Sunnyvale is ahead of schedule in its plan to meet future state-required housing needs throughout the city.
While city staff doesn’t have to submit a final version of the 2015-2023 Housing Element until January 2015, the state told the city in a review letter that the updated housing element is in compliance.
The housing element establishes the city’s housing policies and shows how the city is able to address local housing needs. It is the only element required to be updated on a regular basis, in this case every eight years.
If the city does not update its housing element, it faces the penalty of having to update it every four years instead. The new planning period will extend from July 2014 to January 2023.
City staff has been working closely with the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) representatives for about two years to refine the city’s regional housing need allocation (RHNA), as well as update the city’s housing element.
ABAG and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission identify areas to accommodate an eight-year projection of a region’s housing needs. ABAG uses a variety of factors in allocating the region’s future housing needs, including water and sewer capacity, and the projected number of jobs, housing units and population.
The city is not required to approve any development, but rather plan for it by identifying potential sites.
Cities and counties that fail to adopt state-certified housing elements may be faced with legal challenges. The state can also halt building plans within the city until it does.
Sunnyvale has always adopted a housing element on time and has always received state certification, staff reported.
The RHNA allocation numbers for Sunnyvale for 2015-2023 is 5,452 sites distributed among four income categories: very low, low, moderate and above moderate. Under the current zoning, there are 5,849 sites available in Sunnyvale.
“It is beneficial that there are slightly more sites available than required by Sunnyvale’s RHNA, because in case some sites are deemed unlikely to develop or otherwise don’t meet HCD’s criteria, there will still be enough sites available to meet the RHNA,” city staff reported. “It is also important to note that the city is not required to develop any housing units, only to make these sites available through its zoning and General Plan land use designations.”
Because the city is not required to develop all 5,849 identified sites, the city is projecting only building 3,150 over the next eight years.
“The market will determine how many units it can absorb,” Sunnyvale housing officer Suzanne Isé said during the meeting.
The city plans to fulfill its share of regional housing needs using a combination of vacant and underdeveloped residential sites; redevelopment in industrial-to-residential areas; mixed-use zones in the Downtown Specific Plan; and redevelopment in commercial and mixed-use zones in the El Camino Real Precise Plan Area.
The Sunnyvale Planning Commission voted unanimously Nov. 24 to recommend the city council approve the housing element. The city council will be reviewing the 221-page document on Dec. 16.
