After escaping an abusive relationship with my father, my mother found safety for us by moving in with my grandparents when I was a baby. She was a single-parent with a full-time job, but she also had an autoimmune illness that caused her chronic fatigue.
My grandmother’s support ensured that my mom could work, rest, and raise me. I remember she would collapse on the bed upon returning home from work. I wanted interaction from her so badly after a day of missing her, but she was too tired to do anything but sleep. To this day, dusk still makes me sad, as I associate that time of day with the feeling of being let down.
When I was six, my grandmother became ill, and in her vulnerable and dependent state, my grandfather violently threw my mother and me out of the house. This placed us directly in the hands of the third abuser of my life: My soon-to-be stepfather. I’m not sure why we didn’t have a place to stay, but with this man, we slept in motels or in my mother’s car. I experienced things I’d fight to save any child from.
housing for all
Unfortunately, housing insecurity isn’t just about one person’s story. Stories like mine are very common but are drowned out by the flood of complex societal and personal issues people deal with every day. This is why the only approach to homelessness is one that considers all the stakeholders in a community.
Surviving in an economy like California’s is a delicate balancing act. If you’re single, good luck buying a home or paying rent with one income. If you have children, you’ll need two incomes to survive, and likely won’t have the option of one parent staying at home. If you’re a homeschooling family, you’ll need to make many sacrifices.
Trying to get a divorce? The proceeds from the joint home won’t qualify you for two separate homes. Skyrocketing tax and insurance rates? You may want to sell your house, but no one else can afford it either. And don’t you dare get sick or injured, too old to work, endure the death of a spouse, or lose your job.
We all know the reality of living in this “golden” state. Most of us don’t have a cushion that can carry us through a major negative life event.
rural housing Challenge
Rural communities like Nevada County are the “stepchildren” of California’s housing and land-use policies. Most housing grants focus on reducing “vehicle miles traveled” and supporting proximity to “high-quality transit.” We don’t qualify because we lack the commercial density to support close proximity to work, and our bus lines are sparse.
SB 35 removes the CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) process for affordable housing, streamlining development, but most projects must be “infill” development to bypass costly environmental review. In rural areas, most housing doesn’t fit the “infill” definition, so good luck getting an affordable housing project off the ground.
Despite the hurdles, through efforts like the Encampment Resolution Fund, Nevada County earned the state’s Housing and Community Development Prohousing Designation in 2025.
California Counties must adopt a mandatory 8-year housing element showing how they will meet the housing needs of everyone in the community. Failure to comply risks triggering the “Builders’ Remedy,” a mandate allowing developers to bypass local zoning codes and General Plans to propose projects at significantly higher densities than our rural character allows.
Passing the Alternative Housing/RV Dwelling Ordinance will likely score us points under “Category 3: Reduction of Construction and Development Costs” of the Prohousing Designation Program Application, because it utilizes private property, saving on land acquisition costs, and avoids both the “hard costs” and “soft costs” of new construction projects.
Maintaining our Prohousing Designation shows that we are proactive and helps put the power in the hands of individual property owners instead of the State.
The rural solution
I love Nevada County for its diversity of ideas and lifestyles. We don’t need the state telling us how to develop our land. Our planning department already does that.
The solution? Rural-style infill development: Individual property owners hosting permitted RVs as safe, legal, permanent housing.
As a homeowner on three acres, I feel there’s enough space where my neighbor’s business doesn’t become my bother.
That said, we must address the valid compliance concerns many of our community members share: Multiple illegal trailers on one lot, sometimes with open drug use and trash scattered everywhere; fire risks; lack of zoning code enforcement; and the list goes on. I wouldn’t want that in my neighborhood either.
I wholeheartedly agree that compliance could do much more to address unsafe and illegal trailers. Current compliance practices are reactive, daytime-only, and easy to evade. I know compliance can do more because we’ve all seen their aggressive cannabis compliance enforcement.
Rather than vote down safe and legal RVs with a density of one RV per 3+ acres, compliance issues need to be addressed so our neighbors feel safe in their neighborhoods.
The proposed Alternative/RV Housing Ordinance comes down to a marriage between compliance and property rights. Let’s replace the current lawlessness with documented safety. Let’s give property owners the option to safely use their surplus acreage to host just one legal RV.
The Nevada County Board of Supervisors will host a final public hearing and vote on the RV Ordinance at 1:30 p.m. March 10 at Rood Center.
I urge the Nevada County Board of Supervisors to vote in favor of the RV ordinance to continue Nevada County’s legacy of leading its own way in land-use decisions.
Liz Flores-Lathan is a Real Estate Salesperson, DRE# 01994153, with Link Brokerages, Inc. She is also a member of the No Place To Go Project Community Action Team. She may be contacted at liz@lizlathan.com. The No Place To Go Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocating social justice for unhoused, homeless and at-risk people. www.noplacetogoproject.org