Housing in California is a real issue and one that is felt in the community of Morro Bay. Studies by the Economic Vitality Corporation convincingly state that our existing businesses are at risk without more housing, and the economy won’t grow until we build more. That call to “grow” couldn’t be more critical now that our County and City’s budgets have taken a severe hit from the economic crisis caused by our current public health emergency. It would seem that now more than ever, it’s not growth for growth’s sake; it’s growth out of a deficit and back to balance.
The Chamber’s position is that housing is good business. Housing is economic development. Housing is also the environmental and social equity “silver bullet.” Long commutes create greenhouse gasses.
We implore the City of Morro Bay to get assertive with facilitating housing construction to diversify our community’s economy. Our City’s Housing Element Update, a document that will live through 2028, must be leveraged as a tool that will get us to a resident population with more families, more professionals, and more consumers to take the edge off of our seasonal cliffs.
The draft housing element update can be found here, and the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the item Tuesday, July 7th at 6pm. The Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce has delivered a draft document to City officials to express the immediacy of housing as good for business.
Erica D. Crawford
CEO Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce