Housing Element Overview
Jurisdictions in California are required to adopt a Housing Element as part of the General Plan to adequately plan for the existing and projected housing needs of all economic segments of the community. The Housing Element must be approved by the State and updated every five to eight years. The City of Lafayette’s current Housing Element was certified by the State of California on March 26, 2015 and is required to have an updated Housing Element certified by the CA Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) by the end of 2022.
Each element of the General Plan will undergo a similar three-stage public process: inform, consult, and synthesize. First, staff will bring information, materials, and experts to GPAC meetings to provide foundational information as well as a review of the City’s current goals, programs, and policies for each Element to inform the public and the Committee’s dialogue around each topic. Second, staff and Committee members will go to the public to seek input and suggestions directly from the community. Third, the Committee will consider the information and feedback provided through the public input process and will form recommended goals, programs, and policies for the City Council’s review. Currently, the Housing Element is in the “inform” stage and the Committee has had informational meetings about State housing law, the project timeline, and what needs to go into the updated Housing Element.
On November 30th, 2020, the City Council and Planning Commission held a joint meeting, during which the City’s housing consultant, Diana Elrod, provided an overview of potential development scenarios to help the City meet it’s housing production goals set out by the State in the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). The RHNA quantifies the need for housing within each jurisdiction during specified planning periods, sometimes called “cycles”. The State is in the process of developing allocations for the 6th Cycle, which will span 2023-2031.
A recording of the meeting is available on the City’s Youtube page here: https://bit.ly/3pGMLEy .
Diana Elrod also provided an educational session on the City’s obligations surrounding Housing to the GPAC during the December 15th meeting. A recording of that session can be found here: https://bit.ly/38QQSHA .
