Agenda Item 5.1
To: Grass Valley Planning Commission
From: Thomas Last, Planning Director
Approved By: Joe Heckel, Community Development Director
Application: GPA 03-02 - Grass Valley Housing Element

II. Purpose: The purpose of this public hearing is to introduce the Draft Housing Element to the Planning Commission and public and to develop a recommendation to the City Council. It is important to note that this public hearing represents the first review of the Housing Element by the Planning Commission and City Council. Once the City Council approves the draft, the City will submit the draft Housing Element to the State Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) for its review. After HCD completes its review and provides comments to the City, the City will need to consider the comments from the state and make changes as deemed appropriate. The final Housing Element will then go through a second set of public hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council. We expect the second round of public hearings to take place in November and December of this year.

II. Background: The Housing Element is one of seven mandatory elements of the City’s General Plan. It is the only element required to be reviewed by the State, and the State must also make a finding that the Housing Element ”substantially complies” with the requirements of the law. The two main purposes of the housing element are: 1) to assess current and future housing needs and constraints to meeting these needs, and 2) to provide a strategy that establishes housing goals, policies, and programs. State law requires each city and county to address a significant number of issues and requires substantial public involvement.

The City’s existing Housing Element was adopted on June 8, 1993. The City met most of the 1993 goals, including meeting the fair share allocation numbers for affordable housing units. State law requires the City to update the Housing Element by December 31, 2003. On May 20, 2003, the Planning Commission held a Study Session on the Housing Element for the purpose of reviewing the Housing Element update process. The Planning Commission conducted a public workshop on June 23, 2003, with the purpose of soliciting comments from the public and identifying housing related issues. During the public workshop, the Planning Commission reviewed the background information on housing issues and numbers unique to Grass Valley.

IV. Environmental Status: The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and CEQA Guidelines define this as a project. After the State Department of Housing and Community Development completes its review of the Housing Element, the City will prepare an Initial Study to determine potential impacts of this project on the environment. This document will then need to be reviewed and considered by the Planning Commission as part of the final recommendation to the City Council.

V. Discussion: A large portion of the draft Housing Element summarizes the demographic, social, economic, and housing changes that have taken place since the last update in 1993. These items were reviewed by the Planning Commission at the June 23, 2003 workshop. Therefore, the Planning Commission should focus most of its attention on the strategy section (Chapter IV) of the draft since this chapter provides the programs and actions the City will need to implement during the time frame of the element, or from 2003 to 2009.

A summary of each chapter is provided below:

Chapter I: This chapter provides information on the purpose of the Housing Element, State requirements, and a summary of the process. Chapter I also includes an analysis of how the Housing Element is consistent with the other elements of the General Plan.

Chapter II: This chapter provides information on the City’s population, housing, and employment characteristics, and addresses special housing needs. The end of this chapter includes the regional housing needs allocation numbers. These numbers represent the number of housing units, by income category, the City needs to plan for and accommodate through the year 2009. These numbers represent one of the key factors that drive many of the Housing Element policies and programs.

Chapter III: This chapter provides an analysis of the resources and constraints that impact the ability to meet the City’s housing needs. One of the most critical constraints is the availability of land that is suitable to meet future housing needs. The analysis concludes there is sufficient land zoned for residential purposes that has access to key infrastructure services. The development of these properties will provide adequate opportunities for the City to achieve its housing allocation numbers.

Chapter IV: This chapter includes the policies and programs for meeting the City’s future housing needs. The chapter begins with an evaluation of the City’s achievements reached during the Housing Element’s previous planning period. These include a list of specific actions, based on adopted housing policies and programs, the City implemented since 1993. As stated earlier, the Planning Commission should focus most of its attention on this chapter since this includes commitments the City will need to work towards during the next six (6) years. Some of these key recommendations will be summarized at the September 3 meeting and include:

1. amending the Zoning Ordinance to reflect current state laws related to housing,
2. amending the Zoning Ordinance to incorporate zoning techniques, such as mixed-use zoning and supporting infill development (both of these ideas are currently supported through policies in the City’s General Plan),
3. adding new policies which support the concept of providing for “workforce” housing,
4. conducting several housing related studies using Community Development Block Grant and Redevelopment funds, and
5. allowing for the relaxation of development standards for projects that include affordable housing.