Agenda Item Wording:
title
Acceptance of the 2022 Housing Element Annual Progress Report (APR).
body
Deadline for Action: 3/20/2023
Submitting Department: Community Development
Contact Name and Phone Number:
Brandon Smith, Principal Planner, 713-4636 brandon.smith@visalia.city <mailto:brandon.smith@visalia.city>
Paul Bernal, Community Development Director, 713-4025 paul.bernal@visalia.city <mailto:paul.bernal@visalia.city>
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that the City Council receive the 2022 Housing Element Annual Progress Report and authorize staff to forward the report to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
Background Discussion:
Pursuant to State Housing Law (Government Code Section §65400), cities and counties are required to report their progress on implementing their current Housing Elements. The report includes a summary of the jurisdiction’s housing activity, progress in reaching their Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) by income level, and progress in implementing our Housing Element’s goals and programs.
The report is a useful tool for City officials, staff, citizens, and stakeholder groups interested in the City’s housing trends, particularly as they relate to affordable housing. The report must be reviewed by the City Council, submitted to HCD by April 1st, and accepted by HCD. Failure to prepare and deliver the report on a timely basis incurs risk of the City losing future housing grant funding opportunities.
The report demonstrates that the City follows all applicable State laws and policies pertaining to housing, and that the City is implementing its housing policies and programs as articulated in its midcycle or four-year update to the 5th Cycle Housing Element adopted in December 2019. (Currently staff is working together with consultants on the preparation of a 6th Cycle Housing Element, which is due to the State by December 31, 2023.)
The 2022 APR forms and tables are largely unchanged from the previous year’s format. The APR continues to require listing and affordability determination of all “considered” housing projects (i.e., potential projects submitted to the Site Plan Review Committee), completed entitlements, and individual building permits for every individual housing unit. Jurisdictions report these units to gain credit against their RHNA housing unit requirements. The expanded reporting is in accordance with the State’s enhanced focus on the housing development process.
All residential building permits must be tracked through to their final grant of occupancy. Only units that receive issuance of a building permit during the reporting period are counted toward the jurisdiction’s RHNA allocation. Notwithstanding the interest in the jurisdiction’s performance on providing affordable housing to lower income households, the APR requires detailed permit information on all residential units.
The contents of the APR are described below along with their applicability to the City of Visalia.
|
|
Table Name |
Description |
|
Table A |
Housing development applications submitted |
Lists all applications deemed complete in 2022. Examples: Subdivision Maps, Conditional Use Permits, Site Plan Review applications receiving a “Revise & Proceed” and needing no further entitlements. |
|
Table A2 |
Annual building activity report summary |
Lists all housing units that have received an entitlement, issued and/or finaled building permit in 2022. Examples: building permits for single-family, multi-family, and accessory dwelling units, applications listed in Table A. |
|
Table B |
RHNA Progress |
Summary of permits issued by income level in each year of RHNA allocation. |
|
Table C |
Sites identified / rezoned to accommodate shortfall housing need |
N/A for Visalia. The City maintains a surplus in all levels. |
|
Table D |
Program implementation status |
Reports on all mid-cycle update to the 5th Cycle Housing Element programs. |
|
Table E |
Commercial development bonuses approved |
N/A for Visalia. No such applications received in reporting period. |
|
Table F |
Units rehabilitated, preserved and acquired for alternative adequate sites |
N/A for Visalia. Optional table. |
|
Table F2 |
Above moderate income units converted to moderate income units |
N/A for Visalia. Optional table. New table for 2022. |
|
Table G |
Locally owned lands included in Housing Element sites inventory that have been sold, leased, or disposed |
N/A for Visalia. No locally owned inventoried land has been sold. |
|
Table H |
Locally Owned or Controlled Lands Declared Surplus |
Lists sites designated as surplus. Currently none of these sites contain housing. |
|
Table I |
Lot splits applied for or units constructed pursuant to SB 9 |
N/A for Visalia. No lot splits or units were applied for in 2022. |
|
Table J |
Student housing development with a density bonus approved |
N/A for Visalia. No student housing applied for. |
|
Summary |
Summary of data from preceding tables |
Summary of data from preceding tables |
|
LEAP Reporting |
Status of proposed uses listed in LEAP application and the corresponding impact on housing |
Reports the City’s progress on its LEAP grant, which was approved in 2021. |
Summary of Report:
Table A: Application Submittal Summary
- Entitlement Applications. Entitlement applications reflecting a total of 1,890 units were submitted and deemed complete in 2022. Excepting for three deed-restricted affordability apartment complexes comprising 856 units that were approved in January and February 2023, all other entitlement applications were approved in 2022. This includes:
• two conditional use permit (CUP) applications for apartments totaling 304 units:
o Orchard Walk Townhomes, Riggin & Court, 234 units;
o Highland Avenue Senior Apartments, 2400 N. Highland Avenue, 70 units (deed restricted for Very Low Income category).
• one CUP application for a single-family residence in a multi-family residential zone,
• three parcel maps yielding 7 developable lots, and
• six subdivision maps totaling 612 single-family residential units (refer to Table A).
- Site Plan Review by-right uses. Units tallied through Site Plan Review applications for by-right uses receiving a “Revise & Proceed” are approximately 110 units over six projects, including one 80-unit deed-restricted Very Low and Low Income development (Rancho Colegio, Dinuba & Glendale, Self-Help Enterprises) and one 6-unit deed-restricted Very Low Income Development (Santa Fe & Tulare, Habitat For Humanity).
Table A2: Building Activity
Comparative data sets between the 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 APR submittals are shown in the tables below:
|
Residential Permit Category |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
Issued building permits: ADUs |
4 |
2 |
5 |
16 |
|
Single-Family Units |
633 |
599 |
632 |
540 |
|
Multi-Family Units |
61 |
6 |
204 |
695 |
|
Granted occupancy: ADUs |
1 |
3 |
4 |
8 |
|
Single-Family Units |
529 |
571 |
590 |
651 |
|
Multi-Family Units |
72 |
38 |
2 |
43 |
|
Affordability by Income (issued permits) |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
Above Moderate |
169 |
92 |
76 |
124 |
|
Moderate |
463 |
504 |
548 |
411 |
|
Low |
46 |
10 |
170 |
657 |
|
Very Low |
20 |
1 |
40 |
21 |
|
Extremely Low |
0 |
0 |
7 |
38 |
|
TOTAL |
698 |
607 |
841 |
1,251 |
- Multi-Family Residential. The 695 multi-family units that were issued permits are all classified as affordable to the Extremely Low, Very Low, or Low Income categories based on the density of the units’ underlying zone district. The largest contributing projects are:
• Reserve at Ritchie Ranch (Akers & Riggin, 219 units),
• Village at Shannon Parkway (Court & Shannon, 204 units),
• Visalia Apartments (Shirk & Doe, 124 units),
• Lofts at Fort Visalia (Bridge & Oak, 80 units),
• Wood Ranch Unit 3 (Noble & Summit, 38 units), and
• Diamond Oaks (Burke & Caldwell, 12 units).
- Deed Restricted Affordability. Permits issued for 79 multi-family units, all affiliated with the Lofts at Fort Visalia to be managed by Self-Help Enterprises, will be deed restricted units. This project consists of 34 units affordable to Extremely Low Income, 16 units affordable to Very Low Income, and 29 units affordable to Low Income, plus one non-deed restricted managers’ unit. Also, permits issued for five single-family units, constructed by Self-Help Enterprises at Court Street & Northwest 5th Avenue, will be deed restricted units to first-time homebuyers in the Low Income category.
- Single-Family Residential - Very Low Income Affordability. A total of nine accessory dwelling units (ADUs) were issued permits classified as affordable to the Very Low Income category based on total valuation of the permit and number of bedrooms.
- Single-Family Residential - Low Income Affordability. A total of four ADUs and three single-family residences were issued permits classified as affordable to the Low Income category based on total valuation of the permit and number of bedrooms.
- Single-Family Residential - Moderate & Above Moderate Affordability. A total of 411 single-family residences are classified as affordable to the Moderate Income category, and 124 single-family residences are classified as affordable to the Above Moderate Income category, based on total valuation of the permit and number of bedrooms.
- Affordability Determination. Like in previous reporting years, affordability in the 2022 reporting year was determined based on an affordability calculator made available by State HCD through their website.
Table B: Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) Compliance:
There were no discretionary actions that affected the City’s RHNA obligations. Consequently, the RHNA remains in compliance with the Housing Element and State law.
Table D: Housing Element Implementation:
One key program accomplishment for 2022 was the approval of a Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) on April 18, 2022, for an implementation program to address other zone districts where emergency shelters may be allowed as a permitted or conditional use and the development of performance standards (Program 5.3).
The City also completed work on two implementation programs intended to promote the production of ADUs - preparation of pre-approved ADU building plans for use by the public (Program 3.23) and preparation of an ADU impact fee study to justify reduction of development fees (Program 3.12).
Also, in 2022, the City provided financial assistance in the form of HOME and LMIHAF funds for the development of the 80-unit Lofts at Fort Visalia mixed-use development, and CDBG, PLHA, and LMIHAF funds towards the development of a 100-bed Low-Barrier Navigation Center (Programs 3.5.2 and 6.2). The City also provided financing and forgivable financing as an incentive for affordable housing (Program 3.11).
Fiscal Impact:
None. However, failure to submit the report in a timely manner exposes the City to risk of being ineligible for future State housing grant opportunities.
Prior Council Action:
The mid-cycle or four-year update to the 5th Cycle Housing Element (from which the Implementation Programs in Table D of the APR are reviewed) was approved by the City Council on December 3, 2019. On March 21, 2022, the City Council received the 2021 Housing Element Annual Progress Report and authorized staff to submit the report to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
Other: None.
Alternatives:
Direct revisions to the report and submit by April 1st, and/or report back to the City Council with additional information as directed.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to accept the report and direct staff to forward the final report to the State Department of Housing and Community Development.
end
Environmental Assessment Status:
Exempt pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15306 (Information Collection).
CEQA Review:
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15306 (Information Collection).
Attachments:
1. 2022 Annual Progress Report