The announcement comes as California seeks to construct 2.5 million new homes by 2030
By Zach Armstrong
The City of Santa Monica became one of 37 California localities designated by Gov. Newsom as “Prohousing”, making it a funding and resource priority during a statewide acceleration effort of housing development.
The announcement comes as California seeks to construct 2.5 million new homes by 2030. Of that, at least one million are set to house lower-income residents. The designation rewards communities that have shown a commitment to reducing construction obstacles; rewarding them with exclusive access to grants and infrastructure funding by the Department of Housing and Community Development amid this development mission.
According to a news release, Santa Monica proved these qualities in several instances such as identifying sites for 13,600 new housing units, eliminating parking requirements for residential development, ministerially approving ADUs and junior accessory dwelling units regardless of size and providing financial assistance for new construction of affordable rental housing.
“We need to aggressively build more housing to support Californians,” said Newsom in a statement. “Prohousing cities move to the front of the line when it comes to incentives, funding and other state resources. It’s critical for more communities to join in this distinction and build their fair share of housing.”
On Jan. 23, HCD announced a Notice of Funding Availability for the second round of the Prohousing Incentive Program. Prohousing jurisdictions have until March 15 to apply for a piece of the $9.5 million available in that round.
