Main Street

Housing math
Let’s say that you’re a housing developer, and for the sake of argument, let’s say that it costs you $600,000 to build a market rate home in Healdsburg, which you can then sell for $800,000.
Then, let’s say that a well-meaning city council decides that the way to encourage housing starts is to lower fees so you can now build a market rate home in Healdsburg for $550,000. As a developer, do you tell your real estate agent to lower the price by the $50,000 you saved?
Of course you don’t, you keep the extra dough and enjoy your fattened margin.
It baffles me when someone says we can lower the cost of housing by lowering fees. In fact, hardly anyone benefits from lowering building fees, yet it’s the first place elected officials look when they want to lower housing costs.
There are two rules in play here: the first rule is that there is only one limiting factor on housing costs, and that’s the market. The amount of money a buyer will pay is the primary factor affecting the selling price of a home.
The only way we could build our way out of a housing shortage would be to overbuild and lose everything we’ve tried to preserve.
The second rule is, if you want to bend rule one, the government has to get involved. Land banking, inclusionary housing requirements, silent seconds and other government programs are the only way to make it easier for working class folks to own a home. Don’t be fooled by the “lower building fees” philosophy.
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The Healdsburg City Council is appointing a Housing Committee, with the valid purpose of evaulating whether to propose an amendment to Healdsburg’s Growth Management Ordinance. The GMO is more than a decade old, and it can’t hurt to take a look and see if it’s still the best tool to control our future.
But, the devil is in the details. The committee will be dominated by building industry experts who stand to profit if building limits are relaxed. At first glance, it makes sense to populate the committee with people who know about building, but why set it up to be challenged?
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Did you catch the viral video of University of Nevada student Ivy Ziedrich going toe to toe with presumptive presidential candidate Jeb Bush? Ivy began to ask Jeb a question after he spoke in Reno, and when he interrupted her in a condescending way, she snapped at him and put him down hard. If you wondered whether Ivy Ziedrich is related to Healdsburg Lumber owner and city councilmember Eric Ziedrich, you weren’t alone. She’s his niece.
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There’s a disappointing trend lately at Healdsburg City Council meetings, where members of the public speak up about an issue of concern and are then corrected and refuted by councilmembers. One longtime councilmember has done this for years, and most of us are used to it, but when the mayor corrects you publicly when all you’re doing is asking a question and trying to participate in local government, that’s not good. No one doubts that our elected officials are very knowledgeable on a lot of subjects, but lecturing the public for making a suggestion or asking questions only serves to discourage people from speaking up again. Maybe we need Ivy Ziedrich to tell a couple of councilmembers what’s what.
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The buzz this week is all about Thursday night’s parade, and it’s worth noting that any store that sells decorative or craft items is out of stock of anything in the colors red, white and blue, but don’t forget the rest of the fair. The best day is Friday at Recreation Park, when the kids show their livestock projects, and the corn dog line is shorter.
Ray Holley knows his way around a corn dog. He can be reached at ra*@so********.com.