A group of Carmel residents is determined to find affordable housing they can support.

After Carmel barely made a deadline in April to turn into the state their eight-year housing plan, known as a housing element, some residents became alarmed that the plan to add a required 349 units in the tiny village included a provision that commits the city to building 149 units of very low – to low-income units on city-owned parking lots, including at the Sunset Center.

It’s the exact opposite of what residents repeatedly told the Carmel City Council they wanted, says former councilmember Victoria Beach.

“The idea of clumping people who are lower-income together is a discredited housing strategy,” she says.

Beach and others began looking for a solution to satisfy the California Department of Housing and Community Development, which certified Carmel’s housing element. They named themselves Affordable Housing Alternatives and in July the council gave the go-ahead for the city’s Community Planning and Building department to collaborate with AHA.

At a joint community meeting of about 50 people held on Aug. 21, AHA members presented four possible alternatives to adding the “magic number” of 149 units: creating more accessory dwelling units and junior ADUs; converting small hotels into housing; building above commercial sites; and adding units to church properties. Beach says a combination of these ideas could allow the city to reach its goal.

While some residents in attendance were still in denial that the city must meet the state’s housing requirements or wanted to load up on ADUs and junior ADUs in name only, others urged their neighbors to be welcoming to the workers who commute to the city daily because there is nowhere affordable to live in Carmel.

AHA members hope to create a viable plan by next year. Under Carmel’s current housing element, the city is required to release by December 2025 a request for proposals for developers who might be interested in constructing units on city parking lots.