STATE OF CALIFORNIA - BUSINESS, CONSUMER SERVICES AND HOUSING AGENCY GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
DIVISION OF HOUSING POLICY DEVELOPMENT
2020 W. El Camino Avenue, Suite 500
Sacramento, CA 95833
(916) 263-2911 / FAX (916) 263-7453
www.hcd.ca.gov
February 8, 2022
David White, City Manager
City of Santa Monica
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Dear David White:
RE: City of Santa Monica’s 6th Cycle (2021-2029) Adopted Housing Element Thank you for submitting the City of Santa Monica’s (City) housing element adopted on October 12, 2021 and received for review on November 10, 2021. Pursuant to Government Code section 65585, subdivision (h), the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is reporting the results of its review. In addition, HCD considered comments from Kenneth Kutcher, Abundant Housing LA, Santa Monica Housing Council, Jason Mastbaum, Tieira Ryder, YIMBY Law, Matthew Millen and the League of Women Voters of Santa Monica, pursuant to Government Code section 65585, subdivision (c).
The adopted element addresses many statutory requirements described in HCD’s August 30, 2021 review; however, revisions will be necessary to comply with State Housing Element Law (Article 10.6 of the Gov. Code). The enclosed Appendix describes the revisions needed to comply with State Housing Element Law.
Public participation in the development, adoption and implementation of the housing element is essential to effective housing planning. Throughout the housing element process, the City should continue to engage the community, including organizations that represent lower-income and special needs households and commenters on this review, by making information regularly available and considering and incorporating comments where appropriate.
As a reminder, the City’s 6th cycle housing element was due October 15, 2021. As of today, the City has not completed the housing element process for the 6th cycle. The City’s 5th cycle housing element no longer satisfies statutory requirements. HCD encourages the City to revise the element as described above, adopt, and submit to HCD to regain housing element compliance.
For your information, pursuant to Assembly Bill 1398 (Chapter 358, Statutes of 2021), if a local government fails to adopt a compliant housing element within 120 days of the David White, City Manager
statutory deadline (October 15, 2021), then any rezoning to accommodate the regional housing needs allocation, including for lower-income households, shall be completed no later than one year from the statutory deadline. Otherwise, the local government’s housing element will no longer comply with State Housing Element Law, and HCD may revoke its finding of substantial compliance pursuant to Government Code section 65585, subdivision (i).
Several federal, state, and regional funding programs consider housing element compliance as an eligibility or ranking criteria. For example, the CalTrans Senate Bill (SB) 1 Sustainable Communities grant; the Strategic Growth Council and HCD’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities programs; and HCD’s Permanent Local Housing Allocation consider housing element compliance and/or annual reporting requirements pursuant to Government Code section 65400. With a compliant housing element, the City will meet housing element requirements for these and other funding sources.
We appreciate your hard work and the diligent effort and cooperation of the entire housing element update team. We are committed to assisting the City in addressing all statutory requirements of State Housing Element Law. If you have any questions or need additional technical assistance, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Senior Program Manager
Enclosure
Paul McDougall
Review of the City of Santa Monica’s 6th Cycle Adopted Housing Element Page 1 February 8, 2021
APPENDIX
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
The following changes are necessary to bring the City’s housing element into compliance with Article 10.6 of the Government Code. Accompanying each recommended change, we cite the supporting section of the Government Code.
Housing element technical assistance information is available on HCD’s website at http://www.hcd.ca.gov/community-development/housing-element/housing-element-memos.shtml.
Among other resources, the housing element section contains HCD’s latest technical assistance tool, Building Blocks for Effective Housing Elements (Building Blocks), available at http://www.hcd.ca.gov/community-development/building-blocks/index.shtml and includes the Government Code addressing State Housing Element Law and other resources.
A. Housing Needs, Resources, and Constraints
1. Affirmatively further[ing] fair housing in accordance with Chapter 15 (commencing with Section 8899.50) of Division 1 of Title 2…shall include an assessment of fair housing in the jurisdiction. (Gov. Code, § 65583, subd. (c)(10)(A).) Sites Inventory: While the element includes some general discussion regarding the identification of sites and affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH). The element should still include analysis such as the number of units by income group and location, impact, or lack of, on existing patterns and isolation of the regional housing need allocation (RHNA) to evaluate whether fair housing conditions are improved or exacerbated.
Local Data and Knowledge, and Other Relevant Factors: The element generally was not revised to address this requirement. Please see HCD’s prior review.
Goals, Priorities, Metrics, and Milestones: The element must be revised to add or modify goals and actions based on the outcomes of a complete analysis. Actions must have metrics and milestones to target meaningful outcomes and must address housing mobility enhancement, new housing choices and affordability in high opportunity areas, placebased strategies for community revitalization and displacement protection.
2. An inventory of land suitable and available for residential development, including vacant sites and sites having realistic and demonstrated potential for redevelopment during the planning period to meet the locality’s housing need for a designated income level, and an analysis of the relationship of zoning and public facilities and services to these sites. (Gov.
Code, § 65583, subd. (a)(3).)
Realistic Capacity: The element now lists recent developments to support capacity assumptions, however, the analysis of realistic capacity should also account for recent development by affordability as noted in the prior review. This is particularly important since some development affordable to lower-income households may not be built at higher densities assumed in the inventory. In addition, as noted in the prior review, the calculation of residential capacity should account for the likelihood of 100 percent nonresidential uses.
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The element describes some recent trends and concludes residential is very likely, but the information also indicates that 100 percent nonresidential uses does occur (p. F-7) and the element should account for this likelihood in the calculation of capacity.
Suitability of Nonvacant Sites: The element includes some additional discussion of the various categories of sites, market conditions and lists some recent redevelopment activity. However, the element should still include analysis of the extent existing uses impede additional development. For example, the element describes various factors utilized to identify high potential sites but does not appear to reflect all of those factors in the inventory. Further, the element lists recent trends but should also utilize those trends to support the validity of factors used to determine potential. Please see HCD’s prior review for additional information.
In addition, for your information, the element relies on nonvacant sites to accommodate 50 percent or more of the housing needs for lower-income households, which triggers requirements to make findings based on substantial evidence that the existing use is not an impediment and will likely discontinue in the planning period. While the resolution of adoption includes the appropriate findings, any changes to the analysis should be reflected in future re-adoption of the element.
City-Owned Sites: The element now lists City-Owned sites and indicates sites can be available for development in the planning period. However, given the reliance on these sites and as noted in the prior review, the element should include some discussion on the potential schedule of availability for development in the planning period and revise programs as appropriate to facilitate development on these sites in the planning period.
Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU): The element now clarifies recent ADU trends to include permitted units and adjusts the number of ADUs assumed to be permitted in the planning period. However, as noted in the prior review, HCD records indicate far different ADU trends than what is indicated in the element. The City should reconcile these figures and adjust assumptions as appropriate. Please see HCD’s prior review for additional information.
Small Sites: Sites smaller than a half-acre in size are deemed inadequate to accommodate housing for lower-income housing unless it is demonstrated that sites of equivalent size and affordability were successfully developed during the prior planning period or unless the housing element describes other evidence these sites are adequate to accommodate lower income housing. The element lists some recent trends on small sites; however, these trends do not appear to align with assumptions in the inventory as noted in the prior review. For example, the element identifies many sites that accommodate less than 15 units for lower-income households, but trends indicate most developments that are 100 percent affordable for lower-income households are 15 or more units. Please see HCD’s prior review for additional information.
Infrastructure: As noted in the prior review, the element must still describe sufficient existing and planned total infrastructure sewer capacity to accommodate the RHNA and include programs, if necessary.
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Electronic Site Inventory: As noted in the prior review, pursuant to Government Code section 65583.3, subdivision (b), the City must utilize standards, forms, and definitions adopted by HCD when preparing the sites inventory and submit an electronic version of the sites inventory. While the City has submitted an electronic version of the sites inventory, if changes occur, any future re-adopted versions of the element must also submit the electronic version of the sites inventory.
Zoning for a Variety of Housing Types:
• Emergency Shelters: The element discusses the number of parcels in various zones but should still discuss opportunities for opportunities for redevelopment or reuse. In addition, the element indicates parking requirements are inconsistent with AB 139 (Chapter 335, Statutes of 2019) and Program should specifically commit to revise parking requirements.
• Permanent Supportive Housing: The element describes permanent supportive housing uses are permitted uses but should clarify the uses are permitted without discretionary action. If necessary, programs should specifically commit to amend zoning to permit these uses without discretionary action. • Employee Housing: The element states the City does not regulate housing for six or fewer persons and therefore complies with the Employee Housing Act.
However, zoning should explicitly comply with the provisions of the Employee Housing Act and programs should be revised to specifically amend zoning and procedures. Please see HCD’s prior review.
3. An analysis of potential and actual governmental constraints upon the maintenance, improvement, or development of housing for all income levels, including the types of housing identified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), and for persons with disabilities as identified in the analysis pursuant to paragraph (7), including land use controls, building codes and their enforcement, site improvements, fees and other exactions required of developers, and local processing and permit procedures… (Gov. Code, § 65583, subd. (a)(5).)
Land Use Controls: The element generally describes programs that were added to address constraints. However, those programs do not include specific commitment to remove or modify standards and generally commit to only review and change land use controls if necessary. Instead, the element update should review or analyze those land use controls and programs should specifically commit to address constraints. Please see HCD’s prior review for additional information.
Fees and Exaction: The element generally describes that typical development on identified sites will not require a conditional use permit and therefore no analysis of planning fees as potential constraints is necessary. However, the element should evaluate fees as constraints regardless of the RHNA or identified sites. Please see HCD’s prior review.
Local Processing and Permit Procedures: While the element now includes Program
1.B to streamline architectural review, it must still evaluate approval findings for Review of the City of Santa Monica’s 6th Cycle Adopted Housing Element Page 4 February 8, 2021
impacts on housing and add or modify programs as appropriate. Please see HCD’s prior review.
B. Housing Programs
1. Identify actions that will be taken to make sites available during the planning period with appropriate zoning and development standards and with services and facilities to accommodate that portion of the city’s or county’s share of the regional housing need for each income level that could not be accommodated on sites identified in the inventory completed pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) without rezoning, and to comply with the requirements of Government Code section 65584.09. Sites shall be identified as needed to facilitate and encourage the development of a variety of types of housing for all income levels, including multifamily rental housing, factory-built housing, mobilehomes, housing for agricultural employees, supportive housing, single-room occupancy units, emergency shelters, and transitional housing. (Gov. Code, § 65583, subd. (c)(1).) As noted in Finding A2, the element does not include a complete site analysis; therefore, the adequacy of sites and zoning were not established. Based on the results of a complete sites inventory and analysis, the City may need to add or revise programs to address a shortfall of sites or zoning available to encourage a variety of housing types. In addition, the element should be revised as follows:
• Shortfall of Sites: Program 1.A (By-right Approvals) mentions various zoning amendment, however, as noted in the prior review, the Program must specifically commit to acreage, allowable densities, anticipated units and meet all requirements pursuant to Government Code section 65583.2, subdivisions (h) and (i).
• Program 1A (Streamlined Approvals for Housing Projects): As noted in the prior review, this program should clarify the allowance of by-right developments for sites identified in previous cycles if the project includes at least 20 percent affordable housing pursuant to Government Code Section 65583.2. • City-Owned Sites: Program 2E (Affordable Housing on City-owned/Publiclyowned Land) was revised to issue at least one request for proposal in the planning period. But, given the reliance on City-Owned sites, the Program should have far greater commitment to facilitate development on City-owned sites and in stride with assumption for the planning period. Please see HCD’s prior review for additional information, including rezoning pursuant to Government Code section 65583.2, subdivisions (h) and (i).
2. Address and, where appropriate and legally possible, remove governmental and nongovernmental constraints to the maintenance, improvement, and development of housing, including housing for all income levels and housing for persons with disabilities.
The program shall remove constraints to, and provide reasonable accommodations for housing designed for, intended for occupancy by, or with supportive services for, persons with disabilities. (Gov. Code, § 65583, subd. (c)(3).)
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As noted in Findings A3, the element requires a complete analysis of potential governmental and nongovernmental constraints. Depending upon the results of that analysis, the City may need to revise or add programs and address and remove or mitigate any identified constraints.
In addition, while the element includes Program 2.I to amend zoning for a variety of housing types, the Program should include specific commitment to amend zoning for identified constraints related to the definition of households, residential care facilities for seven or more persons, parking for emergency shelters, permanent supportive housing and employee housing.
3. Promote and affirmatively further fair housing opportunities and promote housing throughout the community or communities for all persons regardless of race, religion, sex, marital status, ancestry, national origin, color, familial status, or disability, and other characteristics protected by the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (Part 2.8 (commencing with Section 12900) of Division 3 of Title 2), Section 65008, and any other state and federal fair housing and planning law. (Gov. Code, § 65583, subd. (c)(5).) As noted in Finding A1, the element requires a complete analysis of AFFH. Depending upon the results of that analysis, the City may need to revise or add programs to affirmatively further fair housing. In addition, HCD’s prior review found the City should revise Program 4.D (Rezoning R1 Neighborhoods) with meaningful and sufficient actions to overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities. In response, the element now appears to only promote accessory dwelling units; an insufficient action given the perpetuated segregation noted in the element. Please see HCD’s prior review.