REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Joint City Council and Planning Commission Study Session on Housing Element Update
Report
COUNCIL PILLAR
Promote and Enhance Economic, Housing and Transportation Development
BACKGROUND
Santa Clara, like all other Bay Area towns, cities, and counties, will be required to submit an adopted Housing Element to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) by January 2023. The Housing Element must identify sites planned for new housing and support pro-housing policies and strategies to demonstrate that Santa Clara can address the City's housing needs for all income levels and achieve the development of the City's Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) by the end of the 6th Housing Element Cycle in January 2031. The City's RHNA is 11,632 units, with those units distributed into four levels of affordability. Santa Clara, with help from the City's planning consultant, MIG, Inc., is currently preparing a comprehensive update of the City's General Plan Housing Element to fulfill this State requirement.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of this study session is to:
1. Review and provide an update on the following background information that was provided at earlier study sessions with the City Council (April 6, 2021) and Planning Commission (September 22, 2021).
a. City's Regional Housing Needs Allocation
b. Strategies for Meeting the City's RHNA
c. New State Housing laws
2. Provide a more detailed overview of the State's new affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH) requirements and Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) component of the Housing Element Update.
A copy of the April 6, 2021 City Council study session staff report and presentation are attached for reference.
Santa Clara Regional Housing Needs Allocation
The RHNA process for the 9-County Bay Area region began with HCD determining the total number of new homes that would need to be built, and how affordable those homes would need to be, in order to meet the housing n...
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