But affordable housing advocates fear that this shift will keep the city from meeting its state requirements for housing, and have asked the courts to stay their order.
Until repealed, the city had been mandating that any development project with more than 15 units set aside 10% of its space for affordable housing. But once the housing market slowed down, developers were balking at developing the city because of its requirements.
According to the city, the voluntary program would produce nearly as many affordable units in three years as were built in the previous decade.
From the Sacramento Bee:
A housing advocate group has sued Folsom over the city’s repeal of its affordable-housing ordinance.
Sacramento Housing Alliance filed suit in Sacramento Superior Court challenging the city of Folsom’s decision earlier this year to stop requiring developers to provide low-income units with every large residential project.
“Folsom has many service and retail jobs and few places for those workers to live,” said Shamus Roller, executive director of the housing group.
Read the full article here.