Thousand Oaks files 2024 general plan and housing element progress report; council hears pipeline but notes construction lag

City staff presented the 2024 annual progress report on the general plan and housing element March 25, outlining implementation steps taken last year, inventorying housing approvals and permits, and discussing the gap between entitled projects in the pipeline and units with building permits.

Senior Planner Ian Holt told the council that the city’s eighth-cycle regional housing needs assessment (RHNA) allocation is 2,621 units and that this housing capacity was addressed through the 2024 general plan adoption and subsequent rezoning (including a mixed-use district) to ensure "no net loss" of residential capacity. Holt said 108 formal residential applications were submitted in 2024 (109 units), with 107 approved in the year; the city issued 82 building permits for new housing units in 2024—74 of those were accessory dwelling units, two were single-family detached, five were multifamily, and one was a manufactured home.

Holt highlighted larger entitled projects that together account for substantial housing capacity but have not yet pulled building permits: the Hillcrest (78 affordable townhomes with People’s Self-Help Housing), a 328-unit mixed-use project at 500 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd (including 44 low-income units), Latigo (approximately 333 units), the Timber School site (about 218 apartments), and other projects such as IMT Capital’s Hampshire Boulevard proposal. He told the council that roughly 1,963 units are currently entitled (approved by Planning Commission and/or City Council) across multiple years and that about 289 of those entitled units are restricted affordable units.

Council members and staff discussed why many entitled projects have not reached the construction-permit stage. Holt and Community Development Director Calvin Parker said market conditions—construction costs, financing, insurance requirements, and interest rates—are delaying many projects. Holt and staff emphasized that the city has used development agreements, code updates, density bonuses and municipal code amendments to prepare sites and incentives for future construction and that the city will continue outreach to developers to resolve project-specific obstacles. Holt also noted the city’s efforts using CDBG grants for rehabilitation projects and other programs to support affordability.

Council member Adam moved to receive and file the annual report and find the action is not a project under CEQA; the motion passed 5-0. Staff will submit the report to the state (HCD and the Office of Planning and Research or successor reporting office) prior to April 1.