UKIAH, CA., 10/14/26 — Ukiah has eight years to make room for 1,500 new homes, and the city wants residents to help decide where they should go.
City planners will run a booth at PumpkinFest this weekend and hold a workshop Oct. 29 to gather ideas for the city’s next housing plan, called the housing element. Every California city has to write one, and the state has to approve it.
“The State is requiring the City of Ukiah plan for the construction of 1,500 new housing units in the next eight years,” Craig Schlatter, Ukiah’s community development director, said in a news release Tuesday. “We encourage the community to engage with us in determining how this can be accomplished, as well as sharing ideas and input about housing in Ukiah.”
That’s more than six times Ukiah’s target for the current eight-year cycle, 2019 to 2027, which was 239 homes. The city says it’s on track to meet and pass that one.
The state set a total of 6,456 homes for Mendocino County, and the Mendocino Council of Governments split that total among the county and its four cities. Ukiah appealed its share. The council of governments’ board turned the appeal down 4-2 on Aug. 24.
More than half of Ukiah’s 1,500 homes, 836, are meant for lower-income households. Another 145 are for moderate-income households and 519 are for households above that.
Fire maps changed recently. The council of governments’ final housing plan says 1,443 acres in Ukiah are now rated Very High fire hazard, a 272% increase. That puts nearly half the city in the zone. The plan says the area hit hardest “encompasses much of the remaining land within the city available for housing development.”
City staff are writing the plan themselves. A first draft is due Nov. 30, and the state must approve the final version by Aug. 15, 2027.
The PumpkinFest booth will be at Alex R. Thomas Plaza on Saturday, Oct. 17, and Sunday, Oct. 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The workshop is Thursday, Oct. 29, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Chenin Blanc Room at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center, 200 S. School St. Spanish translation will be available.
Written comments can go to [email protected], or by mail to City of Ukiah Planning Division, Attn: Housing Element, 300 Seminary Ave., Ukiah, CA 95482.
The city’s housing element page asks: “Where should these units be constructed? Should zoning and/or density limitations be changed to facilitate construction?”
yea!
more low to no income appartments,
i mean “homes” in ukiah
thats exactly what ukiah needs
more low to no income people, getting govt money
to live in taxpayer funded homes, i mean appartments
no annexation = no sfr growth = more inpoverished people crammed into even smaller areas
at least theyll be able to stumble, oops i meant walk
to free crack pipes, i mena injection alternatives
and needles. those are just one time use meth and fetty needles
but dont worry, im sure they share anyway
sharing is caring, just ask donny boy
its almost as if being a total failure is like super cool
14,000 crack pipes, i mena injection alternatives handed out last year in pukiah about 100 returned
15,000 syringes given out last year
about half returned so thats good
one could even say its a syringe half full
dont worry, im sure the remaining ones were disposed of properly,
by that i mean in the creek or parking lot near you.
my dog stepped on one last year and stuck him in the paw,
dont dispair, we solved the problem. he wears botties now so all good
so much winning
I believe that you are saying that you are better than though, well then I have to let you know my idea and I say that we start on the place where you reside and start building your home into a skyscraper where there would be nice little studio apartments where people could live but they are coming into your place where we built upwards from and that is where the stairs for getting up to the studio apartments that your article you posted on here gave me the idea of building above you and I want to say thank you for giving me the good idea for building some housing for all the good people who mentioned in your article that I figured that you were help them. Thank you again
Get rid of the democrats. Save California VOTE FOR STEVE HILTON
there isnt much of a differnece between the two crappy “options” offer to
ca voters
they both answer to insurance companies
banks and wall street
geo group and wackenhut
ironically dear leader Harris
put 10s if thousands of non violent “cannabis criminals”
in prison
and Donny boy legalized it and
has medicare paying for it as the medicine it can be
no wonder mendocono is turning into a red county
with friends like Dear Leader Harris and Greasy Gaving
who needs enemies
Simple
Build a big 1500 apartment barrack
(soviet style) as far away from the actual city as possible. Satisfy the socialists in Sacramento that YOU voted for.
You DO know who’s going to be living there, right???
Anyone under 40 who is attempting to stay in Ukiah, be closer to family, and work hard, CANNOT AFFORD HOUSING. It’s absolutely silly to make comments without doing proper research. Another huge contributing factor as to why Ukiah’s economy is no longer booming is due to boomers not retiring and there are no jobs locally that pay a decent amount to live comfortably. Myself and many others included, have multiple college degrees and cannot get paid nearly the amount we can get offered elsewhere. What is the point in staying in a dying/retirement town if the retirees dont welcome the new generation of graduates? No one can afford a single home here on a single income anymore. Not anywhere in the U.S! Last I calculated, it took a single mom with one kid to make AT LEAST $48 an hour in order to afford the average rent in this county. 🙃 Do you realize how much one needs in order to pay rent?! Slumlords here are asking 3x the amount of rent for income requirements. The average pay people are getting in this town is $19 an hr.
Remember, low income housing now is middle class. Two incomes is not enough even for me to ever own a home here unless it is outside of city limits. Low income housing will help our younger generation be able to live on their own, go to Community College here, add jobs, growth, and economical value! If you don’t want businesses to develop or for the city to reopen long closed businesses and grow financially…then how about you retire elsewhere? Bye👋🏾
South of town across from the athletic club. Build a big park too, with bathrooms and have Saturdays in the park there.
I really don’t think there is only 16000 people no way there has so many people that have moved to ukiah I am saying more like 25000 plus we def need some more housing so there will be more places to live housing here is limited
Good question where can 1500 new homes feasibly be built in Ukiah ? Well let’s look at the history of housing built in Ukiah. The last influx of new homes were built on lake Mendocino drive called the west fork construction started in 2001 after a long court battle between contractors premeire properties and a fight with the mendo BOS over development in a flood zone final construction completed in 2003 of 125 new homes which were very much needed . Now today there are several options for development the 1# prospect is between Orr springs road and lovers lane which would require access from Masonite frontage road off Orr springs. This area could support 600 new single family homes. Next location would be Babcock lane between Gobbi st and talmage road access would be tricky but the acreage could support possible 300 homes? And last but not least why not relocate the Ukiah airport and develop the land into housing it is close to retail Costco the airport etc and could easily support 400 homes. As for the other 200? Maybe out by Redwood health club? It seems like options are limited in the deep valley. Lots of hills here. That is my opinion as a long time resident of ukiah. I remember the drive inn and also remember when McDonalds came to town on Perkins and orchard. Ukiah is a bedroom community to Sonoma county let’s face the facts Ukiah has been sitting quietly to the north of a bohemiath county Santa Rosa where housing is a no growth zone also Marin county to the south and let’s not forget San Francisco all these counties face the same issues of a state wide housing shortage . I am sure there city planners and hired consultants are scratching there heads to scramble to meet Californias population growing . Ukiah has one thing going for it green trees and timberlands people working with there hands Ukiah. Woah woah 😊 Think 🤔 about it I know people are going to dislike the ideas I presented of the large swaths of land available in Ukiah but it is limited because years ago and days old when no growthers were city council officials for years blocking any and all logical planning only wanted Ukiah to remain under 6000 residents max now that number is tripled and is going to even get quadrupled so it is a good idea the city planners are seeking input. They can’t just send people up to brooktrails and put the burden on Willits have you ever tried to find an address in the outskirts of brooktrails at night in the fog ?
Babcock is private property already and notorious for flooding. It’s right next to the river. I like your airport idea better, but where would the airport go?
There are some places in town and in downtown where some higher density units could be placed. Move some of the Auto repairs shops (and tow yard) out of the downtown core area and place them closer to the freeways. Put in some higher density condos/apartments within walking distance to the major shopping markets. The huge parking lot near the regal theatre could be higher density condos with mixed retail development. The old palace hotel parcel could be market condo/lofts with mixed retail below on the ground level. There is open land still over off Perkins where some opportunity for more higher density condos and apartments can be built. The old burnt out commercial building off North state St with all those rinky-dink buildings (still inside the county) could be turned into a mixed use development with apartments or condos. It would be walking distance to the grocery outlet and Raley’s. Maybe it could bring the old Carl’s Jr. parcel back to life. Perhaps add a pocket park for outdoor use.
R1 housing in volume by itself isn’t going to happen here. A sizeable portion of higher density housing inside Ukiah, especially in some of the under used parcels, would already be attached to utilities, sidewalks, roads and close to police, fire, and commercial services. The outer portions of the deep valley are in fire prone areas and need additional infrastructure to be done properly.
Is there enough water to support all of these new residences?
Internet says roughly 150 – 600 acre feet of water for 1500 houses depending on whether these are high density or R1 suburb houses.
Short answer is yes.
I know the comments I make will not make it into your thread, but here goes, anyway. Build houses up off the fertile valley soil, develop homes on the high hills, keep the agriculture land from getting paved over. Grow crops and food, not roads parking.
Maybe the American Indian reservation elders may have some helpful insight I appreciate the opportunity for the residents to give opinion
I think they should build the house over on the other side of orr Creek Commons across the street to here is a bunch of empty fields like behind khols all the way back to by the storage unit and then back up by the fair grounds area
There’s not a lot of space for more low income housing. Too many stack and pack already. Figured they would put more housing in the pear orchard, since our Ag land is being replaced with housing. How can this be justified when they’re taking out water storage dams to our detriment? South of town is better if we must. No housing in the hills. What about police and fire to protect all the homes? We can’t support this sprawl.
Ukiah, in its current form, can’t do large R1 housing; for one it has been restricted by anti-annexation advocates reducing its scope of potential development and the cost to sprawl has extensive infrastructure concerns including insurability by property insurance companies. There is room in town for some higher density housing. It would be far more applicable to build up the downtown area with many lots being under used currently. It would bring customers closer to local commercial services and it remains close to the police and fire depts in town. Not to mention it would encourage more alternative transportation, like busing, bicycling, and walking. It may draw more business to the core portion of town with many more residences living within walking / bicycling distances to many commercial zones. God for bid these new residences might be able to work within blocks of where they live. No car needed.
Why are we designating only a small percentage of the new homes for middle income earners?
“The state set a total of 6,456 homes for Mendocino County, and the Mendocino Council of Governments split that total among the county and its four cities. Ukiah appealed its share. The council of governments’ board turned the appeal down 4-2 on Aug. 24.” – The Mendocino Government body designed it that way…