Santa Clara County Considers New Fees for Housing

Santa Clara County is considering adding a special fee to all new housing construction, providing funds that would subsidize more affordable housing.

The net effect would add to the already soaring cost of housing construction in Santa Clara County—more than $30,000 in new fees for a typical 2,000-square-foot home.

The county is hosting public meetings this month to seek community feedback on an Affordable Housing Nexus Fee Study that supports consideration of new affordable housing requirements, in unincorporated Santa Clara County—outside city limits.

The countywide study primarily recommends the adoption of an affordable housing fee applied to new construction on either a per-unit or per-square-foot basis.

If adopted by the Board of Supervisors, the fee would apply to the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County for residential and non-residential development, including Stanford University.

Prior to consideration of this study by the Board of Supervisors, the county is collecting input from all county residents, developers, real estate professionals, and other interested parties. Public meetings were held on the matter earlier this week.

The Affordable Housing Nexus Fee Study by Keyser, Marston and Associates recommended affordable housing fees in the range of $15 to $16 per square foot for all new construction.

If the county moves forward with a new requirement, it is expected that developers would have the choice of including affordable housing in their development or paying an in-lieu fee set by the county Board of Supervisors.

3 Comments

  1. there you go – keep adding to the cost of housing by increasing the cost of building housing and then wonder why we don’t have more affordable housing. Much like a snake eating itself.

  2. I think due to the single party nature of California politics, it is unable to acquire some sense of self-awareness. Continuely returning to counterproductive measures to solve the problems its ideology creates.

    Doesnt it get old being wrong so much?

  3. Unbelievable… they don’t even try to hide their corruption anymore. Don’t be fooled by believing our politicians are as stupid they come across in this article, this is a pure money grab that pounds on the less fortunate (as usual).

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