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PC - Presentation on and Discussion of the Housing Element Update.
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Meeting Date: May 12, 2021
Contact Person/Dept: Ashley Hefner, Advance Planning Manager
Phone Number: (310) 253-5744
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date:
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - Planning Commission (05/07/2021), Notify Me - General Plan Update (05/06/2021)
Department Approval: Sol Blumenfeld, Community Development Director (05/03/2021)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Planning Commission receive a presentation on and discuss the Housing Element update.
BACKGROUND
The Housing Element of the City’s General Plan is the primary planning guide to identify and prioritize Culver City’s housing needs. It outlines goals, policies, and programs to meet these needs while balancing other community objectives and resources. Housing Elements are intended to support various housing types for all income groups, help develop lower and moderate-income housing, remove constraints to housing, conserve and improve existing housing, and promote fair housing opportunities.
Every eight years, the State of California requires local agencies to update their Housing Elements following the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) cycle. The City is currently preparing its 2021-2029 Housing Element for the General Plan Update (GPU) project to meet HCD’s mandated adoption deadline.
RHNA’s main goal is to ensure Housing Elements document the existing and projected housing needs for residents across all income levels in every community. The sixth RHNA cycle (2021-2029) represents a new paradigm in housing production planning across California and includes more substantial penalties for non-compliance. It also allocates more housing units to communities, especially in urban areas, to address California's housing crisis.
Factors that added to the housing crisis in past cycles include insufficient administrative and financial resources to support affordable housing production and a lack of penalties to compel local agencies to meet their allocations. The overall lack of housing production resulted in local agencies falling short of meeting their RHNA goals across the state. For example, while Culver City exceeded the allocation for above moderate-income levels in the fifth cycle, the City only met about 13% of units allocated for the moderate-, low-, and very low-income categories.
To make up for cities’ shortcomings in past cycles, the sixth cycle increases allocations and added stricter penalties. Specific to Culver City, the increased allocation in the sixth cycle totals 3,341 units compared to the fifth cycle allocation of 185 units. New penalties include HCD’s mandate that if a housing element is adopted after the 120-day grace period ending February 12, 2022, it must be updated in four years instead of eight. Assembly Bill 725 (AB 725) also added a new penalty, mandating that any housing element adopted on or after January 1, 2022, must allocate 25% of its RHNA share for moderate- and above moderate-income housing to sites zoned to support at least four on-site multi-family housing units.
A new requirement enacted since the last Housing Element update is Senate Bill 1000 (SB 1000). SB 1000 requires policies to ensure healthy and safe housing, such as addressing the presence of lead-based building materials, which has shown to be a factor in Culver City’s SB 1000 priority neighborhoods (portions of Clarkdale and Culver/West). This will be addressed in the General Plan’s Environmental Justice Element, and policies will be integrated with the Housing Element. SB 1000 and related topics will be covered at an upcoming workshop later this summer/fall.
DISCUSSION
Veronica Tam, from Veronica Tam and Associates (GPU housing subconsultant), and staff will lead the Planning Commission through a presentation and discussion on the following topics. Commissioners are encouraged to review related materials ahead of the meeting included as attachments and linked below.
• Housing Element and RHNA basics and requirements
• Brief review of the 2013-2021 Housing Element
• Community input to date on housing and the Housing Element
• Housing Element Guiding Principles adopted by City Council on April 12, 2021
• Existing housing programs
• Process/timeline
The Planning Commission is a critical body in the Housing Element update process, with the role of reviewing and making recommendations to the City Council concerning the adoption of the draft Housing Element. This is the first of four meetings with the Commission for the Housing Element Update. Key milestones are as follows:
• May 12: Planning Commission Housing Element Kickoff
• June 23: Planning Commission/City Council joint session on preferred land use map and development program (the map is needed to prepare the Housing Element sites inventory)
• July 8: General Plan Advisory Committee review draft Housing Element and anticipated Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND)
• July 28: Planning Commission review of draft Housing Element, IS/MND, and Guiding Principles summary
• September/October: HCD draft housing element 60-day review and IS/MND circulation
• November 10: Planning Commission review of HCD comments, recommend Housing Element adoption and IS/MND approval to City Council
• December 13: City Council Housing Element adoption and IS/MND approval
No action is being sought on the Housing Element Update at this meeting, and discussions do not have a legally binding effect on future discretionary actions.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
Environmental review will be conducted in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act. It is anticipated that an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) will be prepared and circulated.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
There is no fiscal impact associated with this item.
ATTACHMENTS
1. 2021-05-12_ATT_Existing 5th Cycle Housing Element
2. 2021-05-12_ATT_2019 Housing Existing Conditions Report
3. 2021-05-12_ATT_6th Cycle Housing Element Guiding Principles Resolution No. 2021-R034
4. 2021-05-12_ATT_Existing Housing Programs Matrix
5. 2021-05-12_ATT_Housing Technical Advisory Meeting #1 Summary
OTHER RESOURCE LINKS
1. 2019 Housing Existing Conditions Report Summary Video
- <https://youtu.be/aTuZ5LWBQYA>
2. GPAC Meeting #7 (Land Use, Design, and Housing) Materials
- <https://www.pictureculvercity.com/events-activities/gpac-meeting-7>
3. GPAC Meeting #8 (Areas of Change Part I) Materials
- <https://www.pictureculvercity.com/events-activities/gpac-meeting-8>
4. GPAC Meeting #10 (Areas of Change Part II) Materials
- <https://www.pictureculvercity.com/events-activities/gpac-meeting-10>
5. GPAC Meeting #15 (Alternatives) Materials
- https://www.pictureculvercity.com/events-activities/gpac-meeting-15
MOTION
None.