Adhere to Housing Goals
The Ventura Council of Governments has divided up the load of future housing needs as equitably as possible. Now it’s up to the leaders of the county and its 10 cities to follow through.
Why bother to make room for more people to move to Ventura County, where “growth” is a dirty word to many who already live here?
Because the need for housing at all income levels will inevitably continue to rise, as children grow up and want apartments or houses of their own, as current residents want to “move up” to nicer homes, and as newcomers arrive from other parts of the state--or the world--eager to share the pleasures of living in Ventura County.
How fast? No one truly knows. But the Southern California Assn. of Governments (SCAG) predicts that Ventura County should expect demand for dwelling units to increase by 21,400 in just the next six years--the equivalent of adding another Fillmore, Moorpark and Port Hueneme.
Where will all these new homes be built?
Well, the passage last year of Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) measures helps determine where they won’t be built, at least not without a public vote of approval. That reduces the likelihood of development gobbling up farmland and shrinking the green spaces that separate our cities. But it doesn’t change the fact that, whether or not we build homes for them, people will come.
This brings us to last week’s action by VCOG--a regional body made up of representatives from Ventura County and each of its city governments--to approve goals put forth in a SCAG mandate called the Regional Housing Needs Assessment. These goals, required by state law, are intended to fairly distribute the load of new housing needs--and also needs for affordable housing. The goals make a modest attempt to reduce rather than aggravate poverty pockets by setting slightly higher low-income housing goals for cities that are lagging behind (Camarillo, Moorpark, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks) and slightly lower goals for those that already have more than their share (Fillmore, Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Santa Paula).
What happens if these needs are ignored?
Prices for existing homes would continue to rise until fewer and fewer people could afford them. Those who couldn’t would survive however they could, by crowding several families into space designed for one or living illegally in garages, toolsheds or campgrounds. This is already happening in many parts of the county.
Although SCAG’s figures--and its authority-- are open to debate, the trends they address are not. Much work went into making these goals as fair as possible to each city. They offer a reasonable blueprint that local leaders should make a good-faith effort to follow, even though that will not be easy or--at times--popular.
The laws of economics dictate it. So do the laws of California. And so do human decency and fairness.
