Housing and Land Use Housing and Land Use A diverse housing market is critical to the long-term success of Riverside County. Residents need a broad spectrum of housing products. Whether it’s a single-family detached home or a new multi-level condominium—owned or rented—residents of the Coachella Valley need choices, and the cities within the Coachella Valley must plan to meet current and future housing needs. In addition, the business community needs a healthy housing market to attract and retain employees. Housing growth continues to be a concern for Riverside County and the broader Southern California region. While rising land values, job, and population growth are market factors, the regulatory environment has also played a major role in shaping the market. The high regulatory costs associated with housing production is one of the reasons California’s housing production has been tepid relative to population and employment. Within the Coachella Valley, each city charges impact fees to homebuilders to offset the fair share cost of infrastructure such as roads, parks, water, sewer and storm drain facilities. Additionally, cities charge processing fees to recover the full cost of environmental, planning, and permitting review activity. These fees are in addition to other outside agency costs such as school fees, TCA and regional transportation fees, natural gas and electrical fees. Beyond direct, per-unit housing fees, regulations can also slow housing construction. For those wishing to stymie development in their community (“NIMBYs”), CEQA has proven a popular and effective tool. Using CEQA, a claim against a developer can delay housing projects for years or stop them altogether. Public policy and regulatory frameworks should promote the highest and best land use practices for meeting California’s housing, community infrastructure, recreation, business facility, and open space needs while preserving the quality of life in California and the Coachella Valley.
Positions HL-1: Support incentives to local governments to encourage overall increases to the housing supply, housing affordability, and choices of home types for a variety of families and workers. HL-2: Support State and local fiscal reform to permit cities and counties to make land use decisions based upon good planning principles, rather than upon potential tax revenue generation or cost of service issues; address funding formulas that are unfair to Riverside County; and establish a nexus between sources of funding and services and programs funded. HL-3: Support ongoing efforts to ensure that construction disputes are addressed outside of the court system.
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