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City manager announces planner hire, housing-element work with Plan West and new RHNA figures
Summary
City Manager Amy Nelson told the Planning Commission that Katie Schmidt has returned as city planner, that building-inspector recruitment is nearly complete, and that the city is working with Plan West to address a letter from the California Department of Housing and Community Development about housing-element implementation.
City Manager Amy Nelson told the Fortuna Planning Commission that the city has filled the city planner position with Katie Schmidt and continues active recruitment for a building inspector, and she updated the commission on housing-element compliance work with a state agency. Nelson said the city is working with Plan West to respond to a letter from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) that expressed disappointment in the city’s housing-element implementation and warned of possible fines; Nelson said, "we're not interested in paying any fines to HCD," and that the city is working to resolve the matter.
Nelson announced that Katie Schmidt has returned to the City of Fortuna as city planner and that staff are near completion of building-inspector interviews. She said the city is continuing work on housing-element implementation with consultant Michelle Nielsen of Plan West to address HCD’s concerns. Nelson told commissioners the city expects a presentation on new Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) numbers in October and conveyed an approximate RHNA total of about 466 units that the city will need to plan for; she emphasized that the total comprises different housing categories and that staff will provide a detailed presentation and next steps at a future meeting.
No formal commission action was taken on the staffing announcements or the HCD letter; commissioners acknowledged the updates and did not place further direction on the record during this item. The city manager’s communications were delivered near the end of the meeting following the lot-line-adjustment action. The announcements included: returning staff (City Planner Katie Schmidt), near-complete recruitment for a building inspector, consultant support from Plan West for housing-element implementation and an upcoming RHNA presentation with detailed numbers and implications to be scheduled for October.
