City Council – January 20, 2022
City of Bellflower
Housing Element Update
1 Good evening, honorable Mayor and members of the City Council, my name is Sarah Walker and I am a Senior Project Manager with National Community Renaissance. I have been working closely with City Staff over the last year to update the City’s General Plan Housing Element for the 2021-2029 planning period. 1 Housing Element Overview
Mandatory Element of the General Plan
Must be consistent with the other Elements
Required to be updated every 8 years
Most recently adopted and certified by the State in 2013 2 City of Bellflower
The Housing Element is one of eight state mandated Elements of a City’s General Plan and it is the only Element that is required by law to be updated every 8 years and certified by the State
The City is now updating its Housing Element for the 6th planning period which will cover years 2021 through 2029. 2 Housing Element Process
City of Bellflower
12 Over the last year, the Housing Element update has been completed through 3 phase process:
In the beginning of the year, we conducted community outreach to identify housing needs and goals based on resident and stakeholder feedback and prepared individual draft sections of the Housing Element document.
We completed our Public Review draft in June, and it was submitted to the State in July for compliance review. The State is allowed 60-days to review the Element and provided us with requested revisions in August. We made those revisions, resubmitted to HCD in October, and received comments in December. We are currently revising the Housing Element to address the comments of HCD, including the sites analysis. We are expecting a compliance letter for our next submittal.
While the document has been under review the required CEQA analysis was prepared. We are currently in the adoption and certification phase. Once we have HCD’s final comments from the State and have an adopted Element. We will then resubmit the adopted Element back to the State for their final certification review. 3 4
Assembly Bill 1398 (Bloom)
Requires expedited rezoning (within 1 year) of housing element sites for jurisdictions that fail to adopt a legally compliant housing element within the grace period Assembly Bill 215 (Chiu)
Updates housing element update and amendment noticing and public comment periods and procedures and expands HCD’s ability to bring legal action against a jurisdiction for non-compliance with housing law
Assembly Bill 1304 (Santiago)
Expands and clarifies the ways in which local agencies must affirmatively further fair housing (AFFH) in their housing elements 2021 New Housing Legislation
City of Bellflower
4 During the update period there were several new pieces of housing legislation passed that do affect the Housing Element.
What we are generally seeing is that the State is more focused on the implementation of the Housing Element, that cities should plan for and incentivize the construction of affordable housing.
AB 1398 – changed the law to require that City’s not only adopt but obtain compliance for their Housing Element in order to avoid penalties
AB 215 – requires that starting Jan 1, 2022, the City post all HE drafts for public review for not less than 30 days
AB 1304 – provided additional guidance on AFFH, which is a new section in the housing element for this cycle. The goal of AFFH is to take meaningful actions to overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities free from barriers that restrict access to opportunity based on protected characteristics, and to combat discrimination of protected classes, such as race, gender, family status, etc.
4 HCD
State of California
Department of Housing and Community Development
HCD distributes the State’s housing need to all the regional councils of government
SCAG
Southern California Association of
Governments
For Southern California, SCAG distributes the region’s housing need to the local jurisdictions Bellflower RHNA
2021-2029
Regional Housing Needs Allocation
5 Bellflower 2019 median household income: $60,011
City of Bellflower
5 As we discussed in previous workshops on the Housing Element, what drives the update process is the Regional Housing Needs Allocation. The RHNA begins up at the State, where HCD allocates units to the regional association of governments, for southern California this entity is SCAG.
SCAG is then responsible for allocating units to their member jurisdictions. For the 2021-2029 planning period Bellflower was assigned 3,735 units.
The City is expected to show how they will accommodate their fair share allocation through their Housing Plan as well as through the identification of appropriately zoned sites. 5 GOAL 1: Maintain and enhance the quality of existing housing and residential neighborhoods. 2021-2029 Housing Plan
City of Bellflower
6 I am here tonight to quickly give an overview of the City’s Housing Element goals over the next housing cycle. These goals are supported by specific policies and specific program activities aimed at achieving implementation.
The first goal is to Promote and maintain a variety of housing types for all economic segments of the City. This goal is centered around the belief that a variety of housing types are needed to house all the different types of residents in Perris.
A few of the programs currently in place to further this goal include: code enforcement activities, housing rehabilitation programs for homeowners, and promoting energy efficient design 6 GOAL 2: Provide a variety of housing types to accommodate special needs groups and all economic segments of the City. 2021-2029 Housing Plan
City of Bellflower
7 The second goal is to provide a variety of housing types to accommodate special needs groups and all economic segments of the City
A few programs in place to further this goal include: zoning for Senior Housing, amending the density bonus and the second unit ordinances to be compliant with state law, and partnering with the County to provide access to programs for City residents
7 GOAL 3: Minimize the impact of governmental constraints on housing production and affordability. 2021-2029 Housing Plan
City of Bellflower
8 The third goal includes removing or mitigating constraints to the improvement or development of affordable housing.
This includes when feasible, reviewing and revising development standards to facilitate affordable housing
Some of the programs for this goal include:
Expediting and prioritizing proposed affordable housing developments through streamlined processing.
Establishing objective design standards in compliance with SB 35 to reduce the amount of scrutiny and time an affordable housing development spends in entitlements.
Updating the Zoning Code to be consistent with State requirements for special needs housing
8 GOAL 4: Promote equal housing opportunities for all residents. 2021-2029 Housing Plan
City of Bellflower
9 The 4th goal is to provide equal housing opportunities and affirmatively further fair housing for all residents including those with special needs.
To implement this goal, the City does have a few ongoing programs including:
Provide reasonable accommodation procedures and funding services and workshops through the Fair Housing Foundation of Long Beach
Supporting non-profits that provide job/training and other anti-poverty strategies
Homeless assistance
9 GOAL 5: Identify adequate sites to achieve a variety of housing. 2021-2029 Housing Plan
City of Bellflower
10 And finally, the fifth goal is focused on enhancing the quality of existing neighborhoods through maintenance and preservation, while minimizing displacement impacts.
A few programs in place to further this goal include:
Ensuring that there is adequate sites, zoned appropriately to accommodate the City’s RHNA throughout the planning period
Encouraging lot consolidation and marketing City owned surplus properties for the development of affordable housing
10 Housing Opportunity Areas
City of Bellflower
11 11
State infrastructure bonds for capital improvement projects CDBG and HOME funds
Availability of funding to developers
12 Benefits of a Certified Element
City of Bellflower
Avoid lawsuits and fines
Direct growth in the community
12 With the creation of an Accountability and Enforcement Department at HCD - HCD now has dedicated staff focused on holding jurisdictions accountable for their housing element commitments.
Violations of these state laws may lead to consequences including revocation of housing element certification and/or referral to the California Office of the Attorney General.
One of the newer repercussions of not having a certified Element and making progress toward implementation are monthly fines.
Timely access to State infrastructure bonds for capital improvement projects as well as CDBG and HOME funds Ensures developers are eligible for State funding (for example Cap and Trade funding) to build affordable housing Achieving a jobs-housing balance, reducing traffic impacts and Retaining a local employment base Directing growth in the community – planning for density in appropriate areas Avoids lawsuits - General Plan deemed invalid / inadequate
Next Steps
City of Bellflower
12 13
For more information on the Bellflower Housing Element update, please contact:
Sarah Walker, Project Manager [email protected]
Rowena Genilo-Concepcion, Planning Manager
[email protected]
14 Where can I find more information?
City of Bellflower
City Council – January 20, 2022
City of Bellflower
Housing Element Update
15 Good evening, honorable Mayor and members of the City Council, my name is Sarah Walker and I am a Senior Project Manager with National Community Renaissance. I have been working closely with City Staff over the last year to update the City’s General Plan Housing Element for the 2021-2029 planning period. 15