TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Brian Bordona, Interim Director of Planning, Building and Environmental Services
REPORT BY: Trevor Hawkes, Supervising Planner
SUBJECT: Annual Report to the Board of Supervisors, Office of Planning and Research & HCD Regarding the 2008 Napa County General Plan
RECOMMENDATION
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Interim Director of Planning, Building and Environmental Services requests acceptance of the annual report regarding the status of the Napa County General Plan and progress in its implementation as required by Government Code Section 65400.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Section 65400 of the Government Code requires planning agencies to provide an annual 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 Planning and Research (OPR). The report is required to address the status of the 2008 general plan and progress in its implementation. HCD provides forms that must be used for the housing element portion of the report and Section 65400(a)(2)(B) requires the report to be considered at a public meeting where members of the public are allowed to provide oral testimony and written comments.
PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS
1. Staff Report
2. Public Comment
3. Motion, second, and vote on item.
FISCAL & STRATEGIC PLAN IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
No |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Mandatory |
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Consequences if not approved: |
The County would not be able to submit our annual report to HCD and OPR |
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County Strategic Plan pillar addressed: |
Healthy, Safe, and Welcoming Place to Live, Work, and Visit |
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Additional Information |
Multiple Strategic Pillars addressed in completing General Plan action items. |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: No action is requested and therefore CEQA is not applicable.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The Napa County General Plan was comprehensively updated in June 2008 and the County's Housing Element was last updated and certified in December 2014 in accordance with Government Code Sections 65580 et seq. The Circulation Element was updated in 2019. On January 24, 2023, the Napa County Board of Supervisors adopted an update to the County’s General Plan Housing Element for the Sixth Cycle Planning Period (2023-2031) with certification to take place in the first half of 2023. An update to the County’s Safety Element is currently in process and staff plans to bring the update to the County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors in the first half of 2023 for adoption. All chapters or "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.
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 Planning and Research (OPR). 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
In 2014, HCD certified the County’s Housing Element commencing with implementation of the Fifth Cycle of the RHNA program, with the reporting period running from 2015 to 2023 (the ‘planning period’ is 2014-2022). During this period the County has been assigned a RHNA of 180 total housing units divided among four income categories as follows: 51 very low income units; 30 low income units; 32 moderate income units; and 67 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 24 building permits to develop dwelling units in 2022, a decrease of two (2) from reporting year 2021. The 26 permits consisted of 9 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 towards the County’s share of ‘above moderate’ income level dwelling units. 14 of the 24 permits were for Second Units/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 14 ADU’s issued permits in reporting year 2021, four (4) qualify as ‘very low’, four (4) qualify as 'low', four (4) qualify as ‘moderate’, and two (2) qualify as 'above moderate'. The county also permitted one modular unit in the 2022 reporting year, which counts towards the county’s ‘moderate’ income level.
The RHNA reporting period for the Fifth Cycle occurring between 2015 through 2023. Based on the survey results and corresponding revised totals, the County has met the RHNA goal in the ‘above moderate’ and ‘moderate’ categories, and is making progress in the two (2) lower income categories as follows:
• Above Moderate: 67 units assigned - 112 permits issued; 0 units remaining
• Moderate: 32 units assigned - 59 permits issued; 0 units remaining
• Low: 30 units assigned - 14 permits issued; 16 units remaining
• Very Low: 51 units assigned - 14 permits issued; 37 units remaining
Staff had anticipated that the 140 affordable units approved as a part of the Napa Pipe Specific Plan would be constructed during the Fifth Cycle, which would have more than met our current RHNA obligations. Those units will likely be credited to the County during the Sixth Housing Cycle.
General Plan Implementation
The attached General Plan Implementation Table reports on status on the 76 action items that are separate from Housing Element programs. The majority of these action items are either completed, ongoing, or in progress. The Board’s direction on the Strategic Plan also furthers the goals and policies of the General Plan.
Public Input
Government Code Section 65400(a)(2)(B) requires the report to be considered at a public meeting where members of the public are allowed 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 report with HCD and OPR on March 31, 2023.