Almanor Foundation outlines multi-pronged housing plan for Plumas County, aims for 45 workforce units in three years

Representatives of the Almanor Foundation presented the Plumas County Housing Council's work and an attainable-workforce housing initiative to the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 4, outlining a multi-pronged approach that combines small-scale construction, reuse of underutilized units and lease-to-own pathways.

"We have provided 400 and just over $400,000 for housing," said Josh Huddleston during the presentation, summarizing foundation grants and commitments made so far. Foundation leaders said their three-year target includes building 45 new rental units across 15 sites, creating five new homeowners through stair-step programs and bringing roughly 30 underused rental units back into the market through subsidy and matching programs.

The foundation described three core strategies: a "build-to-rent" model using small multi-unit sites (an R-3 configuration in current county code that can appear similar to single-family homes), a "lease-to-locals" program modeled on Placemate that temporarily subsidizes renters in second-home or short-term-rental units to provide stable housing, and a lease-to-own program run by the Plumas County Community Development Commission (Trios) that places prospective buyers into ownership through staged equity accrual. The presenters said the Dixie Fire Collaborative, the Almanor Foundation and the North Valley Community Foundation have committed roughly $500,000 as initial investment to help leverage additional capital toward a $5 million fundraising goal to support 45 units over three years.

Presenters said the group has done extensive market and employer interviews and found that certain building types (for example, shared-corridor apartments) perform poorly in Plumas County; planners have therefore favored small, site-specific approaches that better match local demand. They also proposed better coordination among county departments, nonprofit partners, employers and utilities through the housing council so projects do not duplicate efforts.

Supervisors praised the data-driven approach and called the planning "shovel ready" in places where infrastructure and documentation are complete. No formal county funding decision was made Feb. 4; supervisors noted the timing aligned with internal county planning about allocation of recovery funds and said staff will engage with foundation representatives as funding allocation discussions advance.