What is the Housing Element?
The Housing Element is one of the seven State-mandated “elements” or chapters of a local jurisdiction’s General Plan. It identifies policies and programs to meet existing and projected housing needs for all segments of the community, including various household types, special needs populations, and all income levels of the jurisdiction.
Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA)
The Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) is mandated by State Housing Law as part of the periodic process of updating local Housing Elements. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) projects population growth by geographic region and designates the regional Councils of Government (COGs) as the agencies responsible for determining how the potential growth is to be allocated among the jurisdictions within the regions. The COG relevant to the County of Santa Cruz is the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG).
For the 6th Cycle Housing Element, effective 2023 to 2031, the County of Santa Cruz has been allocated 4,634 housing units at specific affordability levels to accommodate the County’s projected housing needs. This allocation is the County’s RHNA. The Housing Element is required to identify “adequate sites” to accommodate this estimated growth. The County is also required to provide the programs, policies, and appropriate zoning to incentivize this growth.
It is important to note that, while the County may assist with the development of affordable housing through various programs and funding sources, it is not the direct role of the County to construct housing. Rather, the County is responsible for ensuring that adequate opportunities exist for housing development through zoning and by removing regulatory impediments to housing production. The table below shows the 6th Cycle RHNA allocation that the County is responsible to plan for, broken down by income affordability level.
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6th Cycle RHNA
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Income Level
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Housing Units
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Very Low
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1,492
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Low
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976
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Moderate
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586
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Above Moderate
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1,580
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Total RHNA
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4,634
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Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) is a set of federal and state laws which require jurisdictions to combat housing discrimination, eliminate racial bias, undo historic patterns of segregation, and lift barriers that restrict access to foster inclusive communities, achieve racial equity, and guarantee fair housing choice. The 6th Cycle Housing Element Update is required by AFFH to: (1) study whether the County meets these AFFH principles, and (2) facilitate deliberate action to explicitly address, combat, and relieve disparities resulting from past patterns of segregation to foster more inclusive communities.
Housing Needs Assessment and Inventory
When updating the Housing Element, jurisdictions are required to analyze housing needs, conditions and trends in the community, and then ensure that those needs can be met. The housing units allocated within the RHNA provide the number of units at all income levels that must be accommodated. The Element must also show how special needs populations are accommodated.
In order to prepare the 6th Cycle Housing Site Inventory, the County reviewed all of the sites that were included in the 5th Cycle Housing Site Inventory and determined which have been developed and to what extent (e.g., were some lots still vacant or underutilized?), which sites need to be removed from the list because they were built out, and which sites required reevaluation of their potential for additional units. Other sites were also reviewed to determine if they should be included in the updated Housing Site Inventory.
Housing Element Update Process
Update and Certify the 2023 Housing Element. Completed! After nearly a year of public engagement, multiple outreach meetings and focus groups, and review by several commissions, the Board adopted the 2023 Housing Element in November 2023 that addressed all requirements of housing element law for the 2023 - 2031 planning period. The 2023 Housing Element was certified by HCD in April 2024 and the complete document can be accessed here: 2023 Housing Element.
2023 Housing Element Update Timeline
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EIR
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Environmental Impact Report
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HAC
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Housing Advisory Commission
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PC
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Planning Commission
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BOS
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Board of Supervisors
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HCD
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California Department of Housing and Community Development
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Housing Element Implementation: Rezone Program. Now that the Housing Element has been certified, Santa Cruz County is currently in the implementation phase of the Housing Element Update. The 2023 Housing Element identified that the total number of units that could be developed under current zoning falls short of the required RHNA. To address this shortfall, the Housing Element identified 75 parcels for rezoning in order to increase housing unit capacity. The Housing Element Rezone Program is currently underway to implement the zone district and land use designation changes in the 2023 Housing Element and meet state law requirements.
Housing Element Rezone Program Timeline
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PC
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Planning Commission
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BOS
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Board of Supervisors
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CCC
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California Coastal Commission
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Additional Resources
Explore the resources below to learn more about the Housing Element and update process: