what is the City of Big Bear Lake up to

Like nearly all desirable outdoor recreation communities, the City of Big Bear Lake is

experiencing a shortage of workforce housing units.

Please find out about Big Bear's 10 year plan - https://www.citybigbearlake.com/index.php/departments/planning-inspections/planning/2-uncategorised/442-housing-element-update

This shortage is likely the result of increasing residential property values, high demand for

second homes utilized by the owner, high demand for vacation rentals, and a regulatory

framework that may discourage the construction of new affordable residential units. As a result,

some permanent residents have been forced to relocate away from Big Bear Lake, and many

local businesses have and continue to experience difficulty retaining existing employees and

recruiting new employees.

The City Council has identified workforce housing as a top priority, and Council and City staff

have recently discussed various potential strategies to increase the supply of workforce housing,

including:

 the provision of certain City-owned parcels for development of new multi-family

residential housing units,

 potential Development Code amendments to increase residential density and thereby

promote the construction of new multi-family residential units,

 potential rezoning of blighted commercial properties for multi-family residential use,

 an increase in the transient occupancy tax rate, with proceeds earmarked for workforce

housing initiatives,

 the purchase of deed restrictions from existing home owners to require units to be used

perpetually for permanent resident housing,

 offering subsidies to residential unit owners and/or long-term renters to promote the use

of housing units for permanent resident housing, and

 partnerships to encourage large employers to purchase and/or lease housing for their

workforce.

City staff continue to pursue several of these strategies, and I expect to present viable initiatives

to the City Council as / when these initiatives are more fully developed in the future. As

discussed during the Council’s recent review of the Draft 2021-2029 Housing Element, it is

critical that the City move forward soon with initiatives that will make an actual, meaningful

difference in our community.