Beginning in January 2025, SB 1395 and SB 450 will go into effect.
One addresses homelessness.
"Unsheltered homelessness is uniquely California's problem. Half of the unsheltered in the nation are here in our state," said Dignity Moves CEO Elizabeth Funk.
The other aims to help build more housing.
"It's to address the housing crisis on a large scale," said Santa Barbara Deputy Director of Planning and Development Alex Tuttle.
SB 1395 changes the local permitting process imposing state-mandated local programs to address homelessness with interim housing.
"It also extended the Low Barrier Navigation Center law, which essentially allows cities to build shelters in appropriate regions without neighborhood pushback," Funk said.
The 2024 Point-In-Time Count found Santa Barbara County has 2,119 people experiencing homelessness, a 12% increase since 2023. Funk says the cost and time it takes to build permanent housing play a big role in those numbers.
"For every one person who's finally getting that permanent housing after waiting years, four are becoming homeless. And so the system doesn't work that way, and we got to have a wider range of solutions," Funk said.
She adds that SB 1395 also extends the Shelter Crisis Law for 10 years, making it easier to build permanent housing and tiny home villages.
SB 450 is tackling housing in another way, by building more of it — allowing property zoned for single-family homes to build up to two principal homes and two ADUs.
"So you could have up to four dwelling units on a single-family [lot]," Tuttle explained.
Tuttle says having the ability to create more housing hasn’t led to more inventory.
"Since 2022, when SB 9 went into effect, in the county we've only received 29 applications," Tuttle said.
In comparison, Tuttle says the county receives hundreds of ADU applications.
"The cost of construction still remains really high. You still need to have land available on your property to develop these additional units, so there are still barriers even if we're streamlining the permit process," Tuttle explained.
