The City of Grover Beach is trying to make it easier for new affordable housing to be built in the community.
Housing is a significant challenge facing the Central Coast.
"We basically got dislocated from our community up in North County because we couldn't find anything up north and so we had to expand our search area," said Krista Jeffries of Grover Beach.
The City of Grover Beach is working toward 370 new housing units over the next 8 years.
The city council is updating its development code to achieve that state-mandated goal and make it easier for developers to build.
One update is allowing more residential housing to be approved faster.
"As long as it meets the zoning and meets the objective design standards, it won't have to go through the same degree of time and effort and process in order to get a permit," said Matt Bronson, Grover Beach City Manager.
Another change given the green light is five-story housing and mixed-use projects along Grand Avenue.
Currently, there's a cap of four levels at a couple of locations on the popular street.
"I think it's a right time for change and Grover can only benefit from having more people close to the businesses that I like to shop in," Jeffries said.
Critics question why more housing is being promoted during a drought.
The city says the units in the works are studio and one-bedroom apartments.
"They use a lot less water than a typical single-family residence," Bronson said.
The single largest affordable housing development in Grover Beach's history is in the works to create 53 units near the corner of Grand Avenue and South 13th Street.
State funding now becoming available is allowing for about 300 affordable housing units also through People's Self-Help Housing from San Miguel to Nipomo.
The organization already has dozens of properties operating along the Central Coast.
"There's just still such a critical need," said Ken Trigueiro, People's Self-Help Housing CEO and President. "Of those 55 or so properties, there's over 100 households on every one of those wait lists there."
The council has not yet given the final approval to the code changes but that's expected to happen in the spring.
Also to help with the water supply, the City of Grover Beach says it's working on Central Coast Blue along with Arroyo Grande and Pismo Beach. It's a recycled groundwater project with the design to be finalized next year and construction expected to be completed by 2024/2025.
