California state law requires cities and counties to plan for their housing needs as part of their General Plan, each community’s “blueprint” for future development. The Housing Element must identify specific housing needs and incorporate strategies for meeting those needs, including changes to zoning and other efforts to remove barriers to building affordable and market-rate homes.
Communities must update their Housing Element at least every eight years. California is currently in the 6th Cycle of the Housing Element. The range of dates that the 6th Cycle covers varies by county. Moraga’s 6th Cycle covers 2023 to 2031.
Moraga is implementing its Housing Element by rezoning some areas to allow for more housing, providing incentives for developers to build affordable housing, and working with nonprofit organizations to develop affordable housing.
Moraga’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) is for 1,118 units over the next eight years. This is a substantial increase from the previous cycle’s 229 units. The 6th Cycle includes plans for:
225 housing units are already in the development pipeline.
Specific locations in Moraga that have been approved or identified for potential housing developments include:
The 6th Cycle Housing Element revisions for Contra Costa County were due on January 31, 2023. The draft of the Housing Element was published on June 30, 2022, and was submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on August 12, 2022. Since then, the city has received comments from the HCD and submitted two revised Housing Element drafts. The city currently needs to revise the Housing Element and resubmit it to the HCD.
Moraga’s Housing Element will impact the future development of the city and its neighborhoods as well as direct how some local-government resources are spent. Because the number of housing units to be added in each region is determined by the state, some local governments have pushed back against what they view as unreasonable or inappropriate growth for their area.
Some pros of the Housing Element plans are:
Potential cons of the Housing Element plans are:
The California Housing Element is an important tool for ensuring that everyone has a place to live. If the city of Moraga does not implement a Housing Element that meets the state’s requirements, it could be sued by the state and lose state funding for housing programs. By implementing a Housing Element that meets the state’s requirements, Moraga can help ensure that everyone has access to affordable housing and that the community continues to thrive.
You can learn more about Moraga’s Housing Element here.
You can find background information on the California Housing Element here.
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