CC SR 20230307 02 - Housing Element Update Report
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 03/07/2023
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Regular Business
AGENDA TITLE:
Consideration and possible action to receive a status report on the City’s 6th Cycle
Housing Element Update.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Receive and file a status report on completing the City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element
Update.
FISCAL IMPACT: None
Amount Budgeted: N/A
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): N/A
ORIGINATED BY: Octavio Silva, Interim Director of Community Development
REVIEWED BY: Same as below
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
The following attachments can be viewed via the links embedded in the staff report:
• Resolution No. 2022-49 – City Council-adopted Housing Element
• 6th Cycle Housing Element and associated Negative Declaration
• Potential Housing Sites Inventory
• October 2022 HCD letter finding the 6th Cycle Housing Element to be noncompliant
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION:
Each city, pursuant to Government Code §65300, is required to prepare and adopt a
General Plan for its jurisdiction with certain mandatory elements, including a Housing
Element. The Housing Element, which is required to be updated every eight years,
consists of: (a) an identification and analysis of existing and projected housing needs,
including the local government’s share of the regional housing needs; (b) an inventory of
resources and constraints relevant to meeting those needs; and (c) a program showing a
five-year schedule of actions to be taken to implement the Housing Element, including
how the local government plans to meet its share of the regional housing needs.
1
In August 2022, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2022-49, adopting the City’s
new 6th Cycle Housing Element and associated environmental review, which included a
Negative Declaration. The Housing Element includes the policies, strategies, and actions
to facilitate the construction of new housing and the preservation of existing housing
throughout the City for the planning period of 2021-2029. More specifically, the document
outlines the plan to accommodate the City’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment
(RHNA) allocation of a total of 639 new housing units in various income categories over
the planning period. In addition, the Housing Element also accommodates eight lower -
income units that that were carried over from the last planning period (2013-2021), for a
total of 647 new housing units throughout the City. The housing unit breakdown by income
category is as follows:
• Lower 400 units (minimum 30 dwelling units (d.u)/ acre required)
• Moderate 125 units (Higher density sites)
• Above Moderate 122 units (Sites zoned for densities less than30 d.u./acre)
It is important to note that the Housing Element only provides the regulatory framework
to accommodate and support the construction of new housing units; the document does
not, however, propose or approve any site construction. Future development of any
housing will require site-specific analysis andenvironmental review.
The adoption of the Housing Element was a result of a comprehensive process that
involved a joint study session with the City Council and Planning Commission in August
2021. The study session was followed by the completion of an extensive community
outreach effort that included both in-person and virtual events along with the issuance of
a community-wide survey. The input collected from this process assisted in the
development of the Housing Element’s Potential Housing Sites Inventory, which is a
listing of 30 properties in the City that can accommodate the City’s RHNA allocation. The
Potential Housing Sites Inventory includes properties throughout the City including
commercial corridors and vacant/underutilized lots, so as to avoid the concentration of
new housing units in any one area of the City.
The adopted Housing Element was subsequently forwarded to the California Department
of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for compliance review with state housing
law. In October 2022, HCD notified, via a letter, the City’s Community Development
Department that although the adopted Housing Element met many of the statutory
requirements, the document was ultimately not found to be in compliance. As part of its
review, HCD outlined additional document corrections required to be completed in order
to achieve compliance. HCD corrections include, but are not limited to, providing support
information related to affirmatively furthering fair housing efforts and clarifying the realistic
capacity of residential redevelopment outlined in the City’s Housing Element. Based on
this determination, the City’s Housing Element update process for the 6th Cycle is not yet
complete.
2
In order to revise the document and resubmit it back to HCD, Staff must a) address HCD
comments on the City’s adopted Housing Element; and b) complete the rezoning of the
properties identified in the Potential Housing Sites Inventory.
A consequence of not having an adopted housing element within the statutory deadline
of October 2021 is that cities must rezone to accommodate RHNA within one year of the
deadline. As such, the rezoning of the City’s Housing Sites Inventory must be completed
prior to HCD deeming the resubmitted housing element to be in compliance with state
housing law. While Staff, along with the City’s housing consultant, Environmental
Sciences Associates, has continuously met with HCD representatives to discuss progress
on the Housing Element resubmittal and to address HCD’s comments, the Planning
Division does not anticipate an informal review of the revised Housing Element with HCD
representatives until this spring. HCD is requesting an informal review occur before an
updated version of the Housing Element is presented to the City Council again for
adoption, to ensure that their comments have been sufficiently addressed.
With respect to the rezoning effort, Staff is also working with another housing consultant,
Dudek, on the preparation of compliance measures associated with the 20 housing
programs identified in the City’s adopted Housing Element; two of the programs which
require rezoning activities. More specifically, Dudek will be completing the Mixed-Use
Overlay District along some of the City’s commercial corridors and zoning districts, and
the rezoning of vacant/underutilized properties throughout the City to accommodate for
more housing density as outlined in the City’s adopted Housing Element. The Planning
Division anticipates presenting draft rezoning information to the public this spring followed
by formal consideration by the Planning Commission and City Council as part of public
hearings. With the rezoning of the properties completed, the revised Housing Element is
anticipated to be resubmitted to HCD for a formal 60-day review of the document this
summer.
Local governments have much to lose if they fail to bring their housing elements into
compliance with state requirements. With a staff of 25 in its new Housing Accountability
Unit, HCD is resourced and ready to enforce state mandates on local housing plans and
policies. In April 2021, HCD provided guidance to cities and counties by statng that it is
authorized to “review any action or failure to act by a local government (that it finds)
inconsistent with an adopted housing element or housing element law. This includes
failure to implement program actions included in the housing element. HCD may revoke
housing element compliance if the local government’s actions to not comply with state
law.” Noncompliant housing elements could also impact local general plans, as they are
a required part of these foundational blueprints for land use planning . Localities that fail
to comply are subject to a range of penalties, including:
• Loss of permitting authority
• Streamlined ministerial approval process
• Lawsuits and attorney fees
• Financial penalties
• Court receivership
3
ADDITIONAI INFORMATION:
South Bay Cities Housing Element Compliance
Of the sixteen cities in the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (including Los
Angeles), five cities have certified housing elements including the Cities of Hawthorne,
Lomita, Rolling Hills, Redondo Beach and Torrance.
CONCLUSION:
The 6th Cycle Housing Element Update has proven to be an arduous process unlike any
of the previous planning periods, with many local governments in the region still
navigating their way to achieving compliance. Rancho Palos Verdes continues to
demonstrate a good-faith effort to comply with state housing law via ongoing discussions
with HCD and the contracting of services to complete housing program requirements.
Staff is confident that the plan outlined above paves the way for compliance with HCD
and for the future of housing in the City.
4