Jennifer Dart, Arcadia’s deputy director of community development, presented the city’s current position in the state’s seventh‑cycle regional housing needs allocation (RHNA) process and warned the council the allocation represents a steep increase the city must plan for.

“Between cycles this is a very large increase — a 71% increase in our RHNA goal,” Dart told the council, saying the new allocation is roughly 2,000 units greater than the previous countywide allocation the state released in July. She described recent changes to the RHNA framework that add two very low income categories — “acutely low” and “extremely low” — which create new challenges for jurisdictions with limited funding for deeply subsidized housing.

Why it matters: Dart said the state determines a regional number via the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), then the Humboldt Council of Governments (HCOG) develops a methodology to distribute that number among jurisdictions in Humboldt County. Arcadia must adopt a housing element demonstrating how it will accommodate its assigned number of units across income categories.

Key points from staff’s briefing:
- Scale: Dart said Arcadia’s RHNA goal jumped substantially compared with the sixth cycle (she described a 71% increase) and that the increase is largest in the lowest income bands, where funding is most constrained.
- Funding mismatch: staff emphasized that existing state and federal funding programs typically underwrite projects down to about 30% of area median income (AMI) and do not provide clear mechanisms to subsidize units targeted at 0–15% AMI (the acutely low category). Dart said deeply subsidized units will likely need long‑term operational subsidies such as vouchers — funding streams that have been shrinking at the federal level.
- Counting and crediting limits: Dart noted that some infill projects, for example student housing, do not count toward Arcadia’s RHNA even if they free up existing housing in the market. That exclusion complicates planning in university towns, she said.
- Buildable sites: Arcadia, like much of Humboldt County, has limited vacant land and must rely on infill and redevelopment; HCD still requires jurisdictions to show adequate vacant sites, a requirement that can conflict with state infill and climate goals.

Potential regulatory consequences: Dart warned the council that a failure to obtain a certified housing element can have practical consequences — including making jurisdictions ineligible for certain state housing funds, triggering shorter update cycles, and in some cases exposing a jurisdiction to legal challenge. “We could get sued by the state,” she said, calling that outcome unlikely but potentially costly.

Council input and next steps: Council members discussed coordinating county‑wide feedback to HCOG and preparing to present Arcadia’s preferred methodology to HCOG later in November and December. Dart said HCOG will forward a proposed distribution to HCD, followed by HCD review and final approval; the city will then develop and adopt its updated housing element. Dart and Council said they would monitor HCD and HCOG schedules and consider advocating for methodological reforms that better reflect rural needs and funding realities.

Ending: staff told the council the item was informational and will reappear as the HCOG and HCD processes advance. The council discussed outreach to other local community development directors to seek coordinated reform.