Placer County last week approved a contract for a company to develop an affordable housing strategy.

The $186,860 deal with BAE Urban Economics Inc., whose nearest office is in Davis, includes four main tasks:

·      assess and identify affordable housing needs and development opportunities

·      make recommendations about any current housing standards and policies that may be hampering development

·      develop a site evaluation tool to help determine the profitability of potential projects

·      review recent state housing policy changes to ensure Placer’s policy remains consistent.

BAE’s work is designed to support the county’s housing work plan that supervisors approved last August. The work plan’s main focus includes: creating more incentives to build affordable and workforce housing, changing regulations to make building easier, advocating for state and federal assistance, and furthering partnerships for meeting regional housing needs.

“We’ve been working with the Mountain Housing Council and making positive steps toward workforce housing in North Lake Tahoe,” Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery said. “It’s not just those with low income who are struggling. We have folks who make a good living who can’t find anywhere to buy. So we continue to be focused on tangible steps to get new housing inventory on the ground.”

— Lake Tahoe News staff report