TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Brian D. Bordona, Director of Planning, Building & Environmental Services
REPORT BY: Trevor Hawkes, Supervising Planner
SUBJECT: Annual Report to the Board of Supervisors, Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation & State Department of Housing and Community Development regarding the status of the 2008 Napa County General Plan Implementation Items
RECOMMENDATION
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Receive and accept a presentation of the annual report regarding the status of the 2008 Napa County General Plan and progress in its implementation as required by Government Code Section 65400. (No Fiscal Impact)
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BACKGROUND
The Napa County General Plan was comprehensively updated in June 2008 serving as a broad framework for planning the future of Napa County. Since the comprehensive update in 2008 the County has updated various elements of the General Plan including the Circulation Element (2019), the Safety Element (2023) and the Housing Element (2009, 2014 and 2023). All elements of the General Plan include goals, policies, and implementation tasks ("action items" and "programs") that collectively guide land use decision making for unincorporated Napa County.
The 2008 General Plan has a planning horizon of 2030. A comprehensive update to the General Plan was initiated in 2024 beginning with an update to the Napa County Baseline Date Report (2005) which will provide a current fact-based foundation essential to inform the work of the General Plan Update and related EIR.
Section 65400 of the Government Code requires planning agencies to prepare an annual report regarding the status of their General Plan and its implementation, and to provide copies of the report to their legislative body (i.e. the Board of Supervisors), the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), and the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI - renamed from the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research on July 1, 2024). HCD provides a form that must be used for the Housing Element portion of the report which contains a Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) progress report section, and a section on implementation of Housing Element programs. Also required, but contained in a separate table, is a progress report on all other action items in the General Plan.
Regional Housing Needs Allocation Progress Report
On January 24, 2023, the Board of Supervisors adopted an amendment to the Housing Element of the General Plan, updating the element for the Sixth Cycle planning period, which covers the years 2023 - 2031. During this period the County has been assigned a RHNA of 106 total housing units divided among four income categories as follows: 45 very low-income units; 16 low-income units; 14 moderate-income units; and 31 above moderate-income units. Starting in 2018, submission to the State occurs electronically. HCD provides the Annual Progress Report (APR) form in an auto-populating, jurisdiction-specific spreadsheet. Attached to this report is a summary of the totals for this year.
The County issued 35 building permits to develop dwelling units in 2024, a slight decrease of three (3) from reporting year 2023. The 35 permits consisted of 25 primary (or ‘main’) single family detached (SFD) dwelling units, all of which are for traditional site built custom residences. For purposes of reporting to the State, site built custom SFD’s count toward the County’s share of ‘above moderate’ income level dwelling units. 10 of the 35 building permits were for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU's). Units where no rent, or below market rate rents will be charged qualify as non-deed restricted ‘low’ income, ‘very low’ income, and 'moderate' income units. For the 10 ADU’s building permits issued in reporting year 2024, three (3) qualify as ‘very low’, three (3) qualify as 'low', four (4) qualify as ‘moderate’.
The RHNA reporting period for the Sixth Cycle occurs over an eight (8) year period between 2023 through 2031, with this APR representing the second year of reporting. The County’s progress on their Sixth Cycle RHNA is provided below:
• Above Moderate: 31 units assigned - 52 permits issued; zero (0) units remaining
• Moderate: 14 units assigned - 13 permits issued; one (1) unit remaining
• Low: 16 units assigned - 10 permits issued; six (6) units remaining
• Very Low: 45 units assigned - 13 permits issued; 32 units remaining
Napa County issued 35 Certificates of Occupancy for dwelling units over the 2024 reporting period. 11 of these were for SFDs, 24 for ADUs. 50 building permit applications for dwelling units were received over this time period.
Staff reached out to City of Napa Staff on February 6th, requesting information on the progress of affordable units for the Riversound project (Napa Pipe), which the County will receive lower-income RHNA credit for pursuant to SB235. Entitlement of an 85-unit affordable housing block is expected to occur in 2025.
General Plan and Housing Element Implementation Tables
The attached General Plan and Housing Element Implementation Tables report on the current status of the 159 (108 within the General Plan Implementation Table and 51 within the Housing Element Implementation Table) action items/objectives of the Napa County General Plan. The implementation table include action items adopted with the 2023 update to the Safety Element as well as actions items from the 2019 update of the Circulation Element. The Housing Element Implementation Table includes objectives adopted with the 2023 update to the Housing Element.
Public Input
Government Code Section 65400(a)(2)(B) requires the annual report to be considered at a public meeting where members of the public are welcome to provide oral testimony and written comments. While no action by the Board of Supervisors is requested, the Board should accept oral and written comments from the public, and Staff would be happy to answer questions.
Staff anticipates filing the reports with HCD and LCI on March 28, 2025.
Requested Actions:
1. Staff report.
2. Public comment.
FISCAL & STRATEGIC PLAN IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
No |
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Consequences if not approved: |
The County would not be able to submit our annual report to HCD and LCI |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California
Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.