To: Grass Valley Planning Commission
From: Thomas Last, Planning Director
Approved By: Joe Heckel, Community Development Director
Topic: Grass Valley Housing Element Update – Public Workshop

I. Purpose: The two main reasons for this workshop are to: 1) introduce the local citizens and community organizations to the City’s Housing Element update process, and 2) solicit public input on housing needs, opportunities, and solutions. During this meeting, the City’s consultant will provide an overview of the state housing element law, discuss the update process, review existing goals and policies, and request input from the Planning Commission and public on key issues. This will be very similar to the presentation provided to the Planning Commission on May 20, 2003.

This workshop is the next step in the public outreach and community involvement process. The City provided a hearing notice and newsletter (Exhibit B) to individuals and agencies that are involved with the development of housing, or provide housing assistance or programs to citizens of Grass Valley. Involving these individuals or agencies is a key step to identifying current housing issues and opportunities, and is necessary in adopting the Housing Element and obtaining approval from the state.

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 approved by the state. State law requires each city and county to address a significant number of issues and requires substantial public involvement. The City’s consultant will provide an overview of these requirements as part of his presentation.

The City’s existing Housing Element was adopted on June 8, 1993. State law requires the City to update the Housing Element by December 31, 2003.

One of the principle objectives of a Housing Element is to identify those factors which affect the cost of providing housing to all economic segments of the community. Those factors are generally divided into two main groups, governmental and non-governmental constraints. The existing Housing Element identifies both governmental constraints (fees, land use and development processes and regulations, infrastructure costs and availability, and other factors) and non-governmental constraints (land costs, construction costs, availability of financing, and other factors) that impact the cost of housing. This workshop will provide a forum to obtain additional input on these and other constraints to building affordable housing. The updated element will evaluate any changes to these factors that impact housing costs.

The existing Housing Element also includes a list of 22 Implementation Programs to help facilitate and encourage the development of affordable housing. Exhibit “A” lists each of these programs and provides some information as to the status of each program. Some of these programs have not been implemented and some have not been used by the development industry. These programs will be evaluated in more detail as part of this update process. Staff anticipates new programs will be added and existing ones will be modified to improve the opportunities to build affordable housing in Grass Valley.

IV. Recommended Action: Since this is a public workshop, the Planning Commission will not take any action on this item, but direction or suggestions are welcomed.