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County Housing Element Is Inequitable and Exclusionary

The county’s approach acts like an exclusionary housing policy, benefiting wealthy and well-connected areas; no sites are proposed in Montecito, Summerland, or Hope Ranch.

County Housing Element Is Inequitable and Exclusionary

On Monday, the Goleta City Council unanimously voted to send a letter to the County Board of Supervisors, commenting on the Draft Housing Element and advocating for a balanced approach to rezone site selection for new housing close to job centers and transportation corridors throughout the south coast.

Our votes in favor were an expression of strong concern about a plan that relies so heavily on agricultural land adjacent to Goleta, while seeming to shelter more affluent and well-connected communities.

Of the 5,664 units allocated to the South Coast, 75 percent are proposed for parcels abutting the City of Goleta, and these sites provide more than 100 percent of the required low-income and moderate-income housing units for a region that stretches from Carpinteria to Goleta.

Goleta Councilmember James Kyriaco