SANTA CRUZ >> A report due for a public hearing at 9 a.m. Wednesday describes the county’s current housing situation as a crisis.

The county Planning Commission, meeting in the basement cafeteria room at 1080 Emeline Ave., will take public input and send the report, known as the draft housing element 2016-2023, to the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 4.

In her introduction to the 200-page report, county planning chief Kathy Previsich lists four top concerns: the escalating cost of rental housing, the shortage of rental housing, single-family dwellings making up 72 percent of the county’s housing stock, and locating new development where it will contribute to the community’s environmental and financial sustainability.

The average cost of a two-bedroom rental home in March was $2,211, up 2.5 percent in a year and up 25 percent in six years, according to a survey by UC Santa Cruz, where enrollment last fall was 17,900.

The report concludes major development “should take place in existing urban neighborhoods,” on or near transportation corridors such as Soquel Drive, Soquel Avenue, Seventh and 17th avenues, Brommer Street and Portola Drive, as in the Sustainable Santa Cruz plan.

Another conclusion is encouragement is needed to produce housing such as multifamily complexes, accessory dwellings, and mixed-use development.

The county analysis found existing properties have the capacity for 17,000 potential new housing units, 45 percent of those being accessory dwellings, 16 percent on rural sites, 14 percent multifamily units, 14 percent farmworker housing and 11 percent in mixed-use developments.

The report forecasts 1,506 housing units could be built over the next seven years, 225 for those of moderate income, 725 for those above moderate income, and 426 for those whose incomes are low, very low or extremely low.

The midpoint or median county median income is $87,000 for a household of four while the median home price is hovering around $700,000.

Moderate income goes up to $104,400, extremely low income is up to $30,250, very low income is up to $50,400, and low income is up to $80,650.

Nearly 45,000 households are “overpaying” for a place to live, according to the county report, 53 percent of renters, 44 percent of homeowners and 85 percent of Latino households.

This means paying more than 30 percent of income for housing, a definition from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Overpaying for housing reduces community spending power because households have less discretionary income.

Regional planning agency AMBAG projects 3,044 housing units will be needed in Santa Cruz County between by 2023, allocated this way, 1,314 in unincorporated areas, 747 in the city of Santa Cruz, 700 in Watsonville, 143 in Capitola and 140 in Scotts Valley.

County planners acknowledge these numbers, an average of 188 per year for the county, will materialize only if private parties assembly the land and financing to build.

The county issued 234 permits for market-rate housing units, an average of 34 per year, between 2008 and 2014.

Though the economy has recovered somewhat and foreclosures are down dramatically, building permit applications remain “extremely low,” according to the county report, which adds, “At this time it is not known when building permit application rates will recover.”