The Sutter County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to defer certain development impact fees to support construction of Richland Village, a long-planned affordable housing complex in Yuba City, county officials said Friday.
The project, located at 470 Bernard Drive, will feature 133 apartments in six three-story buildings, along with a two-story community center that includes a meeting space, staff offices, a computer area, laundry room and recreation areas.
“This project is thankfully coming to be,” County Administrator Steve Smith said at the meeting. “The Richland Village site is located approximately a quarter mile from a bus route with service projected to be every 30 minutes during peak hours. It’s a great location.”
Richland Village will serve low-income families. Twenty percent of units are reserved for households earning 30% of the area median income (AMI), 40% for those at 50% AMI and 39% for those at 60% AMI. One unit is reserved for an on-site manager. In Sutter, Yuba and Colusa counties, the AMI is $87,900 as of 2024, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
Supervisors approved a loan agreement with the Regional Housing Authority (RHA), the project’s developer, to defer up to about $344,000 in impact fees over a 55-year term. The deal will not immediately affect the county’s general fund, and repayment will be spread across the loan period.
In 2021, the RHA asked the county to delay the fees to make the development more competitive for grants and tax credits, officials said in the press release. Supervisors expressed their commitment to the loan agreement in February that year, and finalized the request at Tuesday’s meeting.
The approval comes after Yuba City City Council voted Aug. 19 to provide another $1.5 million to the project, bringing the city’s total contribution to $2.5 million.
Richland Village’s $67.2 million budget also includes $30 million from the state Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program, $7.5 million from an Infill Infrastructure Grant, about $2 million in low-income housing tax credits, $1 million from RHA, $900,000 from the California Energy Commission and roughly $23 million in tax-exempt bonds through the California Municipal Financial Authority.
With financing now complete, officials expect construction to break ground in October.
“We are pleased that the county’s fee deferral has helped obtain the grant funding needed to secure this vital housing for the community,” said Supervisor Dan Flores.