Dear Editor:
The City of Gilroy has enacted many otherwise laudable policies
that have also resulted in higher home prices. Now there is talk of
driving prices up further through an inclusionary zoning
requirement.
Dear Editor:

The City of Gilroy has enacted many otherwise laudable policies that have also resulted in higher home prices. Now there is talk of driving prices up further through an inclusionary zoning requirement.

Inclusionary zoning would require new developments to have a percentage of the units available for sale or rent at prices significantly below cost. Who will pay for this? If might be a community need, but all Gilroyans aren’t being asked to pay. The city isn’t offering to pick up the cost. Nor will the developers, as they will just add the costs to the other homes in the development. Inclusionary zoning puts the cost solely on the backs of the neighbors of those being subsidized, making housing even more expensive for those unable to qualify for the subsidized units.

In addition to the supply pressure from people wanting to live here, government policies have significantly contributed to our high housing costs. If city leaders want to see more affordable housing, perhaps they should reevaluate their contributions to the high costs.

Historically, all residents shared the costs of growth. Today, growth is paid for by new residents in the form of impact fees, even for facilities that will benefit current residents (costs are supposed to be adjusted for uses by existing residents, but impact fees are paying the lion’s share of everything from the new police station to the sports park). Gilroy has one of the highest impact fees in the nation, at approximately $50,000 per unit.

The city’s Residential Development Ordinance has ensured controlled growth and increased the quality of development, as projects have to compete against one another for the right to be built. The restricted supply, lengthy delays and increased construction costs directly add to home prices.

The landscaping policy, design guidelines, and agriculture mitigation requirement all serve to improve the quality of life-and to increase the cost of housing. Even our economic incentives policy, which has successfully added jobs and tax revenue to the city’s coffers, has increased housing costs, as the new employees search for housing. It’s a basic economic principle – restrict supply while you increase demand, and prices will go up.

And let us not forget that increasing housing costs are not bad for everybody. Anybody who has owned a home in Gilroy for more than a year has seen their net worth grow substantially as prices have soared.

The small number of new affordable units that would be created with an inclusionary zoning requirement are not worth the price. Instead of inclusionary zoning, the City Council should look at their role in the high cost of housing.

Just as the economic incentive program has enticed the private sector to voluntarily bring jobs to Gilroy, a housing incentive program could be developed that would entice more affordable housing, without further driving up the cost for the majority of people unable to qualify for the subsidized units.

Terry Feinberg, Gilroy

*This letter was awarded the Golden Quill. The Golden Quill is awarded occasionally for a well-written letter.

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