LAFAYETTE, CA — After more than two years of effort by the city of Lafayette and the community, the State of California’s Department of Housing and Community Development — HCD — notified the city that its Housing Element will comply with state law once some necessary re-zoning is completed and the element is re-adopted by the city, it was announced Tuesday.
The housing element was originally due to the state by Jan. 31, 2023, and the city submitted its first draft housing element in June 2022. Following four rounds of review by the state, HCD issued a letter July 12 expressing its pleasure with the revisions but also laying out the changes required to rezoning.
HCD reminded Lafayette that noncompliance also impacts a city’s ability to compete for grant funds. Several federal, state, and regional funding programs consider housing element compliance an eligibility or ranking criterion.
Not unlike Lafayette, city officials said Tuesday, all cities across the state are required to complete a housing element and many cities have struggled to have theirs certified by the state during this cycle. The city said this is mostly due to expanded requirements and evolving interpretations surrounding new state housing regulations.
“The city is pleased to receive this positive determination from the State and is eager to proceed with formal adoption and implementation,” said Greg Wolf, director of Planning & Building for the city of Lafayette. “Enormous effort has been put in by the community, elected officials, and staff to get to this point.”
Prior to submitting its Housing Element to the state, Lafayette worked on its Housing Element Update for more than two years with significant community input. In 2020, the city assembled an 11-member General Plan Advisory Committee —GPAC — which hosted nearly a dozen public workshops and heard from over 1,000 community members.
The 2023-2031 Housing Element is a statement of Lafayette’s vision and strategy for meeting the existing and future housing needs of Lafayette residents through 2031. While the city does not develop housing, it does establish zoning and land-use regulations within which development occurs in its community. The policies and programs of the Housing Element address several major issues:
The Housing Element includes the following revisions made during the public meeting process:
Here is a timeline of the Lafayette’s housing element review process with HCD:
The city of Lafayette has a regional housing needs allocation —RHNA — of 2,114 residential units for the 2023-2031 housing cycle. Of those, 599 units need to be for people of a very-low-income level, 344 need to be for those with a low-income level, 326 need to be for moderate-income earners, and 845 need to be above-market rate.
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The city currently has at least 150 housing units under construction and it is anticipated that another 570+ units will be constructed by 2031.
Further, the inventory of opportunity sites included a range of sites citywide that could be developed with up to 2,114 new housing units, plus a buffer of approximately 663 units to ensure ongoing compliance with “no net loss” provisions.
According to the city, vacant and developed properties in Lafayette that are realistic candidates for potential housing development in the next eight years are identified in the Housing Element Appendix C, “Housing Resources and Sites Inventory.” The property owner decides whether to pursue a housing development project or another kind of development.
City staff is now working with a consultant to prepare the package of revisions that need to be adopted alongside its Sixth Cycle Housing Element. These include updated land-use designations in the General Plan, rezoning, and objective design standards for multi-family housing.
The Planning Commission is set to consider the changes in late August followed by review and adoption by the City Council in September.
“HCD appreciates the hard work and dedication the housing element update team provided throughout the housing element review and update process,” said Paul McDougall, HCD senior program manager. “HCD looks forward to working with the City through adoption and rezoning.”
Lafayette property owners interested in adding an accessory dwelling unit — ADU— which can help cities meet their housing requirements, can check out the Lafayette webpage for instructions.
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