REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Action on the 2025 General Plan Annual Progress Report (APR)
Report
BACKGROUND
California State Law requires local jurisdictions, including Santa Clara, to maintain a General Plan to guide the orderly, long-term use of lands within the City through policies and General Plan Land Use designations. The General Plan communicates the City’s long-term vision for future growth and land use and establishes a policy framework to govern decision-making concerning the physical development of the community. The seven major strategies of the General Plan, along with their implementing goals and policies, define and communicate the City’s overarching vision for the community in relation to physical development patterns. The City’s seven major General Plan strategies are:
1. Enhance the City’s High Quality of Life
2. Preserve and Cultivate Neighborhoods
3. Promote Sustainability
4. Enhance City Identity
5. Support Focus Areas and Community Vitality
6. Maintain the City’s Fiscal Health and Quality Services
7. Maximize Health and Safety Benefits
The General Plan further establishes multiple goals and policies to guide decision making to be consistent with the realization of these strategies.
The Housing Element is a required component of the General Plan and, per State law, must demonstrate the City’s ability to support residential development capacity consistent with the City’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). The Housing Element is the only element that is required to be updated on an eight-year cycle and cities are currently in the sixth cycle Housing Element.
The City is required to provide three annual reports to the State to demonstrate the City’s progress toward implementation of its General Plan:
• General Plan Annual Progress Report (GP APR)
• General Plan Housing Element Annual Progress Report (Housing Element APR)
• Housing Successor Agency Annual Report regarding the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund (LMIHAF)
The GP APR and Housing Element APR respond to the obligations of the sixth cycle RHNA and the City’s Housing Element, which was adopted by the City Council on May 7, 2024 and subsequently certified by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on May 31, 2024. Submittal of a timely APR allows cities to submit for key State grants, such as the One Bay Area Grant, which are used for infrastructure improvements.
These reports are due on April 1st of each calendar year and the Housing Element APR and LMIHAF must be submitted to HCD using the forms and definitions adopted by HCD. These two documents must also be posted on the City’s website.
Historically, the City has submitted three reports to the State on an annual basis, in conformance with these requirements. Staff is preparing all three documents to submit to the State prior to April 1, 2026.
Beginning in 2020, the State further mandated that all cities, including Charter cities such as Santa Clara, and all 58 counties, submit the GP APR to their legislative body, as well as to the Governor’s Office of Land Use & Climate Innovation (LCI) (formerly known as the Office of Planning and Research (OPR)) (Government Code Section 65400). This report is being submitted to the City Council to fulfill this requirement.
DISCUSSION
Annual Progress Reports (APR) provide local legislative bodies with information regarding the implementation of the General Plan for their city or county. The Annual Progress Report is strictly a reporting document and does not create or modify any City of Santa Clara goals or policies found within the General Plan. APRs must be presented to the local legislative body for review and acceptance. Once approved, the General Plan APR must be filed with the Governor’s LCI and the Housing Successor Agency Annual Report must be posted on the City’s Website.
This report includes six attachments documenting the City’s implementation of the General Plan over the last calendar year. As described in these documents, the City’s General Plan is consistent with State law, and has been successful in creating market-rate housing, especially in the City’s General Plan Focus Areas.
Attachment 1 is a fact sheet that includes relevant milestones for the General Plan. A summary of the Housing Element APR, including housing production numbers for the year and Housing Element implementation actions, is included as Attachment 2. The City of Santa Clara’s RHNA number for the sixth cycle Housing Element 2023-2031 is 11,632. As of the end of 2025, the City has issued building permits for 26% (3,044/11,632) of the City’s RHNA allocation. IFor 2025, a total of 1,985 units were issued Planning entitlements, with building permits for 528 units issued. A total of 2,991 units were issued certificates of occupancy in 2025.
The Housing Successor Annual Report regarding the LMIHAF has been prepared pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Section 34176.1(f). The FY 2024-2025 has been completed and is included for reference as Attachment 3.
A list of all General Plan Amendments filed since the adoption of the 2010-2035 General Plan is included as Attachment 4. Five amendments were adopted to the General Plan in 2025, including
(1) the Freedom Circle Future Focus Area Text Amendment that allowed for a 1,792 unit apartment project by the Irvine Company;
(2) a Housing Element Sites Inventory Modification;
(3) Incorporation of the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan into the City’s Safety Element;
(4) Future Focus Area Deletions; and
(5) An Amendment to the City’s Open Space Element, to be consistent with SB 1425 (2022).
The recently adopted Housing Element contains a number of HCD reporting requirements beyond the information contained in the Annual Progress Report. One example is a map of the location of Accessory Dwelling Units constructed in relation to High Resource Areas in the City (Attachment 5). In addition to mapping the location of ADUs within the City, Housing Element Action 1.n.1 sets a goal of 49 ADUs produced per year, with 70% in either High or Highest Resource areas. For the first two years of the 6th cycle, 121 of the 134 units constructed (90%) have been in either the High or Highest Resource areas.
The other reporting maps and tables required by the Housing Element are located on the City’s General Plan website, under the heading General Plan and Housing Element Annual Progress Reports, and are provided as Attachment 6 to this report.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The action being considered is simply to accept an annual report on the City’s General Plan and as such does not constitute a “project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(5), in that it is a governmental administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment.
FISCAL IMPACT
This report has no fiscal impact as it simply reports housing production for the prior calendar year and gives the City Council a report on the status of the implementation and upkeep of the General Plan.
COORDINATION
This report has been coordinated with the City Attorney’s Office.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City’s official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall Council Chambers. A complete agenda packet is available on the City’s website and in the City Clerk’s Office at least 72 hours prior to a Regular Meeting and 24 hours prior to a Special Meeting. A hard copy of any agenda report may be requested by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at (408) 615-2220, email clerk@santaclaraca.gov or at the public information desk at any City of Santa Clara public library.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Accept the General Plan Annual Progress Report as presented by staff for submittal to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
Staff
Reviewed by: Afshan Hamid, Director of Community Development
Approved by: Jovan Grogan, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Santa Clara General Plan 2010-2035 Fact Sheet
2. 2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report Summary Data
3. FY 2024-2025 Successor Agency Annual Report
4. Amendments to the General Plan, 2010-Present
5. ADUs Inventory, 6th Cycle
6. General Plan APR weblinks