Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority: employee housing: transit-oriented joint development projects

The law gives Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority a new tool to address employee housing needs while tying projects to transit. Local zoning and land-use rules still apply.

What the law does ​

• Authorizes VTA to acquire, build, operate, lease, and dispose of property for employee housing projects within one-quarter mile of existing, planned, or proposed transit facilities.
• Allows VTA to prioritize its employees for the housing and to permit public occupancy under applicable laws.
• Allows VTA to build rental housing affordable to lower- or moderate-income households with at least 55-year recorded affordability restrictions.
• Allows VTA to build for-sale housing affordable to lower- or moderate-income households with at least 45-year recorded affordability restrictions.
• Requires VTA to enforce affordability restrictions and comply with fair-housing duties and applicable local zoning and land-use rules.
• Requires VTA to report annually to the Legislature on planned and pending employee-housing projects, including unit counts, affordability, unit sizes, developers, and density.

Who it affects ​

• VTA employees seeking housing near VTA transit facilities.
• Lower- and moderate-income households eligible for VTA-built affordable housing.
• Members of the public who VTA permits to occupy employee-housing units.
• Cities and counties where VTA housing or transit-oriented projects are located.

Context ​

Employee-housing projects must be connected to a transit facility and located within one-quarter mile of its boundaries.