Truckee, Placer County grapple with housing
Kings Beach opened an affordable housing complex in 2014. Photo/LTN
By Mayumi Elegado and Dave Zook, Moonshine Ink
Agreements and execution are different beasts, and sizable differences exist between the two. It could be said that nowhere is that distance greater than in the creation of affordable housing.
As home prices soared in the late 1990s and families found themselves priced out of the market, local agencies were pressured to find solutions. Prompted by government regulations, developers now are commonly required to incorporate affordable or employee housing as part of a project’s overall scope, and specifics hinge on the individual requirements of the jurisdiction or county.
Within the last decade or so, the Truckee has established affordable housing regulations for development mitigation, and Placer County has had a workforce housing policy for more than 20 years, but for projects in Tahoe, it would be fair to say that implementation is still in the pilot phase.
While affordable housing has been built into the conditions of approval for more than a handful of development projects, the completion record for the affordable projects is mixed. Successful projects in the past 15 years have put at least 200 new affordable housing units on the ground, but many developers have fallen short of their finalized plans, and some have built nothing at all.
Meanwhile the resulting lack of beds affects the community daily: Waitlists for the few rent-controlled apartment complexes in the area sit hundreds deep.
