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Seal Beach receives housing element update; HCD sign-off contingent on rezoning steps and possible override of airport land-use commission
Summary
City staff briefed the council on the multi-year housing element update, including state review history, the 1,243-unit RHNA allocation, contested sites under the airport land use commission review and a timeline that would bring final council action in October; council voted to receive and file the update 5-0.
Seal Beach 'The City Council received and filed an update Aug. 11 on the city's housing element process, a required component of the General Plan that must be reviewed by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
Director of Community Development Alexa Smittle walked the council through the multi-year process: the housing element work began in 2021, staff submitted multiple drafts to HCD, the city paused an environmental impact report while the project description stabilized, and the draft EIR was released in 2025. Smittle told the council, "Our exact number is 1,243 units," referring to the city's Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) obligation and summarized the sites the state expects the city to plan to accommodate.
Why it matters: HCD must find the element acceptable for the city to be certified; certification limits state penalties and enables local control. HCD found earlier drafts inadequate and required rezoning to demonstrate capacity; staff said HCD later found the package acceptable pending completion of rezoning. The Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) recently found the city's rezoning/amendments inconsistent with its airport land use plan, which triggers a separate process: the council would need to take the first of two required steps in September to overrule ALUC to enable HCD certification.
Key details: Smittle described the primary candidate sites concentrated in the north end of the city, notably Old Ranch and the shops at Rossmore (to be rezoned to mixed-use), a vacant former oil production site at 99 Marina, and some sites that abut ALUC notification/noise areas (Old Ranch Country Club and small portions of the Old Ranch Town Center). The housing element update includes rezoning tasks and a work plan of related items such as fair housing outreach and local coastal program adoption; Smittle said consultant costs tied to the housing element, zoning code update and EIR total about $725,000, with another roughly $100,000 for related tasks.
Council action and next steps: Council voted 5-0 to receive and file the update. Smittle told the council the next steps include: (1) council action in September to initiate a possible overrule of the Airport Land Use Commission (a required procedural step if the council intends to proceed), (2) Environmental Quality Control Board review and recommendation on the final EIR, (3) Planning Commission review in early October, and (4) final council consideration later in October. Smittle also said the safety element and environmental justice element drafts will follow in coming months and also go to ALUC for review.
Ending: With the receive-and-file vote, the council directed staff to continue the rezoning and EIR processes and prepare the materials necessary for the September and October hearings; the item remains subject to HCD review and to the outcome of the ALUC overrule process.
