Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Steve Monowitz, Community Development Director
Subject: 2016 Annual Report on Progress of Implementation of Housing Element Programs, and compliance with Regional Housing Needs Allocation
RECOMMENDATION:
title
Adopt a resolution accepting the 2016 Annual Progress Report on Housing Element Implementation and RHNA Compliance.
body
BACKGROUND:
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors adopted the County’s 2014-2022 Housing Element in April of 2015, and the adopted Housing Element was certified by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) as compliant with State law.
The Housing Element, as required by State law, assesses the County’s existing and projected housing need, describes the County’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) and the sufficiency of existing developable or re-developable residential sites to meet the RHNA, and establishes a number of programs intended to facilitate, ease, incentivize, and/or directly support housing production and rehabilitation. The County’s Housing Element is available here: <http://planning.smcgov.org/documents/housing-element>.
Housing Element Chapter 9 describes the County’s RHNA, and provides an inventory of available sites to meet the RHNA. Chapter 10 describes the County’s Housing Element Policies, with objectives and implementation timelines.
Per California Government Code Section 65400, each jurisdiction with an adopted Housing Element must complete an annual report on the progress of implementing the policies in its Housing Element, and must also provide a report on annual housing production, for comparison against the jurisdiction’s RHNA. This report must be completed on forms prescribed by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), and must be:
1. Submitted to both HCD and the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR), and;
2. Reviewed at an annual public hearing of the local legislative body.
As described below, the attached exhibits fulfill the requirements, in the manner prescribed by HCD, describing the progress of implementation for each policy in the adopted Housing Element, and detailing residential permits for various types of units for each year since adoption of the Housing Element.
DISCUSSION:
Attachment A provides the information required, in the form required, to meet the annual reporting requirements in Government Code Section 65400. The Attachment shows:
a. The number of new units permitted since adoption of the Housing Element, by year and affordability level.
b. The number of new units created compared to the affordability targets of the County’s RHNA.
c. The policies of the Housing Element, their objectives and implementation timelines, and implementation status.
The basic requirement related to the County’s RHNA is that the County demonstrate sufficient available, appropriately zoned developable or re-developable sites, on which units could potentially be built, to meet the County’s share of regional housing need. The County’s Housing Element demonstrates that sufficient sites are already available, without any regulatory changes or legislative action. In particular:
a. The County is not required to rezone or otherwise modify land use regulations or designations to meet its RHNA.
b. The County did not need to count any preserved or rehabilitated affordable housing, or count second units or other non-standard types of affordable housing without permanent affordability restrictions, to meet its RHNA.
While the housing production numbers for the past several years do not indicate sufficient production of units for lower income categories, this is not unusual for the unincorporated County. It should also be noted that the County Housing Department and Board of Supervisors allocate significant resources to housing production and assistance in incorporated areas of the County; while this assistance cannot be counted against the County’s RHNA, it directly addresses overall regional housing need.
The County Housing Element contains 53 policies, each with an appropriate designated lead agency (or agencies), an implementation timeline, and various goals and objections related to implementation. Including sub-policies, there are approximately 130 discrete actions the County has, through the Housing Element, committed to pursue. Each of these policies is presented in more detail in Attachment A. Generally however, the County remains on the anticipated implementation timeline for most policies. A breakdown of the implementation status is below:
a. Policies completed: 12%
b. Policies on schedule (excluding those already complete), per the timeline in the Housing Element: 74%
c. Policies behind schedule: 14%
The Housing Element contains a diverse range of policies, many of which are ongoing, and are part of the regular mission and role of the County Housing Department, Planning Department, or other departments. However, there are also a number of new and notable initiatives approved by the Board of Supervisors that significantly advance housing assistance and housing production. Some examples include:
a. Adoption of an Affordable Housing Impact Fee (complete, Policies HE 31.1 and 31.2)
b. Update to Second Unit Regulations (complete HE 32.1)
c. Second Unit Health and Safety Compliance Program (“ADU Amnesty”, in progress, HE 32.2)
d. Mobile Home Rent Control and Conversion Ordinance Updates (ongoing, HE 8.1 through 8.5)
e. Regulatory changes allowing use of PVC/plastic piping for residential plumbing (complete, HE 39.1)
f. Continued leadership on interjurisdictional collaboration on housing issues, including 21 Elements and the County-led Jobs-Housing Gap Task Force (now Home for All initiative) (ongoing, HE 28.4, HE 51.3)
g. Agricultural Workforce Housing Needs Assessment, Assessment of Regulatory Barriers to Agricultural Worker Housing, and continued assistance with Agricultural Worker Housing (HE 2.6, HE 27.3, ongoing and completed)
h. Continued allocation of funding for new housing, housing rehabilitation, and housing assistance through Measure K, the County’s adopted Housing Impact Fee, and other sources (various Housing Element policies, ongoing and complete)
Overall, the County continues to implement the policies incorporated in the County Housing Element, working toward greater affordability and availability of housing of all kinds, for all County residents.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This is an informational item only; acceptance of the Annual Progress Report has no fiscal impact.