Honorable Mayor and Members of the Hermosa Beach City Council
Adjourned Special Meeting of December 21, 2021
Title
CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERATION AND ADOPTION OF A COMPREHENSIVE AMENDMENT TO THE HOUSING ELEMENT OF THE HERMOSA BEACH GENERAL PLAN FOR THE 2021-2029 PLANNING PERIOD, AND A DETERMINATION THAT THE PROJECT IS EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT. THE HOUSING ELEMENT INCLUDES ANALYSIS OF THE COMMUNITY’S HOUSING NEEDS, OPPORTUNITIES AND CONSTRAINTS, AS WELL AS POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO FACILITATE THE CONSTRUCTION, REHABILITATION, AND PRESERVATION OF HOUSING FOR ALL ECONOMIC SEGMENTS OF THE COMMUNITY. ALL CITIES IN THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS REGION ARE REQUIRED TO PREPARE AN UPDATED HOUSING ELEMENT FOR THE 2021-2029 PLANNING PERIOD
(Continued from December 14, 2021)
(Community Development Director Ken Robertson)
Body
Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Staff recommends, and Planning Commission concurs, City Council:
1. Receive a staff presentation;
2. Hold a public hearing and solicit public comments; and
3. Adopt resolution to adopt the comprehensive Amendment to the Housing Element for the 2021-2029 Planning Period and authorize submission to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for certification.
Body
Executive Summary:
State law sets forth extensive requirements for Housing Elements and land use regulations related to housing. The 2021-2029 Housing Element was prepared to address these requirements. The Planning Commission reviewed this updated version of the Housing Element and its comments are included for City Council. Staff requests City Council authorization to submit the updated 2021-2029 Housing Element to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for certification. Subsequent public hearings would be held by the Planning Commission and City Council prior to implementation of the Housing Element Policies, including potential rezoning of any sites.
Background:
State law requires that each city adopt a General Plan to guide land use and development. Among the various “elements” of the General Plan is the Housing Element, which describes City policies and programs for maintaining and improving existing housing and accommodating development of new housing to meet the City’s assigned share of regional growth under the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (“RHNA”).
PLAN Hermosa was adopted in 2017 and has a “time horizon” of 25 years. However, State law requires that the Housing Element be updated every eight years. Housing Element planning periods are sometimes referred to as “cycles.” The City’s current Housing Element covers the planning period 2013 to 2021, which is referred to as the “5th Housing Element cycle” in reference to the five required updates that have occurred since the comprehensive revision to State Housing Element law in 1980. Every city in the Southern California Association of Governments (“SCAG”) region is required to prepare a Housing Element update for the 6th planning cycle, which spans the 2021-2029 period, regardless of when the other elements of the General Plan were adopted. The due date for the 6th Housing Element update was October 15, 2021. The City submitted a Draft Housing Element on August 6, 2021 and received the HCD Comment Letter requesting additional information and analyses on October 5, 2021.
Analysis:
Staff, working with consultant John Douglas of JHD Planning LLC, has completed a revised Housing Element for review by the City Council and consideration of its adoption. If approved, Staff would submit the revised 2021-2029 Housing Element to the State HCD. After the State review and receipt of HCD comments and certification, public hearings would be scheduled with the Planning Commission and City Council prior to implementation of the programs according to the schedule outlined in the Housing Element Policy Plan.
November 16, 2021 Planning Commission Meeting
On November 16, 2021, the Planning Commission considered the revised Housing Element to address HCD requests for additional information and analyses from its letter to the City dated October 5, 2021. Staff reviewed and revised the Housing Element in accordance with the requested information. The Planning Commission recommended changes to expedite the timeline of programs 7 and 8 of the Housing Policy Plan. The feasibility studies for Program 7 Land Value Recapture and Program 8 Housing Trust Funds are revised to be conducted concurrently with Program 9 Adequate Sites to Accommodate Housing Needs, including selection of sites to be rezoned by October 2022 and amendments to the PLAN Hermosa General Plan and Zoning Code for selected sites by 2024.
Revised 2021-2022 Housing Element
The 2021-2029 Housing Element (Attachments 3 and 4) follows a similar format as the City’s current Housing Element and is divided into two volumes:
Housing Policy Plan
• An Introduction providing background information and context for the Housing Element (Chapter I)
• Housing policies and programs for the 2021-2029 planning period (Chapter II)
Housing Element Technical Report
• Housing Needs Assessment-an analysis of the City's demographic and housing characteristics, trends, and special needs (Chapter I)
• An evaluation of resources and opportunities available to address housing issues (Chapter II)
• A review of governmental and non-governmental constraints to meeting housing needs (Chapter III)
• A review of accomplishments during the previous planning period (Appendix A)
• An inventory of the potential sites for housing development (Appendix B)
• A summary of opportunities for public participation during the preparation and adoption of the Housing Element (Appendix C)
• Contributing Factors to Fair Housing Issues (Appendix D)
The most important part of the Housing Element is the Housing Policy Plan because it describes the City’s policies, programs, and objectives for the 2021-2029 planning period. Housing programs have been updated to reflect current circumstances and includes commitments for specific actions over the next 8 years. While most programs reflect a continuation of existing City policy, some recent changes in State housing law will require the City to amend local regulations to conform to current law or other substantive actions, as described in the following programs:
• Update City regulations regarding density bonus and other incentives for affordable housing consistent with recent changes to State law (Program 3);
• Update City accessory dwelling unit (ADU) regulations consistent with recent changes to State law (Program 6);
• Conduct a feasibility study to determine whether a land value recapture program should be established for properties to be rezoned, and if so, what specific requirements are appropriate (Program 7);
• Investigate opportunities to either establish a new housing trust fund or participate in existing trust fund programs in order to expand the availability of financial assistance for affordable housing (Program 8);
• Process General Plan and zoning amendments to accommodate the RHNA allocation (Program 9);
• Update City regulations for supportive housing and low barrier navigation centers consistent with recent changes to State law, and review regulations for large residential care facilities (Program 10);
• Evaluate, as part of the comprehensive Zoning Ordinance update, methods to simplify the housing development review process such as eliminating the conditional use permit requirement for multi-family, condominium and mixed-use developments, revise the Precise Development Plan (PDP) process, and establish SB 35 streamlined review regulations (Program 11); and
• Establish stronger procedures to affirmatively further fair housing (Program 12).
RHNA Requirements
One of the most important requirements of State Housing Element law is that each city must adopt land use plans and regulations that create opportunities for sufficient residential development to accommodate its assigned share of statewide housing need. The RHNA is the process by which each city’s need for additional housing is determined. Prior to each Housing Element planning cycle the region’s total housing need is established by HCD based primarily on population growth trends and existing housing problems such as overcrowding and overpayment. The total housing need for the Southern California region is then distributed to cities and counties by the Southern California Association of Governments (“SCAG”) based upon criteria established in State law. The SCAG region includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, and Ventura counties.
In late 2019, HCD issued a RHNA determination of 1,341,827 additional housing units for the SCAG region during the 2021-2029 period. Following HCD’s RHNA determination, SCAG prepared a methodology for distributing the total RHNA to jurisdictions in the SCAG region consistent with criteria established in State law. In early 2020, SCAG’s Regional Council adopted the RHNA methodology and the final RHNA Plan was adopted on March 4, 2021. The final allocation for Hermosa Beach was increased from 556 housing units in the Draft RHNA to 558 units due to the proportional reallocation of units resulting from SCAG’s RHNA appeals process.