
And that the “Van Life” population has increased 55% since 2019.
The ensuing discussion revealed a Pandora’s Box of potential issues.
Who would do the permitting? Enforcement? Would new long-term RV parks take land out of circulation which could be used for permanent housing solutions?
And then, what about dark sky regulations? Noise from generators? Noise in general. Outdoor digital screens? Fire pits?
So the best course of action may be, according to Planning Analyst Olya Egorov … nothing.
In other words, give direction to staff to de-prioritize enforcement, only responding on a complaint basis.
Which is kinda what happens right now.
The Board took no action, other than to send staff back to do more “research” before scheduling another joint meeting with the planning commission.
Pet peeve of the week. Learning that the Fair now has a “fast pass, skip the line” option for its carnival rides.
Ensuring that segregation according to wealth, popularized by Disneyland and Universal Studios and all major airlines and even Mammoth Mountain (Black Passholders) has finally trickled down to the melting pot of the county fair.
It sends a horrible message.
I’d emote further but I’ve got to put some salve on my knees as I recover from my recent cross-country commercial flight (in seat 29B). And horrors, I had to sit in the terminal with the great unwashed because I don’t have a platinum credit card for the chi chi airport lounge.
