A Feasibility Study for Urban Edge Agricultural Parks - SAGE

Affordable Rural Housing Grant andLoan ProgramsFarmworker housing has typically been unbuildable on land under easements,making the linkage of farmworker housing to permanent farmland protectionpractically non-existent nationally. However, the need for such housing – atsubsidized rents or purchase prices - to support continued agricultural productionwas the most important finding of the survey of farmers identified by ALBA.Further, advocates for farm worker housing face continual opposition to theirprojects – either on the grounds that local housing will eliminate prime agriculturallands or that the design and population of such housing is locally undesirable. WelldesignedAgParks could address concerns about appropriately placed housing whileat the same time tapping multiple well established funding streams for farm workerhousing and associated land and utilities.Mercy Housing, a national non-profit affordable housing organization, develops andoperates affordable housing with supportive services. Staff in Northern Californiaare pursuing an innovative strategy to locate farmworker housing on farmlandprotected by the California Williamson Act (contracts between landholders and theState, for up to 10 years, in which the farmer commits to farming the land and theState allows for property tax reductions). Mercy Housing is trying to use a littleknown, recent amendment to the Williamson Act that allows for farmworkerhousing development 16 , but has not achieved entitlement approvals to date.However, Mercy staff anticipate implementing the strategy on an appropriate site,and expect that funding from sources such as USDA (for affordable housing as wellas utilities such as sewage treatment systems) could be readily funded.The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) operates several housing programs thatprovide financial and technical assistance to farmworkers and other low-incomehouseholds in rural areas. These programs, while not directly aimed at agriculturalproduction, nevertheless finance housing, land acquisition, and utility development,all key pieces of the AgPark concept. Types of USDA housing support include:• Section 502 - rural housing mortgages to promote home ownership,• Section 514-516 - Multi-family housing production programs, farm laborhousing• Section 515 - rural rental housing• Section 504 - repair program, housing rehabilitation programs• Section 533 - housing preservation16 The amendments to the Williamson Act specifically require lands be adjacent to urbanareas to allow the development of housing for farmworkers on the otherwise contractuallyundevelopable lands, making the tool a unique fit with the vision for the AgPark.DRAFT 1.6.05 89