Public Review Draft Housing Element
Available for Public Review!
The Public Review Draft 2023-2031 Housing Element
update is available for public comment through
December 9, 2022. View the document and send us your
comments at pleasanthill2040.com
Join the Planning Commission and City Council for a
meeting to review and discuss the Draft Housing Element on December 13, 2022 at 6:30pm. Download the meeting
notice here.
NEWSLETTER: PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT HOUSING ELEMENT
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future What is a Housing Element?
The purpose of the Housing Element is to establish a comprehensive plan to address housing needs in Pleasant Hill for the next eight years. The Housing Element sets the policies surrounding the development, rehabilitation, and preservation of housing units that meet the needs of Pleasant Hill residents.
The City of Pleasant Hill last updated its Housing Element in 2015 for the 5th Housing Element Cycle covering the planning period from January 31, 2015, to January 31, 2023. As required by State law, this Housing Element Update covers the planning period from January 31, 2023, through January 31, 2031, also known as the 6th Housing Element Cycle.
Housing Element Update Components
The Draft Housing Element consists of two parts. The Policy Document and the Needs Assessment.
For ease of use, these have been combined into a single PDF for the Public Review Draft.
Policy Document
The Policy Document states goals, policies,
implementing programs, and quantified
objectives for the development, rehabilitation,
and preservation of housing. The Policy
Document is presented first in the Public
Review Draft and has been formatted to match
the other Elements of the General Plan Update.
Housing Needs Assessment
The Needs Assessment identifies and analyzes
existing and projected housing needs to inform
policy development. Within this document, the
Resources section provides a list of sites for housing
development that are adequate to accommodate the
City’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA).
Sections of the Needs Assessment:
Introduction
Evaluation of the Previous Element
Population Housing and Employment Trends
Housing Needs
Housing Constraints
Opportunities for Energy Conservation
Housing Resources
Appendix A: Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
2 Policies
A policy is a statement that guides a specific course of action for decision-makers to achieve a desired goal.
Implementation Programs
To help ensure that appropriate actions are taken to implement the 2023-2031 Housing Element Update, the Element includes a set of implementation programs. Implementation programs identify the specific steps to be taken by the City to implement policies.
Policy Document Readers Guide
The Housing Element Policy Document contains goals and policies to guide future housing decisions in Pleasant Hill. The goals and policies in the Housing Element are presented in a standard format as shown below.
Goal
A goal is a statement that describes, in general terms, a desired future condition or “end” state.
Goals describe ideal future conditions for a topic and are intentionally general and broad.
Objectives: HCD requires an
estimate of the number of
households assisted or units
approved
Actions: HCD now requires detailed actions
with specific tasks and timeframes
3 5
Regional Housing Needs Allocation Overview
Each jurisdiction in California is required to plan for its fair share of the region’s housing need. In reference to Pleasant Hill, the regional need is defined for the nine counties of the Bay Area This fair share is determined by the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) through a process called the Regional Housing Need Determination (RHND). After HCD identifies the total housing need for each region of the State, regional Councils of Government, in this case the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), are then responsible for distributing this need across the local governments within the region. This distribution process is also known as the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process. Once a local government has received its RHNA, it must revise its housing element to show how it plans zone residential land to accommodate its portion of the region’s housing need. The RHNA is one of the primary threshold criteria necessary to achieve HCD support of the Housing Element.
Table 1 shows Pleasant Hill’s RHNA for the 2023-2031 Housing Element (6th Cycle) and illustrates the appreciable increase from the 5th Cycle requirements.
Table 1: RHNA Comparison Between 5th and 6th Cycle Requirements Lower
Moderate
Above
Very Low Low Moderate Total
5th Cycle 118 69 84 177 448
6th Cycle 566 326 254 657 1,803
Change +448 +257 +170 +480 +1,355
%Change +380% +372% +202% +271% +302%
Due to the State's No-Net-Loss Zoning law (SB 166, 2017), each jurisdiction must provide an additional 20 percent buffer across lower- and moderate-income categories to ensure that affordability is preserved. This buffer allows some units to be developed outside the projected income area (i.e. moderate income housing on a lower-income site) without the City falling into a deficit in any individual category.
Table 2: Regional Housing Need Allocation and HCD-Required 20 Percent Buffer, Pleasant Hill Lower
Moderate
Above
Very Low Low Moderate Total
Pleasant Hill RHNA 566 326 254 657 1,803
Pleasant Hill RHNA + 20% Buffer 679 391 305 657 2,032
Capacity to Meet the RHNA
The Draft Housing Element provides capacity to meet the RHNA through pipeline projects, projected accessory dwelling units, vacant sites, and the GPAC recommended Housing Opportunity Sites.
Table 3 below shows a summary of total RHNA capacity. As shown, the City currently has 380 units in pending and approved projects, including 106 lower income units. Based on recent trends, the City projects 320 ADUs in the upcoming planning period. Although the City is mostly built out, 37 vacant parcels zoned for residential capacity. In total, these vacant sites can accommodate 232 new housing units.
4 Finally, the General Plan
Advisory Committee (GPAC)
identified Housing Opportunity
Sites with potential for
redevelopment to high-density
mixed use. These Housing
Opportunity Sites require a
rezone in line with the City’s
Preferred Land Use Alternative.
Under the designation proposed
through the Preferred Land
Use Alternative, these sites can
provide capacity for 1,192 new
units.
In total, the Draft Housing
Element identifies capacity to
accommodate 2,124 housing
units through existing approved
projects, projected accessory
dwelling unit development, and
the development of vacant and
underutilized parcels, including
capacity to meet the RHNA and
buffer requirement across all
income categories. The figure
here shows the location of
pending projects, vacant sites,
and Housing Opportunity Sites.
Table 3: Summary of 6th Cycle RHNA Capacity
Lower Moderate
Above
Moderate Total
Assumed Accessory Dwelling Units 0 280 40 320
Pending and Approved Projects 106 14 260 380
Housing Opportunity Sites 1,051 14 127 1,192
Vacant Sites 0 0 232 232
Total Planned Capacity 1,157 308 659 2,124
RHNA with 20 percent buffer 1,070 305 657 2,032
Surplus (beyond RHNA with buffer) 87 3 2 92
Percentage of RHNA Planned 130% 121% 100% 118%
What’s new in the 2023-2031 Housing Element?
A number of housing bills have been passed by the California legislature since the adoption of the previous Housing Element in 2015. The Housing Element identifies new State laws that must be addressed in the current Update. While the City complies with many of these laws, the following list summarizes major changes that were made in the 2023-2031 Housing Element in response to recent State laws.
No-Net-Loss Zoning. In response to SB 166 (2017), the City included an additional 20 percent buffer in the residential sites inventory, as discussed above. Although the City is mostly built out, the City worked with the public to identify sites with potential for redevelopment to mixed use with high density residential. These sites are underutilized with low-density uses, large parking lots, old structures, and low improvement values compared to land values. At Mixed Use High (40-70 dwelling units/acre) and Mixed Use Very High (70-100 dwelling units/acres) these sites provide combined capacity for 1,192 units, a significant portion of the RHNA. Housing Opportunity Sites are discussed beginning on page 4-128 of the Public Review Draft Housing Element.
Affirmatively Furthering Fair
Housing (AFFH). In response to AB
686 (2017), the City incorporated a
new fair housing analysis that can be
found in Appendix A: Affirmatively
Further Fair Housing. The analysis
identifies fair housing issues in
the community that the City must
proactively work to overcome.
To do this, the City has bolstered
implementation programs with
meaningful actions and objectives
that work to overcome fair housing
issues and their contributing factors.
For more information, please see
section 1.8: Contributing Factors,
beginning on page A-56 of the Public
Review Draft Housing Element.
6 Implementation Programs. The implementation programs in the Policy Document commit the City to specific actions to address housing needs, constraints, and fair housing issues. The 2023- 2031 Housing Element continues and expands upon many successful existing programs. New implementation programs included to address new State requirements are summarized below. • Program E: Surplus and Excess Public Land Inventory. In accordance with AB 1486 (2019) and AB 1255 (2019), this new program commits the City to create a publicly visible inventory of surplus and excess public land with potential for residential development. • Program F: Increase Allowable Densities. This program commits the City to increase allowable densities in line with the General Plan Preferred Land Use Alternative. The program also includes the rezone requirements mandated for any Housing Opportunity Site with a proposed rezone. • Program G: Housing Information Transparency. Required by State law, this program requires the City to post housing related information on the City website to increase transparency. • Program O: Municipal Code Updates. This program outlines required updates to the municipal code triggered by changes in state law and constraints identified in the Needs Assessment. • Program Q: Place-based Density Increases. Program Q commits the City to revise the Zoning Code to allow urban lot splits, duplexes, and other two-unit projects in single-family residential zones in accordance with Senate Bill 9.
• Program R: Missing Middle Housing. Missing middle housing types provide diverse housing options, such as duplexes, fourplexes, cottage courts, and multiplexes compatible in scale and form to detached single-family homes. This program commits the City to evaluate and revise zoning standards, as appropriate, to increase the variety of housing types in the city, with particular emphasis on housing affordable to the local workforce. By providing for additional capacity, and particularly affordable opportunities, in high resource areas, this program satisfies a new requirement that Housing Elements address housing mobility through program action(s). • Program EE: Housing Opportunity Sites. This program works to incentivize redevelopment at Housing Opportunity Sites and to publicize available incentives on the City website. • Program FF: Affordable Housing in High Opportunity Areas. This program works to overcome fair housing issue by working to promote multi-unit development in low-density zones. By expanding capacity in high resource areas, and particularly, lower- and moderate-income capacity, the City can work to relieve displacement pressures on multifamily zones where affordable units are more concentrated.
• Program UU: Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. This program, required by new State law, commits the City to address disparities in housing needs and access to opportunity for all residents and to work proactively to overcome fair housing issues. The program includes additional fair housing objectives and identifies programs that work to address each fair housing issue identified in the AFFH Analysis.
7 Public Review and Community Engagement
The Public Review Draft Housing Element is not the final adopted/certified document. There will be future public hearings and public comment opportunities.
This Draft was made available for public comment from November 9, 2022 to December 9, 2022.
Following the public review period, the Draft will be revised and submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for an initial 90-day review. Following the 90-day review, HCD will submit comments to the City. The City will revise the Housing Element accordingly and initiate a process to adopt. The City will hold public hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council in April or May, 2023. The adopted Housing Element document will then be submitted to HCD for a final 60-day review and certification.
Engagement Program. In response to the need for public participation, City planning staff worked with consultants to develop a robust community engagement program tailored to ensure the community and other stakeholders are engaged in the process and are given ample opportunities to provide input. The engagement program includes branding, a project website, business cards, newsletters and eblasts, announcements on the City website and social media, a workshop and townhall meeting, a fair housing survey, multiple GPAC meetings, and Planning Commission and City Council study sessions and hearings.
30-Day
Public Review
90-Day
HCD Review
Response to HCD
Comments
60-day HCD Review
and Certification
PC/CC Meeting
December 13, 2022
Public Adoption Hearings
8 Upcoming
Events
Joint City Council and Planning
Commission Study Session
Topic: Public Review Draft
Housing Element
December 13, 2022 @ 6:30pm
City Council Chambers
100 Gregory Lane
Zoom Link:
Meeting Link: www.zoom.us
Meeting ID: 826 3182 3247
Passcode: 520651
The meeting will also be viewable
through www.youtube.com at the
following link:
www.pleasanthillca.org/councilmeeting
General Plan Advisory
Committee (GPAC) Review
At meetings on May 12, 2021 and June 23, 2021, the GPAC reviewed and discussed potential sites for higher density residential land uses with sufficient capacity to meet the State-mandated housing goals. On November 17, 2021,
the GPAC recommended that staff carry forward eight
Housing Opportunity Sites for consideration in addition to the changes recommended in the previously discussed
Focus Areas. In 2022, the Mangini-Delu site was removed from the housing opportunity sites list in order to give the City time to implement a master plan requirement
for the area. The remaining seven sites were carried
forward into the Housing Element sites inventory as sites requiring a rezone (sites A-L). Please note that although the GPAC recommended seven sites, any site with parcels disconnected by a street or adjacent use was split into individual sites including only adjacent parcels.