YES, THE CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION CARES ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE COASTAL ZONE.

Fun fact. The year was 1976 and California’s landmark Coastal Act became law. But did you know that the first five years of its implementation (1976-1981) included a little golden nugget of considerable interest to anyone that cares about affordable housing in the Coastal Zone?

Affordable housing was a coastal resource to be protected, encouraged and provided. In other words, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) had the statutory authority to protect and provide affordable housing for low and moderate income households in the Coastal Zone.

Alongside the usual bunch – wetlands, environmentally sensitive habitat areas (ESHA), public access, public views and parking, affordable housing (dubbed “housing opportunities for persons of low and moderate income”) was considered a coastal resource in Section 30213 of the original Coastal Act that read, “Lower cost visitor and recreational facilities and housing opportunities for persons of low and moderate income shall be protected, encouraged, and, where feasible, provided.”

But wait, there’s more!

In 1977, the CCC created “statewide interpretive guidelines” to implement affordable housing per Section 30213. The guidelines were later amended in 1979 and 1981.

Included in the guidelines was a power-packed statement that resonates as true today as it did nearly 50 years ago: “Meaningful access to the coast requires housing opportunities as well as other forms of coastal access… If the coast is not to exclude the less affluent members of society and become an exclusive enclave of the wealthy, affordable housing must be protected, encouraged, and, where feasible, provided.”

Summarized, some of the relevant provisions in the guidelines provided that:

- 25% of units in larger projects with 10+ units to be offered as affordable housing onsite

- 1/3 of condo conversions to be set aside as affordable housing

- Demolition of existing low and moderate income housing to be prohibited (other than for health and safety reasons)

- New residential development with affordable housing to be prioritized over other residential development

- Density bonus allowances and reduced parking to be recognized as mechanisms to support affordable housing

- In-lieu fees and land dedications for affordable housing to be required as applicable

- Any housing, affordable or market, to be consistent with coastal resource protections, including public access

Following 1981 and the passage of the Mello Act, the CCC’s statutory authority to protect and provide affordable housing in the Coastal Zone was repealed. Was this all controversial back then? Yes. Is affordable housing in the Coastal Zone still controversial? Yes. At least there's consistency.

One thing is for certain, until the state’s housing crisis is immediately addressed in the Coastal Zone, like now as the 6^th Housing Cycle is underway, equitable housing opportunities along the Coast, affordable rents and reasonable home prices will continue to be a saga that has played out in California for nearly half a century.

So does the Coastal Commission care about affordable housing? Just read the several reports written by CCC staff on the topic and the answer is obvious.

Some of CCC staff’s greatest hits (IMO) are linked below:

CCC Report on Coastal Act Affordable Housing Policies andImplementation (Feb 2015) which includes the Statewide Interpretive Guidelines.

‍https://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2015/2/w6a-2-2015.pdf

CCC Report on Report on the Historical Roots of HousingInequity and Impacts on Coastal Zone Demographic Patterns and AffordableHousing Report (June 2022)

https://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2022/6/TH6d/Th6d-6-2022-report.pdf

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