Ripon City planning commission adopts 6th-cycle housing element, sends it to City Council

The Ripon City Planning Commission on a voice motion adopted the city's 2023'2031 (sixth-cycle) housing element and recommended it to the City Council for final adoption and submission to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).

The housing element, presented by consultant Beth Thompson of De Novo Planning Group, sets the city's housing goals, inventories land capacity and programs to remove constraints to housing development, and tracks state requirements such as affirmatively furthering fair housing. "A housing element is one of the required elements of your general plan," Thompson told the commission during the public hearing.

The document inventories land and projects the city can rely on to meet the state-assigned Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) for the sixth cycle: 1,424 units total, including 347 units for very-low-income households, 218 low-income, 255 moderate-income and 604 above-moderate-income units. Thompson said the inventory includes about 259 units in approved projects, more than 900 units on vacant sites, and more than 700 units on underutilized parcels; the consultant noted one small typographical error in a table that lists 257 instead of 259 approved units.

Thompson described the element's three parts: a housing plan with goals and programs, a background report with data and constraint analysis, and appendices. The background report analyzes housing needs for special groups the state requires to be addressed, including seniors, persons with disabilities, large households, female-headed households, farmworkers and people experiencing homelessness. It also contains a new affirmatively furthering fair housing assessment that maps opportunity and identifies areas of affluence and any concentrated disadvantages.

On state review and implementation, Thompson said HCD had provided comment during its initial 90-day review and the city revised the draft in response. Following Planning Commission adoption, the element will go back to HCD for an additional 60-day review period; Thompson said that final comments from HCD at that stage typically require only minor clarifications. She also said that jurisdictions that lack adequate sites must rezone within a year of adoption, but that Ripon currently has adequate sites and therefore is not required to rezone as part of this adoption.

Commissioners asked staff and the consultant for clarifications. A commissioner asked whether Ripon has adequate sewer and water capacity for the sixth-cycle numbers; Ken (staff member) replied, "So we do have adequate sewer and water to provide for the land that we have zoned in the general plan." Ken added that the city plans future improvements to wastewater treatment and additional water wells and possible connections to regional water suppliers as the city grows.

Commissioners also asked about enforcement tools if the city does not meet RHNA. Thompson described the state's enforcement mechanisms, including the "no net loss" rule and streamlining provisions such as Senate Bill 35 that can require expedited approvals in jurisdictions that do not accommodate their RHNA. She said HCD also monitors implementation through outreach and letters to jurisdictions that are not implementing committed program actions.

A member of the public, Gary Barton of Ripon, asked how preservation and rehabilitation of existing housing affects affordability. Thompson replied that private owners may renovate and raise rents, but that the housing element includes steps the city would take if deed-restricted affordable units were at risk of losing their affordability: the city would receive notice and pursue preservation options, including notifying entities on state interest lists for acquisition or preservation.

The housing plan includes a suite of programs the city will implement or continue, including promoting accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and junior ADUs, regulatory amendments to comply with state laws for emergency shelters and supportive housing, participation in the countywide homeless continuum of care, housing rehabilitation programs and a new program to affirmatively further fair housing. Thompson said program entries now include more specific objectives, timeframes and identified responsible departments in response to current HCD review expectations.

Commissioners made a motion to adopt the element as the commission's recommendation to the City Council; the motion was seconded and the chair announced the housing element had been adopted by the commission and would proceed to the City Council.

What the commission adopted is a policy document only: Thompson emphasized that the housing element itself does not approve or entitle specific projects and that it was found exempt from CEQA under the general and other applicable exemptions (citing CEQA principles and guidelines). The commission's recommendation will be forwarded to the City Council for final action and the adopted element will return to HCD for the final 60-day review.

Votes at a glance

- Action: Adopted recommendation to City Council of the 2023'2031 City of Ripon (Ripon City) housing element (sixth-cycle) as part of the Ripon City General Plan 2040. - Motion: "That the City Council adopt the 2023 through 2031 City of Ripon housing element as part of the City of Ripon General Plan 2040." (mover/second: not specified in transcript) - Outcome: Adopted by the Planning Commission; forwarded to City Council. (vote tally not specified in the transcript)

Next steps

The Planning Commission's adopted element will be transmitted to the City Council for final adoption and then submitted to HCD for its 60-day review. Staff and the consultant said they expect HCD's further comments, if any, to be mainly clarifications and that most revisions can be handled without returning to the Planning Commission.