As a leading advocate for the Sunnyvale Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, we are excited to share that the Sunnyvale City Council unanimously approved the policy, effective November 8.
Soon, 15% of all new rental and ownership housing will be affordable (10% for low income, 5% for very low income). The Council also voted to require that the resulting affordable units remain affordable for at least 55 years, and to a more than 25% increase for the in-lieu fee—the amount the developer must pay to the city in place of building affordable units.
At the September 24th City Council meeting, Greenbelt Alliance was joined by more than 14 community members, as well as our partner organizations: SV@Home, Livable Sunnyvale, and Silicon Valley Leadership Group with comments that supported our coalition’s shared platform. Our vision prioritized the construction of affordable homes in proposed developments, increased developer contributions to the City’s affordable housing fund, and environmental protections by bringing residents closer to their jobs, thereby reducing sprawl pressure on our open space lands as well as decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.
We, along with our coalition partners, met with Sunnyvale councilmembers and City housing and planning staff to present the above platform, and organized Sunnyvale residents to urge the Council to adopt the inclusionary policy.
Sunnyvale is continuing to work on its Housing Strategy, with plans to release it in early 2020. For more information on our Sunnyvale work, or to get involved, contact Kiyomi Honda Yamamoto, South Bay Regional Representative.
Photo: Andre Hunter via Unsplash
