FEATURED COLUMNIST
Update on Tiny Homes, CZU Rebuilds, Taxes on June Ballot By Bruce McPherson, Supervisor, Fifth District
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s we head toward spring, I’m excited about a new affordable and environmentally-friendly housing initiative that could address development challenges in the Fifth District, especially for CZU Fire survivors in search of alternatives to costly or complicated rebuilds. The County’s Planning Commission recently indicated support for a draft ordinance that would permit tiny homes, a program that has been in development since last year when District 1 Supervisor Manu Koenig and I brought a request to the Board of Supervisors to explore a new set of regulations. Homes as small as 150 square feet are already permitted under the County’s Accessory Dwelling Unit rules. But we believe it is important to distinguish tiny homes as a separate affordable housing product, including those on wheels. There is a lot to be explored before approval, including questions about utilities, parking and mobility. We also are seeking to expedite the permitting process for fire survivors
who are seeking a temporary living arrangement on their land or a more permanent, yet smaller, footprint for the future. The County’s Office of Response, Recovery and Resilience has premiered a new dashboard that tracks CZU rebuilding progress. The site shows how many permits are in process, how many pre-clearances have been approved, and the locations of permit activity by supervisorial district. The Board has removed geological hazards review as a barrier, and reduced or eliminated many permitting fees. And we will continue to offer expedited service through our dedicated fire Recovery Permit Center and Long-Term Recovery Group. All of these resources, plus the dashboard, can be accessed at santacruzcounty.us/ firerecovery. It’s my hope that two other recovery barriers are removed soon. First, we are still waiting for the California Office of Emergency Services to resolve the roughly $8 million in damage to Countymaintained and private roads caused by a state contractor during post-fire debris removal operations. Second, while PG&E works to remove tree debris from properties where owners have requested clean-up of the utility’s post-fire operations, the County is still awaiting enforcement by state agencies regarding
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CZU rebuilding dashboard shows 60 properties in the Fifth District ready to submit for dwelling unit permit notices of violation issued to PG&E for breaking environmental regulations and forestry practice rules. You may have heard about PG&E’s plans to underground more of its infrastructure to reduce wildfire risk. We look forward to any undergrounding done in our County, but a more realistic and less expensive system-hardening endeavor would be to coat bare wires and replace other aging equipment. I’ll conclude with a few notes about the upcoming June 7 ballot, starting with our rail line. In early March, the Board of Supervisors will receive a report from County
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departments regarding potential impacts of the Greenway initiative, which has received more than 13,000 qualified signatures on a petition to establish a multiuse trail on the corridor. Under election law, the Board is obligated to put the matter before voters, though I personally have not taken a position on the initiative. However, I did receive a unanimous vote of the Board on Feb. 1 to pause for 30 days and get more information so that voters have a more informed view of the initiative. “McPherson” page 23
