To: Board of Supervisors
From: Planning and Building Department
Agenda Section: Departmental
SUBJECT:
title
Humboldt County 2020 General Plan Annual Progress Report and the 2020 Housing Element Annual Progress Report; Case # PLN-2020-16742
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RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Receive the staff report;
2. Deliberate on the 2020 General Plan Annual Progress Report (Attachment 1) and the 2020 Housing Element Annual Progress Report (Attachment 2) and modify as necessary; and
3. Accept the Annual Progress Report or if modifications are made, direct Planning staff to file the modified annual progress report with the Office of Planning and Research and the Department of Housing and Community Development pursuant to Government Code Section 65400(a)(2).
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SOURCE OF FUNDING:
The salary funding for this work is included is in the General Fund contribution to the Long-Range Planning unit, 1100-282.
DISCUSSION:
Government Code Section 65400(a)(2) requires planning agencies prepare two annual progress reports (APR), a General Plan APR and a Housing Element APR, and provide them to the Board of Supervisors, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) and the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) by April 1 of each year. The governing statute, however, does not stipulate in which order they be provided, and neither OPR or HCD require the reports to be submitted to the legislative body prior to submitting the reports to HCD and OPR.
The General Plan APR (Attachment 1) assesses how the General Plan was implemented during the previous 12-month reporting period. There is no standardized form or format for the General Plan APR, although the Office of Planning and Research does provide guidance regarding content. The General Plan APR includes review of major land use activities undertaken during the reporting period, and information that may point toward a need for “course corrections” or modifications to the general plan or improved implementation. Essentially, the General Plan APR provides accountability and transparency to the Board and the community on the county’s progress of implementing the General Plan during the previous year. Preparing the APR also implements General Plan Implementation Measure G-IM1. Progress Report, of the Governance Policy chapter.
The APR for the Housing Element on the other hand, is required to be prepared and submitted on detailed Excel spreadsheets provided by HCD. These spreadsheets are large and not appropriate as an attachment, so a summary of the report is provided in Attachment 2. Attachment 2 also contains the URLs and hyperlinks to the full spreadsheets for further inspection as needed.
Beginning with the 2020 housing element APR, there are three new reporting requirements:
• Local Early Action Planning (LEAP) grant program: status of the uses listed in the county’s awarded application; and
• Inventory of real property owned or under the control of the county located in U.S. Census designated urbanized areas and urban clusters that is designated as surplus or excess; and
• Density bonus reporting.
Progress has been made on several of the county’s awarded activities for LEAP, as indicated in Attachment 2. The fully executed standard agreement was received January 2021, and now the county will seek reimbursement from the state for eligible tasks already completed and will work to complete the remaining tasks throughout the year.
Table H of the Housing Element APR (Attachment 2) contains the inventory of real property owned or under control of the county that is declared surplus or excess in accordance with statue and located in a U.S. Census designated urbanized areas or urban cluster. Working with Public Works and researching County records, only the Lucas Street property has been identified as meeting the criteria for APR reporting.
Effective Jan. 1, 2021, Assembly Bill (AB) 2345 added new reporting requirements for density bonuses. Jurisdictions are to report the number of density bonus applications received and approved for the reporting year. Jurisdictions are to provide other density bonus data, e.g., the percentage of density bonus received, the percentage of affordable units in the project, the number of other incentives or concessions granted to a project, and any waiver or reduction of parking standards for the project. Humboldt County did not receive any density bonus applications in 2020, so this reporting requirement was not triggered.
Consideration and acceptance of the General Plan and Housing Element APRs is informational in nature, does not create or alter policy, and is therefore exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to the CEQA Guidelines Section 15306.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Staff costs for preparation and review of this report total approximately $5,000 at the time this report was drafted. The staff positions to complete this work are already filled and allocated and are included is in the General Fund contribution to the Long Range Planning unit, 1100-282.
STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK:
This action supports your Board’s Strategic Framework by fostering transparent, accessible, welcoming and user friendly services .
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The State Office of Planning and Research (OPR) and the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Board may modify the APR as necessary.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Humboldt County 2020 General Plan Annual Progress Report
2. Summary of the Humboldt County 2020 Housing Element Progress Report
3. Government Code Section 65400
PREVIOUS ACTION/REFERRAL:
Board Order No.: n/a
Meeting of: n/a
File No.: n/a