The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) today announced that the City of Sacramento is the first jurisdiction in the state to earn a Prohousing Designation.

The Prohousing Designation Program was officially established with the passage of the Newsom Administration’s Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Budget, which provided a spectrum of support, incentives, and accountability measures to help meet California’s housing goals. The Program provides incentives to cities and counties in the form of additional points or other preference in the scoring of competitive housing, community development, and infrastructure programs.

“We’re deploying a comprehensive strategy to boost the state’s housing supply and affordability for all Californians,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “I commend the efforts of the City of Sacramento, the first jurisdiction in the state to make a commitment to accelerate housing production through this designation and I urge cities and counties across California to follow suit. Together, we can meet this challenge head-on.”

“Housing insecurity and homelessness impact every corner of our state in one way or another,” said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez at an event in Sacramento to commemorate the city’s achievement. “We have been fortunate to be on the receiving end of unprecedented resources to help solve our housing crisis. But for us to succeed, we need everyone working together. It’s a cause worthy of our efforts because for every unit of housing we create, there is a real story of a family whose lives will be improved immeasurably.”

Added HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez: “Prohousing is designed to incentivize the removal of barriers standing in the way of the affordable housing our state so desperately needs. It means promoting housing density by including multifamily housing, such as duplexes to fourplexes, upzoning in places near jobs and transit to reduce emissions and creating more homes in places of high opportunity for families of modest means.”

“I’m proud to see Sacramento recognized for being a state leader when it comes to eliminating the barriers to building the affordable, transit-friendly housing we so desperately need in our city and all over the state,” said Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “This designation signals to the development community that we stand ready to work with you and find creative ways to house more people.”

To be eligible for a Prohousing Designation, a jurisdiction must receive a minimum score of 30 on its application – the City of Sacramento attained a score of 64. Actions taken by the City of Sacramento to help attain the Prohousing Designation include but are not limited to the following:

• Eliminated parking requirements citywide for Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) developments.
• Expanded residential and mixed uses allowed by-right.
• Eliminated maximum density for mixed-use projects.
• Reduced parking requirements for affordable and senior housing, small lots, and vertical mixed-use developments and went above and beyond by offering incentives for higher density developments near transit by eliminating or reducing parking requirements.
• Possesses a Master Environmental Impact Report to streamline development as well as multiple specific area plan EIRs in a multi-faceted strategy to streamline development.
• Single-unit, duplex, and multi-unit dwellings permitted by right.
• Eliminated requirement that projects of 150+ dwelling units require a planning and design commission public hearing.
• Created objective, citywide infill housing design standards for all housing and mixed-use developments of two or more dwellings.
• Reduced development impact fees for new affordable dwelling units - $0 rate for regulated affordable units up to 120% AMI.
• Eliminated housing impact fees for mobile home parks, owner occupied single-family, affordable units, high-density housing and ADUs.
• Adopted policy for Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts (EIFDs), most recently the Aggie Square EIFD with a 20% set aside for affordable housing.
• Adopted transit-oriented development land use zoning overlay.

For more information on HCD’s Prohousing Designation Program, please visit the HCD Prohousing webpage.