Solano County and its cities planning an additional 13,000 new houses, condominiums and apartments by 2014

July 26, 2007

Thousands of homes targeted for Solano County

By Barry Eberling



FAIRFIELD - Solano County and its cities could have to make room for almost 13,000 new houses, condominiums and apartments by 2014 to meet their shares of state housing targets.

The Association of Bay Area Governments released the draft numbers earlier this week. The agency assigns the state-imposed Bay Area housing numbers among the region's nine counties.

Fairfield is supposed to provide 3,796 housing units, under the proposal. That means the city must zone enough land so the units can be built, should developers step forward to do so.

The city can find the room for the units within its growth boundaries, Assistant Community Development Director Eve Somjen said today.

"It's not shocking or out of the ordinary," she said. "The total number is consistent with our projections, bearing in mind that there's been a downturn in housing construction."

But the housing assignments go further. Of that total number, Fairfield is to plan for 873 units for very low income residents, 562 units for low-income residents and 675 units for moderate-income residents.

"The challenge is going to be meeting the goals of the different income categories," Somjen said.

Rural Solano County must allow for only 99 housing units over the coming seven years. The reflects local policy that growth should take place in cities.

The draft numbers show Benicia providing 532 housing units, Dixon 728, Rio Vista 1,219, Suisun City 610 , Vacaville 2,901 and Vallejo 3,100 homes.