Carmel-by-the-Sea community addresses how to bring affordable housing to community in Wednesday meeting

CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, Calif. (KION-TV) - People in Carmel-by-the-Sea came together Wednesday night to figure out how to bring affordable housing to their community.

The meeting, hosted by Affordable Housing Alternatives and the city, focused on finding new affordable housing sites and enhancing existing programs. It’s all in an effort to remove two city-owned sites, Sunset Center and Vista Lobos, from the housing element and not use the two for additional housing.

“This comes with an extreme sense of urgency to find replacements due to a looting 2025, RFP deadline for the city on sites development proposals," Tim Twomey with Affordable Housing Alternatives said.

Some of the options presented include ADUs, a hotel-to-residential conversion program, converting space downtown, as well as housing on church-owned properties. The city will need to add 149 affordable housing units in order to comply with state requirements and remove those two city sites.

Much of the discussion focused on how it will impact existing residents and businesses

“It's not just about the residents, it's about your small businesses, your cute little coffee shops, and your galleries, your artists. So I just, I implore you to think about us too," one person said during public comment.

Many people also interested in the idea of ADUs on their properties and how it would be implemented. However, some also bringing up some concerns during the meeting about some being vacant.

In terms of the next steps, Affordable Housing Alternatives plans to update City Council in September, then provide a draft of viable alternative by October.