KINGS BEACH, Calif. – On Tuesday, Placer County held their Tahoe workshop to get feedback on a priority applicant policy, which could look similar to South Lake Tahoe’s local preference policy. The public feedback will be used to bring a draft to the Placer County board of supervisors on November 18.

Housing development project planner Marie Maniscalco presented to the small group gathered on the potential policy they’re trying to create. She noted that there has been a feeling that Placer County tends to do things from the top-down and emphasized the importance of sharing input for this undertaking.

Nikki Streegan, housing manager, said that the concept of affordable housing priority policies have been considered in the past, most recently during discussions of Dollar Creek Crossing. The policy would only apply to affordable housing units, which are meant to house those at the 80% area median income or lower. The median income in Placer County is about $84,550.

Maniscalco said that the policy was to help service the creation of a “whole and sustainable community,” and should be thought of as a way to help stop displacement of residents through being priced out.

This would represent the first time a more suburban and rural county would be doing this, as in the past, San Francisco and other urban areas have implemented similar policies.

In South Lake Tahoe, the local preference policy specifies that they prioritize those who had a primary residence in South Lake Tahoe in the last 10 years or need a minimum of 20 hours of employment with a local employer.

The policy would be subject to the Fair Housing Law, which would prevent discrimination based on protected classes such as race, marital status and gender among other things. Placer County already has a consultant who will analyze the policy to comply with the law. Maniscalco noted that across the county, the racial demographics are largely the same.

The public was invited to brainstorm what groups they would like to see prioritized in the policy and to rank them in order of priority. Some policies, like South Lake Tahoe’s, weigh both conditions equally, while others may use systems like points to determine priority.

The group present expressed their desire to prioritize local workers, where local was defined as within the Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District (TTUSD) boundary or as someone who “had roots in the area, like family and friends.” Others specified certain industries such as healthcare, construction or education. Some suggested that an employee reference could bump up priority.

While seniors are in need of housing, a discussion was had about whether or not it was necessary to prioritize retired people, since the need for a workforce and subsequent housing is so great in Placer County. Increased prices for construction and building are in part because there are few local tradespeople hired to do that work.

Some also thought that those who were priced out or had no-fault evictions should be prioritized in order to address the displacement Maniscalco talked about earlier.

Placer County is holding another workshop in Auburn to get more feedback. If you are interested in submitting feedback on the policy, you can do so online before November 18 at https://engage.placer.ca.gov/affordable-housing-priority-applicant-policy

Eli Ramos is a reporter for Tahoe Daily Tribune. They are part of the 2024–26 cohort of California Local News Fellows through UC Berkeley.