What is a General Plan?

All properties and land uses in the City are governed by the City's General Plan. The General Plan describes the long-term goals for the City’s future and guides daily decision-making. The General Plan is a roadmap to the future that encompasses the hopes, aspirations, values and dreams of the community. The Plan contains the City’s official policies on land use and community design, transportation, housing, environmental resources and health and safety. In addition to the policies in the General Plan, different areas of the city have specific plan regulations that are applicable to them.

Find more information on what a General Plan consists of here: https://opr.ca.gov/planning/general-plan/

Sand City General Plan

What is a Housing Element?

A state-mandated policy document that identifies where and how cities will accommodate existing and projected future housing needs for people of all income groups. As one of six elements of the Sand City General Plan, it is required to be updated every eight years. The last update occurred in 2015. 

Sand City 2015-2023 Housing Element

According to Government Code 65583, a Housing Element must:

• Provide goals, policies, quantified objectives, and scheduled programs to preserve, improve, and develop housing;

• Identify and analyze existing and projected housing needs for all economic segments of the community;

• Identify adequate sites zoned and available within the eight-year housing cycle to meet Sand City fair share of regional housing needs at all income levels;

• Be certified (approved) by the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) as complying with State Law; and

• Be internally consistent with other parts of the General Plan.

What is zoning?

Zoning is a set of rules and regulations regarding a number of aspects, including building heights, setbacks, landscaping, parking, and fences. Your zoning district determines what can be built on your property and which uses are allowed on your property.

Due to the coastal nature of Sand City, nearly half of the land area is subject to coastal zoning regulations according to the Local Coastal Plan (LCP). Other zoning districts include Single-Family Residential (also referred to as R-1), One Family/Two Family Dwelling units (R-2), Multifamily Residential (R-3), Planned Mixed-Use (MU-P), four commercial districts Light Commercial (C-1), Heavy Commercial (C-2), Neighborhood Commercial (C-3), and Regional Commercial (C-4), Manufacturing (M), and Planned Unit Development (PUD). 

Why do we need a Housing Element?

The need for every city and county in California to plan for their ‘fair share’ of the projected housing need is based in Housing Element Law, enacted in 1969 (Government Code Section 65583). The concept behind the law is that, in order for the private development market to adequately address housing demand, local governments must adopt housing plans that provide opportunities for – and not unduly constrain – housing development.

Having a certified Housing Element ensures:

• Eligibility for critical State and Federal funds;

• Preservation of local land use control; and

• Eligibility for State-administered funding for roads, sewer, parks, housing, and planning.

Without a certified Housing Element, the City is:

• At risk of losing local land use control, including the City’s ability to issue building permits and keep its zoning authority;

• Responsible for accommodating an increased number of housing units;

• Ineligible for various State-administered funds for roads, sewer, parking, housing, and planning; and

• More open to legal action and challenges of its General Plan. 

  • This legal action could come from developers, housing advocates, and California’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

What does this current Housing Element update cover?

Sand City is in the process of updating the Housing Element of the General Plan for the planning period between January 2023 through December 2031. Under State Law, every city and county in California is required to update its Housing Element to address specific requirements per Government Code 65583 and submit the Element to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for certification.

The Housing Element provides the plan to meet the housing needs of all people at all economic levels, and address segments of the population with special housing needs. 

The Housing Element will include:

• An assessment of the unique characteristics of the City’s population;

• An inventory of sites suitable for residential development;

• An assessment of financial and program resources; and

• An analysis of constraints to housing production in Sand City.

This data and analysis will provide the basis for a comprehensive set of policies to address current and future housing needs.

What happens if a city does not adopt a Housing Element or if the Housing Element does not comply with state law?

The penalties for non-compliance have increased in scope and severity over the past few legislative cycles, and they currently include:

• Limited access to state funding, including transportation funding for local roadway maintenance and capital improvement projects; and

• Court imposed fines of up to $600,000 per month. The statute also allows the state to collect these fines by withholding state funding due to the city.

For more information please refer to the resources listed below. 

Government Code 65750

AB 101 Housing Development and Financing

HCD Housing Element Compliance and Noncompliance Resource Sheet

When a community's housing element is found to be out of compliance, its General Plan is at risk of being deemed inadequate and therefore invalid, opening the possibility for lawsuits. Consequences of lawsuits include:

• Court mandated compliance;

• Court suspension of local control on building matters, freezing the community’s ability to issue building permits, zoning changes, etc.;

• Court approval of housing developments on behalf of the community; and 

• Attorney fees associated with the lawsuit. 

Over the past 20 years, cities and counties throughout the Bay Area (including Corte Madera, Pittsburg, Pleasanton, Alameda, Benicia, Fremont, Rohnert Park, Menlo Park, Napa County, and Santa Rosa) have faced legal challenges to the adequacy of their housing elements. In virtually every case, the city settled by amending their Housing Element and/or zoning ordinance to accommodate more housing and paid the plaintiffs’ attorneys fees. Each of these cases were filed prior to the most recent amendments to the state housing law which make it exceedingly more difficult for cities to win such cases. For more information please refer to the resource listed below. 

ABAG Growing List of Penalties for Local Governments Failing to Meet State Housing Law

Who determines Sand City’s housing needs?

The Housing Element Update is how the City addresses its assigned fair share of regional housing needs. This fair share is determined through a Regional Needs Allocation (RHNA) process. The State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), with input from the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG), determines the total housing need for the 2023-2031 period. AMBAG then determines the housing allocation for each Monterey Bay Area City and County. This update of the Housing Element must identify enough land zoned to accommodate the City's RHNA of 260 units.

HCD 2022 State Income Limits

AMBAG RHNA 2023-2031 Plan Adopted

HCD 6th Cycle RHNA Plan Approval - November 2022

AMBAG 6th Cycle Regional Housing Needs Determination

Why did Sand City RHNA increase so much for the 6th cycle?

Due to California’s housing crisis, HCD has expanded its identification of a region’s total housing need to account for unmet existing needs in addition to projected housing needs. To identify unmet existing needs, HCD takes into consideration overcrowded households, cost burdened households, and vacancy rates. This has resulted in substantially greater increases in RHNA for the 6th Cycle Housing Element Update. 

How many housing units do we need?

Over the next eight years, Sand City must plan for 260 housing units which are broken down by income groups, as shown in the following table:

Note: AMI stands for Area Median Income level, which is based on specific data for the County. Extremely Low-Income (0-30% AMI) is as a subset of Very Low-Income assumed as 50 percent. The City of Sand City’s Very Low-Income allocation is a total of 59 units, assuming 50 percent will be allocated toward Extremely Low-Income units.

Is Sand City required to build the housing assigned?

No, cities are not required to build housing units. Housing construction is still driven by the private market. The City’s role is to ensure that sufficient land is available and appropriate zoning standards are in place to accommodate the RHNA. If current zoning standards cannot accommodate the RHNA, the city must designate new sites by amending existing General Plan and Zoning designations. 

How can I get involved?

The update process provides a variety of opportunities for community involvement, including:

• Participating in housing surveys;

• Attending community workshops (in person or virtually);

• Providing feedback on demographics and existing conditions;

• Reviewing potential housing sites and providing feedback; and

• Attending public hearings.

Why does my participation matter?

The State of California has declared a 'housing supply crisis' and holds all local communities accountable for a portion of the housing need, regardless of available land capacity. Your participation is essential to creating a plan that represents Sand City’s core values while meeting regional and state-mandated housing goals. Local power resides in discovering how Sand City will meet these state requirements.

As part of the Housing Element Update, we are asking the community to provide input regarding housing priorities and challenges. Participation from our residents is vital to ensure our community’s values are identified and articulated in the Housing Element and the City’s approach provides the best fit for our community’s goals, values, and priorities.