Policy

The City of Santa Fe’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund is a powerful and flexible tool to address chronic housing shortages. We advocate for the fund to have permanent and dedicated sources of funding each year. Community housing advocates agree that the City of Santa Fe must dedicate at least $3 million a year to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to ensure our housing interventions rise to the scale of the problem and address a range of housing needs from homelessness through foreclosure. Likewise, we advocate for Santa Fe County to implement a trust fund mechanism to make access to housing funds more transparent and effective and serve the unique housing needs outside the urban area of Santa Fe.

We strongly advocate for The City to work to adopt equitable and sustainable approaches to current and future growth by ending low-density zoning, and combating urban sprawl.. Additionally, we encourage The City to update the future land use map to identify areas that have the social and physical infrastructure to support higher density housing. In an effort to provide housing solutions that would supplement large apartment complexes, by eliminating exclusionary zoning policies like very low density housing and allowing a mix of housing types (duplex, multiplex etc) in all neighborhoods and reducing or eliminating parking requirements.

Assist local leadership in creating a framework to identify and achieve affordable housing goals. Track progress in the efforts being made to achieve housing goals and understand arising or changing needs. Local governments should be held accountable for creating annual goals for housing services and affordable unit production that fit into a strategic framework that will address identified needs. The exercise of setting goals is critical for tracking the outcomes of housing programs and investments and creates a context for interactive policy and program development.

Promote the creation of new affordable housing development through the identification and systematic annual donation of City-owned parcels for income restricted rental housing development, as well as the preparation of land for specific affordable housing development products.

Identify methods to improve the City’s development review process for simplified and efficient turnaround, and upgrade current community engagement practices (such as Early Neighborhood Notification requirements) to include more voices from diverse stakeholders at City public hearings, while promoting more neighborhood responsive development. The City should conduct proactive community outreach and impact analysis of larger developments that scores development impact based on community needs & goals such as affordability, environmental and climate sustainability, equity, and economic development.

RENTERS’ RIGHTS: Fund and support tenant resources and information about their rights under state and federal laws. Pass state law changes that provide more protection for renters, including “curing” rights*.

*The “Right to Cure” Defined: The legal right to cure is essentially a principle found in contract law that allows one party in a contract, who has defaulted under a contract provision (in this case, a renter), to remedy their default by taking steps to ensure compliance or otherwise “cure” the default (such as non-payment of rent). In rental agreements, payment defaults are most common and bringing late payments current is a form of ‘curing’ a default.

Identify new funding sources for affordable housing through Community Development Financial Institutions and other funding mechanisms to support innovative affordable housing programing, as well as support methods of improved financing for Accessory Dwelling Units.