Santa Rosa council approves water fees for new housing if drought conditions worsen

The already contentious debate over new housing in Santa Rosa has only become more heated over the past two years during what is shaping up to be the most severe local drought in over four decades.

For many worried about the environmental impacts of continued growth, a main question has emerged: Is it sustainable for the city to build more homes when residents are already being asked to conserve water in the face of a prolonged shortage?

The Santa Rosa City Council this week moved to address that concern by unanimously agreeing to charge developers an extra fee to offset the water demands of new housing if current drought conditions become more dire.

The move came about four months after the council balked last year at advancing such a fee policy over concerns about hampering housing production.

But during a meeting on Tuesday, council members said adopting the policy would balance the need to confront the climate-driven likelihood of longer and more intense periods of drought with alleviating the city’s entrenched affordable housing crisis.

“The most equitable approach ... is to make sure we do all have our skin in the game, and not to say to the existing public — who are already terrified that they don’t have enough water for existing users — that we’re going to ask you to use less, so that then we can have somebody else who doesn’t live here right now use more,” said Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Rogers.

The city would only start levying the charges on new developments when a drought triggers strict water rationing — a step beyond the water conservation efforts that are currently mandated. Money from the fees would go to offset 100% of a project’s water use through citywide conservation projects, including rebates to replace grass lawns and installing more water-efficient toilets and showers.

Water managers have pointed to such efforts as a sound way to conserve supplies while allowing housing projects to go ahead in times of water scarcity.

But housing advocates said funding those measures with a fee that increases the cost of building would harm Santa Rosa’s efforts to follow through on its housing goals.

The fees will make it “even more expensive to build the housing we need, when development already barely pencils out,” said Stephanie Picard Bowen, operations and development director for Generation Housing, a local pro-housing advocacy group.

Bowen and other advocates and developers argue the fees are unnecessary because local residential water conservation is up, in part because new buildings are more efficient. They also contend increased development fees have an out-sized impact on affordable housing projects, which often struggle for enough funding, and are desperately needed by marginalized communities of color.

“While we appreciate the city’s efforts to encourage ... conservation, it simply cannot be on the backs of the people who suffering the most from our housing crisis,” Bowen said at Tuesday’s meeting. “There has to be another way.”

In recent years, the council has repeatedly supported new affordable and market-rate housing despite neighborhood opposition and environmental concerns.

That commitment was clear in November, when the council rebuffed water planners’ prior recommendation to finalize the water fee proposal, even as the city’s water shortage plan has called for the measure for nearly three decades. At that meeting last year, council members asked water staff to come back with more detailed plans and different options for the fee policy.

On Tuesday, the city water agency’s presentation convinced council members to move forward. The new rules will go into effect 60 days from Tuesday.

“The policy ensure the city complies with its mandate to manage its water supply wisely for existing customers during emergencies, while also supporting the city’s housing and development needs,” said Dan Galvin, chair of the city’s subcommittee of the Board of Public Utilities.

Ultimately, the amount developers would have to pay didn’t change. The approved per-unit fees range from $1,259 for many apartment buildings to $5,047 for a single-family house on a 1 acre-plus lot.

Fees for new commercial and industrial buildings are set at $415 per thousand-gallon unit per month.

At the request of the council, developers will also have the opportunity to submit their own projects to mitigate a building’s water use instead of paying a fee. Those plans must be approved by city staff.

Currently, the city is in stage 3 of its drought crisis plan, with a citywide water savings target of 20%. If it enters stage 5, the new water fees — along with mandatory rationing for residents and businesses — will take effect until the city drops back to a lower stage.

On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom called for tighter water restrictions statewide by directing local water suppliers to ratchet up drought protection measures. Santa Rosa has already phased in many similar restrictions, including on landscape irrigation and pressure washing driveways.

While touting the city water fee plan as necessary move to prepare for worsening drought conditions, council members acknowledged there’s still work to do to prepare for a potentially severe dry season ahead.

Councilwoman Natalie Rogers encouraged residents to take advantage of city programs to help save more water at home.

“I’m hoping that we don’t get to that dire level, but if we are proactive at this stage, then hopefully we won’t get to the higher stages,” Rogers said.

You can reach Staff Writer Ethan Varian at ethan.varian@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5412. On Twitter @ethanvarian