SACRAMENTO — Huntington Beach now has a state-approved housing plan and is back in compliance with state housing-element law. After falling out of compliance with state housing element law in 2015, increased pressure from Governor Newsom and California’s Attorney General resulted in renewed focus from Huntington Beach on meeting its affordable housing obligations.

The city regained housing-element compliance by adopting zoning that allows opportunity for at least 413 new affordable homes. This new zoning also creates a streamlined “by-right” review on developments that make at least 20 percent of its homes affordable to lower-income households. In addition, these efforts led to the provision of a $3 million acquisition loan from the city to Jamboree Housing to build a 43-unit, 100-percent affordable housing development. The development will be located on one of the “development opportunity” sites identified in the city’s housing element.

Issuance of compliance does not end the lawsuit. The court continues to have jurisdiction unless a dismissal is entered. HCD intends to file a stipulated dismissal of its claims, memorializing that Huntington Beach adopted an amended housing element on February 3, 2020; that HCD certified the amended housing element on March 24; and that it substantially complies with California housing-element law.

In addition, Alturas, Atwater, Fort Jones, Maywood, and Pismo Beach joined the growing list of jurisdictions that now have state-approved housing plans (known as “housing elements”). Of the 47 jurisdictions found out-of-compliance with state housing law 2019, 22 now have state approved housing plans

Cities and counties must incorporate a variety of strategies into their housing plans to show they can meet their communities’ housing needs.

Atwater — The city renewed its focus on housing, making several achievements above and beyond simply coming into compliance. Atwater made several zoning changes to encourage housing for people with special needs who are experiencing homelessness and removed barriers to creating multifamily housing.

“After meeting with the Governor, I made it the City of Atwater’s priority to get the city’s housing element into compliance, which would allow the city to become eligible for state housing funding,” said Atwater Mayor Paul Creighton. “It is my commitment as the mayor, along with our city council, to continue to move Atwater forward and build these relationships on local, state, and federal levels.”

Alturas — A small city of slightly more than 2,500 people, Alturas has not complied with housing-element law since 2005. With slowing population growth, Alturas’ plan focuses approaches to conserve and improve existing housing, including use of “Renovation Volunteers” to donate time and renovate homes for people with low incomes and special needs.

Fort Jones — A tiny city in Siskiyou County, Fort Jones’ mayor traveled the length of the entire state to make it to the mayor’s Housing Summit in Long Beach to show support for housing. Since that day, the city has worked closely and cooperatively with HCD to become compliant, illustrating that even cities with populations under 1,000 can achieve this important goal.

Maywood — At slightly more than a square mile, Maywood is one of the smallest cities in the Los Angeles area, yet, has taken big steps forward to address the housing needs of its community. The city targeted commercial areas to encourage multifamily housing on infill sites and recently adopted new zoning to encourage affordable and senior housing. The city will also revisit its parking requirements and plans to make major process improvements for design review and permitting.

Pismo Beach — Though out of compliance for close to a decade, Pismo Beach made several meaningful actions to plan for existing and future residents. In addition to up-zoning areas to accommodate the housing needs of lower-income households, Pismo Beach committed to increasing densities (allowing more homes/apartments per acre) to facilitate mixed-use (residential plus commercial) development in its downtown. The city will also create incentives to increase workforce housing and proactively partner with affordable developers to help increase the supply of affordable homes

“Housing affordability was already a top priority and now we’re moving into incredibly uncertain times. More than ever before, we need to ensure consistency and create stability for families who will be facing incredible hardship,” said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez. “After years of noncompliance, it gratifying to see cities with state-approved housing plans and inspiring to see many going above and beyond to incorporate innovative approaches to meet the housing needs of everyone in their communities. The state is proud to be working in close partnership to support local governments in doing the right thing for Californians who struggle to make ends meet and do everything we can to protect those most in need.”