HOUSING AFFORDABLE & OTHERWISE

It's wonderful that the City of Twentynine Palms is earnestly pursuing this 100-unit affordable housing project near City Hall.

But here at Desert Trumpet we have a few questions:

• If built, this new development would fulfill about one-third of the City’s obligation for affordable housing for the upcoming 2022 to 2029 period, the 6th cycle housing element. This is great as far as it goes. But given that affordable housing projects have multi-year runways it’s not too soon to ask: Where will the remaining two-thirds come from? Is the City’s affordable housing pipeline empty except for this project, or are there currently other affordable housing projects the City is considering? If so what are they?

• What is the City's previous track record on affordable housing? How many units of affordable and market-rate housing in Twentynine Palms were actually built in the previous housing element cycle (5th cycle, 2014 to 2021) compared to what was proposed?

• What's the status of "The Ridge at 29 Palms" affordable housing development, which is needed to help fulfill the City's existing affordable housing obligation for the previous 2014-2021 cycle, but has still not yet been built?¹

• Given that over the last few years some market-rate housing in the City has become short-term rentals — most of which was previously occupied by owners or tenants of various, likely unknown, income levels — is the City planning to correspondingly increase its new housing unit objective for the upcoming 2022 to 2029 period? If so, which income categories (extremely low, very low, low, moderate, or above moderate income) would these additional new market-rate units target?

1. Twentynine Palms 6th cycle Housing Element draft submitted by City to HCD Nov 29, 2021, pp HS-95