CCMIN 05182021 - Laserfiche WebLink

12. Introduction of the 2023-2031 (6th RHNA Cycle) Housing Element Update and 6th Cycle Regional Housing Needs Allocation process including the draft public participation plan Director of Community Development Ellen Clark explained this is the beginning of an 18-month process to comprehensively update the City's Housing Element. She advised the most challenging portion is planning for and identifying sites to accommodate a projected 5,695 future housing units allocated as part of the State and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) allocation process over eight years from 2023-31. Director Clark introduced the team of Associate Planner Jennifer Hagen, Senior Planner Shweta Bonn, Lisa Wise Consulting (LWC) President Lisa Wise, LWC Senior Associate Jen Murillo, and LWC Director David Bergman. She introduced the presentation's agenda noting a few of the topics that have been touched on by the City Council over the past few months. She advised they will particularly be seeking City Council's direction on the Draft Public Participation Plan (PPP) and key planning considerations pivotal to the group's overall discussion throughout the process. Ms. Wise noted the extensive experience of Mr. Bergman and Ms. Murillo working with a variety of cities and expressed pride in the team LWC assigned to Pleasanton. She reported LWC's core service is combining civic planning with economic analysis for the City's benefit. She advised they have worked on 30 Housing Elements for cities Statewide and have already been working with the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on behalf of several other cities for this sixth cycle. Ms. Murillo reported LWC is working within State legislative framework for the Housing Element. She advised it is intended to require jurisdictions to do their fair share around planning for adequate affordable housing. She noted it recognizes housing as a critical need requiring government and private sector collaboration for construction at different affordability levels. She explained cities are not required to build or initiate housing projects but rather ensure zoning capacity exists to build housing. Ms. Murillo explained the Housing Element is a State-mandated requirement of a City's General Plan. She advised the Housing Element must be updated every eight years and certified by the State. She advised the Housing Element must include a review of the current housing cycle, a housing needs assessment, an inventory of adequate sites, an assessment of housing resources, an assessment of housing constraints, and an implementation plan. Ms. Murillo reported a significant amount of applicable State legislation has been passed over the years since Pleasanton's last Housing Element update. She highlighted 2017's Assembly Bill (AB) 1397 which applies more scrutiny to the sites a city may include in the inventory. She discussed 2017's Senate Bill (SB) 166 requires cities to maintain adequate sites throughout the housing period known as "no net loss" and now applies to each housing category individually. She advised 2018's AB 686 required by the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) requires local jurisdictions to affirmatively further fair housing in non-segregating communities, including lower-income, and disperse them throughout the City. She mentioned 2017's SB 72 allows HCD to review any action or inaction inconsistent with a jurisdiction's Housing Element subjecting the City to fines or other punishments. Ms. Murillo provided a brief overview of RHNA noting the Bay Area must plan for 441,176 new housing units at a variety of affordability levels in the upcoming sixth cycle and advised ABAG distributes shares of this sum to each jurisdiction. She noted ABAG's methodology has been confirmed by the State and the official draft allocations will be released to jurisdictions soon. She noted there is an appeal window before the numbers become final in late 2021. Ms. Murillo reported the estimated RHNA for Pleasanton is 5,965 units comprised of 2,313 above- moderate income units, 894 moderate-income units, 1,008 low-income units, and 1,750 very-low- income units. She compared the 5,965-unit expectation to the 2,067 asked of Pleasanton in the current fifth cycle and the 4,148 units asked for during the fourth cycle. She noted RHNA numbers were City Council Minutes Page 3 of 10 May 18. 2021