Board directs RFP for workforce housing at probation building, prioritizes housing over downtown solar

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on April 8 accepted a consultant workforce‑housing study and directed staff to pursue near‑term development options for county‑owned parcels.

Key actions: the board directed staff to prepare a request for proposals (RFP) for a lower‑to‑moderate‑income workforce housing development at the county Probation building site at 123 East Carrillo Street in Santa Barbara and to return to the board for authorization to issue the RFP. The study estimated that the probation site could yield roughly 60 dwelling units. The board also instructed staff to prioritize housing over a previously discussed solar array at the downtown campus parking lot and asked staff to examine using the engineering and human resources buildings and adjacent parking for potential housing development; the downtown parcels were modeled in the study as potentially producing roughly 100 units depending…