PREPARED BY: LIBBY TYLER DATE OF MEETING: 09/05/23
SUBJECT:
TITLE
UPDATE ON SAN PABLO HOUSING ELEMENT APPROVAL PROCESS
CEQA: An administrative update on an ongoing city plan is not considered to be a project under CEQA. Environmental review of the Housing Element pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is underway and will be completed and presented for review and approval prior to the City’s adoption of the Housing Element Update, following completion of review by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
Label
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
For Informational Purposes Only
Body
COMPLIANCE STATEMENTS
FY 2023-25 Council Priority Workplan Compliance Statement
Build a Healthy Community, Enhance Community Resilience, and Expand Housing Options are Top Council Priorities contained in the FY 2023-25 City Council Adopted Workplan, effective May 1, 2023, as amended. Update/Certify the General Plan 2040 and Housing Element is called out as Priority 301. Consistent with Priority 301.3, updating the Housing Element would also comply with the State-required next-cycle Regional Housing Needs Allocation requirements.
BACKGROUND
The General Plan is a state-required long-range policy document that provides guidance to decision makers regarding the allocation of resources, and the future physical form and character of development for cities. San Pablo’s General Plan was last comprehensively updated in 2011 by the Oakland-based consulting firm of Dyett & Bhatia The Housing Element is an element of the General Plan that is required by the State of California to be updated periodically on an eight-year cycle in association with the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) process. The current Housing Element was last updated in 2015 with the assistance of the Berkeley-based firm of Baird + Driskell. The due date for completion of the next cycle Housing Element update for all Bay Area communities was January 31, 2023.
Following the successful procurement of a series of competitive state and regional grants to fund the necessary work during 2019 and 2020, and COVID-related delays in obtaining the funding, the City began its substantive work on an update to its General Plan and the next cycle Housing Element on March 15, 2021 with the City Council’s adoption of Resolution 2021-025 accepting grant funds and authorizing the City Manager to enter into an agreement with Dyett & Bhatia for necessary planning services. Concurrent work on the General Plan Update and Housing Element has proceeded continuously and has resulted in numerous background documents, public outreach efforts and updates to the Planning Commission and City Council.
The City met the statutory deadline to provide a first Draft 2023-2031 Housing Element update to the California Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) by September 30, 2022. The first Draft Housing Element was made available on the City’s website on August 19, 2022 at: <https://www.sanpabloca.gov/2804/General-Plan-Housing-Element-Update> and was available for the required 30 day public review period from August 19, 2022 to September 19, 2022. The Planning Commission held a public hearing on the draft on August 30, 2022 and the City Council held a public hearing on September 19, 2022. The first submittal Draft Housing Element was submitted to HCD for review on September 30, 2022.
State law allows the HCD up to 90 days to review the City’s first draft submittal. The HCD review letter was dated December 27, 2022 and received by the City on January 3, 2023 (copy attached). This letter notes that the City has complied with many of the statutory requirements for the Housing Element, but requests additional analysis and information needed to fully comply with State Housing Element Law. These requests are documented in an 11-page appendix with more than 60 separate items that the City must address in a resubmittal to HCD before HCD will certify the updated Housing Element.
Following an extensive period of revision, review, and consultation, the consultant has completed a second draft of the Housing Element. City staff and the consultant will be consulting with HCD staff on August 31, 2023 before finalizing the second draft for submittal, with the goal of having this second draft be in a form that HCD determines is compliant and certifiable.
For this second and any subsequent drafts, the City must post the revision on the City’s website and notify interested parties at least seven days prior to the City’s submittal of the draft to HCD. Once submitted, the HCD will have 60 days to review the second (or any subsequent) draft and provide additional comments and requests for revisions. Additional public hearings and public comments shall also be provided. Once HCD has provided the City with a letter stating that the Housing Element substantially complies with state law, it may be considered for adoption by the City Council. Thereafter, staff will submit the adopted Housing Element to HCD for a final review and certification to occur within 90 days.
Approach
As set forth in a previous memorandum from Community Director Tyler to City Manager Rodriguez dated February 14, 2023 and shared with the City Council on February 21, 2023, in order to expedite the revisions to the Draft Housing Element, City staff proposed a revised approach to the larger General Plan/Housing Element update project to help keep efforts focused on the Housing Element revisions and other statutorily required updates. This approach breaks the City’s General Plan updates and implementation into three phases as follows:
• Phase I - Housing Element, Environmental Justice Element, and minor necessary text amendment to Safety Element. For CEQA compliance, an Addendum to the previously prepared General Plan EIR will be prepared for this phase.
• Phase II - Land Use Element, other updates to the General Plan, and Rumrill Corridor Plan. For CEQA compliance, a second environmental Addendum will be prepared.
• Phase III - Amendments to zoning ordinance, zoning maps, and other implementation actions to occur to implement the General Plan update described above. This phase is anticipated to be completed largely by City of San Pablo staff, rather than the consultant team. [Note, the second draft Housing Element contains 55 implementation programs] Revised Anticipated Schedule
At the last update to City Council presented on February 21, 2023, it was anticipated that a public hearing and adoption of a compliant and certifiable Housing would occur by July 2023. This timeline was not able to be met due to the extent of revisions required and difficulty in accessing substantive intermediary reviews from HCD.
A revised anticipated schedule is provided below:
Phase I (Housing, Environmental Justice, Safety):
• August 31, 2023: Meet with HCD to determine readiness for submittal of draft revised Draft Housing Element.
• September 11, 2023: Release revised Draft Housing Element for 7-day public review/comment period. [Note - schedule assumes only minor revisions requested by HCD at August 31, 2023 consultation]
• September 18, 2023: Resubmit revised draft Housing Element to HCD for review (up to 60-day review).
• October 9, 2023: Consultant submits administrative draft Public Health/Environmental Justice Element to City for review.
• November 13, 2023: Consultant submits administrative draft CEQA Addendum to City for review.
• November 20, 2023 (or before): HCD completes review of Housing Element.
• December 19, 2023 (or other special meeting): Planning Commission Hearing on revised Housing Element/Environmental Justice Element.
• January 8, 2024: City Council Hearing and adoption of Housing/Environmental Justice Element.
• January - February, 2024 TBD: City Council Housing Policy Workshop.
Phase II (Land Use, Rumrill, other elements): January - June 2024
Phase III (Implementation): June 2024 - April 2025
NOTE: SCHEDULE WILL MODIFY IF HCD REQUIRES A THIRD OR SUBSEQUENT SUBMITTAL
FISCAL IMPACT
Certification of the Housing Element will result in the removal of the potential risk of losing grant funding and grant funding opportunities that can occur in communities that do not have a certified Housing Element. Completion of the General Plan/Housing Element Update will result in positive fiscal impacts on the City over time in that it will result in changes to zoning designations and regulations that will help to promote additional housing production and other property investments in San Pablo, where current plans and regulations may be posing barriers to development. This will result in increased property taxes for the City and will help to protect State funding that can be threatened if RHNA allocations are not met.