Habitat for Humanity granted development fee relief
Paso Robles City Manager Tom Frutchey and CEO of SLO Habitat for Humanity Julia Ogden
Habitat for Humanity planning construction of nine low income dwellings
–At Tuesday night’s Paso Robles City Council meeting, the council approved a waiver of a portion of development impact fees for a Habitat for Humanity project located on the 2800 block of Vine Street.
This waiver equates to an approximate 50-percent reduction in fees, but does not waive any water or sewer connection fees.
The council’s action will pave the way for Habitat for Humanity to pull building permits for construction of nine single family residential units that will be deed restricted to be made available only to qualifying low income families.
Council members recognized the importance of habitat for humanity’s work in the community. Mayor Steve Martin said, “We need to make the path to make it happen.”
Habitat brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope by building new homes for low-income families in the county who purchase the homes through 0-percent interest home loans. From 2006 through 2016, HFHSLOCO has built 17 homes in San Luis Obispo County – one in Cambria, four in Atascadero, three in Paso Robles, four in Grover Beach, and five in San Luis Obispo. All 17 homes were built with the family’s self-help (500 hours of sweat equity on the construction of their homes) and volunteer labor. Now the number of homes Habitat has built will increase because of the fee reduction provided by the city.
“We are extremely happy that the city council and city staff so strongly supported the mission of Habitat by ensuring that these homes can be built,” said Julia Ogden, CEO of the county’s Habitat for Humanity. “In these times of funding reductions and a serious housing crisis, the city is being proactive in addressing the need to provide affordable housing through its actions. We are deeply appreciative of the city’s support and our partnership as we go forward with the project.”
