2014-22 Housing Element Update

Project Description

Description
State law requires every city and county in California to adopt a housing element of its general plan. The law also provides for periodic updates of the housing element. Atherton adopted its first Housing Element in 1983 and has updated it, as required, on four previous occasions.

The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) certified the Atherton 2007-14 Housing Element Update in October 2010. The upcoming “round 5” Housing Element update covering the time frame 2014-22 has already begun with the formation of the San Mateo County Sub-region and adoption of the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). Atherton has an allocation of 93 housing units over the 2014-22 planning period. The next step is preparation of the Housing Element Update, the environmental documentation, and the Update’s submittal and review for certification by HCD. The deadline for adoption of the Update is January 31, 2015. A recent change to State law provides a penalty if the update is not adopted within 120 days after the deadline. That penalty is a requirement for an update every four years rather than every eight years if the update is adopted on time.

Status

Summer 2013
The Town has contracted with the San Mateo City/County Association of Governments and its planning consultant Baird + Driscoll to prepare the 2014-2022 update. A public outreach workshop on the Update is tentatively scheduled for late fall 2013.

November, 2013
A Community Outreach meeting was held to inform the community on the housing element process and gather input on housing goals and policies.

August, 2014
The Planning Commission heard an informational presentation about the general policies and proposals contained in the draft Element and considered the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration and draft Housing Element Update at a Special meeting on September 16, 2014. The Planning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend the City Council adopt the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration and further recommended the City Council approve the draft Housing Element Update for transmittal to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for review and comment.

The basic proposals contained in the 2014-2022 Update are very similar to those in the previous update (2007-2014). The one addition, based on community feedback, is to develop a plan for meeting the needs of seniors in Atherton.

Additionally, the plan identifies potential new housing that might be built in Town between 2014 and 2022. The Town is not responsible for building the new housing, rather new construction will be built, or not built, based on decisions by property owners. Detail about the housing element can be found in the October 15, 2014 City Council Staff Report (PDF).

November, 2014
The draft Housing Element was transmitted to the CA Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on November 6, 2014 for their review and comment. HCD has 60 days to review and comment on the draft.

March, 2015
CA Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) approved the Town's Housing Element.

Project Documents
Public Workshop Presentation (PDF)
Housing Element Update 2014-2022 (PDF)
Appendix (PDF)
Approved Housing Element (PDF)