December 2022

It’s not often a housing plan receives literal applause, but recently the City of Needles had local partners up on their feet after the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) approved the City’s latest housing element.

Since 1969, California has required that all cities and counties adequately plan to meet the housing needs of everyone in their community. They submit these plans, known as housing elements, to HCD roughly every eight years to maintain compliance with state law.

HCD provides technical assistance (TA) to help jurisdictions submit compliant housing elements and implement Prohousing policies offering guidance, workshops, and training. From June 2022 to March 2023, HCD is facilitating over 25 technical assistance trainings across the state to inform planning commissioners on new state housing laws and create local champions of housing policy. The news of Needles getting their first housing element approval since 2005 – after years of trying – dropped at a recent Inland Empire workshop.

HCD and a team of consultants provided the Needles staff with one-on-one technical assistance every week for several months. Needles Assistant City Manager Patrick Martinez was thrilled when he learned their plan was approved this year.

“The City of Needles appeared as if it did not want to be compliant considering our Housing Element had not been updated since 2005,” Martinez said. “The truth was that the City did not have the financial resources or staff to complete the task. Without the assistance of the Department of Housing and Community Development, the City of Needles would not have been able to be compliant with its Housing Element. Both the financial and technical assistance HCD has provided has allowed the City to adopt three Housing Elements in as many years (5th and mid cycle and 6th cycle). Thank you HCD for your helping us get past the finish line.”

Hours after the 2018 Camp Fire ravaged the Town of Paradise, town residents and leaders gathered in the early morning to discuss recovery and rebuilding. And now a few years later, Paradise is stronger than ever with a clear vision for the future.

“You talk about resilience – that's the definition of Paradise,” said Steve Crowder, Mayor of Paradise. “I am so proud of the progress that is happening here.”

Almost 2,000 single and multifamily homes have already been rebuilt, with plans for more high density and affordable housing underway. And a recent award of almost $200 million from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) will help fund necessary unmet infrastructure needs such as water utilities, public utilities, sewer, and evacuation routes.

“When you have a major natural disaster like this and are trying to bring people back, trying to rebuild lives and community, you need to have the infrastructure ready to fully rebuild,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “This award will support critical infrastructure for the town as it rebuilds with resilience and climate mitigation central to its goals.”

Paradise has included sixty infrastructure projects in their master plan to help in their goal of rebuilding housing in a sustainable way and making the Paradise community safer for residents in the years to come.

“Because of the help and the partnerships that we have, we're going to be able to do what our citizens asked us to do, which is why I think they're coming back,” said Paradise Councilmember Jody Jones. “Not just people who lived here before the fire, who want to come back, but new people who see the kind of planning we're putting into the community and the opportunities here,” she said.

“The story of Paradise will not be the fire. The story of Paradise will be how the People of the Ridge – Paradise – came back,” said California Senator Jim Nielsen. “And (Paradise) has come back more magnificently than anyone could imagine.”

Today is National Homeless Persons Memorial Day. Everyone should have a safe, warm place to live, and no life should be lost due to a lack of shelter. Today on the longest night of the year, we mourn those we have lost and reaffirm our commitment to use every tool at our disposal to promote safe, affordable homes and end homelessness.

“Acting urgently to address the housing crisis and working diligently to build and preserve affordable housing is key to preventing and reducing homelessness,” said CA Department of Housing and Community Development Director Gustavo Velasquez. HCD is working to protect and support our most vulnerable populations through innovative programs and policies that provide all ranges of housing including interim housing, permanent housing and homeownership. And we need more cities, counties and local partners to say yes to affordable housing to help us ensure every Californian has a safe roof over their head.”

Today the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) announced the cities of Citrus Heights, Fontana, Oakland, Roseville, San Diego, and West Sacramento have earned the state’s Prohousing Designation. These cities join the city of Sacramento in being recognized for committing to policies and practices that will help them remove barriers to housing production. HCD also announced the launch of the new Prohousing Incentive Pilot (PIP) Program to reward Prohousing cities working to address California’s housing crisis.

“These communities have stepped up to implement policies that aggressively eliminate bureaucratic obstacles and drive the growth of housing throughout the state,” said Governor Newsom. “This is one of many innovative approaches the state is taking to create greater accountability and reward municipalities willing to do their part to help collectively tackle the need for more housing. This is the right approach and I look forward to seeing more communities join in this effort.”

Governor Gavin Newsom’s fiscal year 2019-2020 budget established the Prohousing Designation Program as part of a spectrum of support, incentives, and accountability measures to help meet California’s housing goals. Increasing the availability of housing statewide is critical to bettering the quality of life of all Californians and to ending homelessness. The Prohousing designation provides incentives to cities and counties in the form of additional points and/or other preference in the scoring of competitive housing, community development, and infrastructure funding programs administered by HCD.

Cities with a Prohousing Designation are now also eligible for community development resources through the new PIP Program. The competitive program offers $25.7 million in additional funding to Prohousing cities to help accelerate housing production and preservation.

“Creating a healthy housing market that offers stability and opportunity is possible with engagement across all levels of government,” said Housing Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez with Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. “California is proud to partner with San Diego, Oakland, Citrus Heights, Fontana, Roseville, West Sacramento and Sacramento to create the right mix of housing near jobs and transit, health care, and key amenities. Incentivizing housing and making it a priority will lead to reduction in poverty, income inequality, and enable teachers, mechanics, home health aides, grocers, nurses, and food prep workers to find a place to live within a reasonable commuting distance and improve their quality of life.”

Cities and counties that receive the designation must demonstrate they are promoting climate-smart housing in a variety of ways, including but not limited to: streamlining multifamily housing development, up-zoning in places near jobs and transit to reduce emissions, and creating more affordable homes in places that historically or currently exclude households earning lower incomes and households of color.

“Prohousing cities demonstrate they are ready and willing to be part of the statewide housing solution to getting at least 2.5 million new homes by 2030, by eliminating many of the barriers to building affordable housing near daily destinations,” HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez said. “As promised, the state is ready and willing to award grants to Prohousing cities with the new Prohousing Incentive Pilot Program, to help get smart planning over the finish line.”

The Prohousing Designation is awarded when a jurisdiction submits an application with local policies that reduce barriers to housing production. Jurisdictions must receive a minimum score of 30 on the application. Highlights of the actions taken by these cities to attain the Prohousing Designation include but are not limited to the following:

• Citrus Heights: Pre-approved/pre-permitted Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) program; promoting active modes of transportation in high traffic corridors; objective design standards and program-level Environmental Impact Report for redevelopment of the 100-acre Sunrise Mall with capacity for more than 1,000 new housing units.
• Fontana: Published project map showing all proposed and approved entitlements from the last three years with in-depth detail; provided specific plans with environmental documents that allow for streamlined California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review; significantly reduced impact fees for infill development.
• Oakland: Neighborhood-level specific plans to streamline environmental review; a “one-stop shop” permitting approach to streamline across various city departments; investments in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure; pre-approved ADU program.
• Roseville: Streamlined cross-departmental project approval/cost meetings; successful permanent supportive housing partnership between city and county; Housing Rehabilitation Program that provides 0% interest loans of up to $100,000 to low-income households for repairs needed for health and safety.
• San Diego: Updated community plans to provide zoned capacity in the city for more than 98,000 additional housing units, created Affordable ADU Bonus Program; waives density limitations and allows for a floor area ratio-based density bonus for development that provides affordable housing and infrastructure amenities. The City of San Diego has sufficient sites to accommodate 161% of their current 6th Cycle Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) total.
• West Sacramento: Incentives such as impact fee reductions, standards that allow for greater development intensity, and reduction of constraints such as parking.

The PIP Program is the first of many benefits designed to encourage local policy changes necessary to developing housing for all Californians. Applications for the PIP Program are due by March 15, 2023. Jurisdictions that have not received a designation but are interested in becoming Prohousing and applying for PIP can submit both applications.

For more information on HCD’s Prohousing Designation and Prohousing Incentive Pilot Program, please visit www.hcd.ca.gov.

What the Mayors are saying:

“Fontana is focused on creating a future that is more equitable, sustainable, and more resilient than ever. Real solutions require a higher level of collaboration and support than ever. This designation represents another critical tool in our arsenal to tackle the far-reaching issue of affordable housing,” said Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren.

“For more than two decades, Roseville has effectively set the stage for the development of a wide range of housing choices. Workforce housing provides more opportunities for people who work in the community to live in the community. There’s real value in that,” said Roseville Mayor Krista Bernasconi.

“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 after receiving the designation in February. “This designation signals to the development community that we stand ready to work with you and find creative ways to house more people.”

“West Sacramento is proud to be recognized by HCD as a Prohousing City," said City of West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero. "We will continue to push the envelope with forward-thinking policies to help bring affordable, transit-served housing options to those in our community who most desperately need it.”

“Housing is the solution to homelessness, a key strategy for climate action and a path to economic opportunity for all – and we’re doing everything we can at the City of San Diego to build more homes at prices our residents can afford. I want to thank the State of California for validating the hard work we’ve done in San Diego to be a state leader in expanding housing opportunities near transit and high opportunity areas like job centers and college campuses. By passing prohousing policies at the local level and leveraging new tools and funding provided by the Governor and the Legislature, we will continue to build more homes, so everyone has a stable place to live.” said San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria.

“As a redevelopment and infill opportunity city, Citrus Heights works diligently to clear obstacles and find creative solutions so we can continue growing,” said Citrus Heights Mayor Tim Schaefer. “We have recently approved new single-family home neighborhoods, permanent supportive housing, and affordable senior projects that will collectively result in over 400 new homes between 2021 and 2023. Our recently approved Specific Plan to redevelop the 100-acre Sunrise Mall includes entitlements for up to 2,200 multifamily residential units. The City of Citrus Heights is excited to be recognized as a Prohousing community by HCD and continue our commitment to proactively stewarding our future with policies that build community.”