Not enough housing: What Stanislaus County, its cities are doing about it
In an effort to meet housing needs across Modesto and Stanislaus County, county leaders and stakeholders on Tuesday presented a new, large-scale plan to address the local inventory crisis.
In a presentation to the Modesto City Council, speakers discussed plans for a cross-city housing initiative, called Housing Stanislaus.
“These are efforts that have been underway for, at this point, years, but they are finally at the point where we can introduce them,” said Stanislaus County CEO Jody Hayes.
The housing continuum extends from emergency shelters through transitional housing, rental housing and, finally, homeownership. Hayes stressed that the new plan will primarily address the latter two, or the “top half of the housing ladder.”
Like the rest of the country, Stanislaus County and Modesto are facing a housing crisis: the local inventory shortage, coupled with rising construction costs and more movement due to the pandemic, have sent prices skyrocketing. Homes that just a decade ago were affordable for first-time buyers are now out of reach.
Cities already are dealing with their own housing crises. Modesto has placed much of its focus on affordable housing, breaking ground on a new, large-scale complex this June, and hiring consulting firm Opticos to advise on hew housing developments. Hayes said this initiative looks to find solutions the whole county can unite behind.
“This is not our attempt to tell cities how to grow,” he stressed. “It’s more about finding common ground on the basic strategies that can deliver the future we all envision together.”
The county is developing its housing plan with Valley Vision, a Sacramento-based nonprofit consulting firm with expertise in strategic and land-use planning.
After the team develops a plan to address the shared “needs, challenges and opportunities” associated with local housing, CEO Evan Schmidt said at Tuesday’s meeting, the group will put forward a “unified and actionable framework” for both affordable and market-rate housing. Lastly, it will identify specific projects.
“This is a countywide initiative to build a shared vision and policy framework for housing in Stanislaus County,” Schmidt said. “It’s about that umbrella approach.”
She and her team are engaging with stakeholders across the county, including employers, builders, advocates and funders, as well as city and county employees. Additionally, they’re gathering data from interviews with “key informants,” including elected officials and industry representatives, and are planning to launch focus groups and a community survey.
These next few months, Schmidt said, will be focused on “building a shared vision,” with a housing summit and publication of a more detailed housing plan slated for March through June 2022. This plan will be integrated into each city’s — as well as the county’s — state-mandated Housing Elements, or regional housing goals.
Schmidt and Hayes did not present any specific proposals at Tuesday’s meeting. Those will be unveiled further along in the process.
Council member David Wright stressed the importance of incorporating guarantees for affordability into the housing plan, and focusing on the full housing continuum when developing policies.
“Every rung on that ladder is really, really important,” Hayes said. “As long as this team is involved, we will give equal attention to all of them.”
This story was produced with financial support from the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
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This story was originally published September 17, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
