Kingsburg planning commission recommends city adopt amended housing element to satisfy state review

The Kingsburg Planning Commission on Sept. 11 voted to recommend that the City Council adopt General Plan Amendment 2025-01, a revision to the city’s 6th-cycle housing element that the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) found compliant on Aug. 19, 2025.

Holly Owen, Kingsburg’s community development director, told the commission the amended housing element removes three parcels that had been in the adopted sites inventory, adds 13 new parcels and preserves the city’s ability to meet its Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). "We got to the answer that I think we wanted for and we have a certified housing element and, a lot of programs and policies that I have to keep track of for the next 8 years," Owen said.

The housing element is a state-mandated eight-year component of the city’s general plan that identifies current and projected housing needs, locations for potential housing development and policies and programs to meet those needs. Kingsburg participated in a multi-jurisdictional update coordinated by the Fresno Council of Governments; the city originally adopted the 6th-cycle housing element on July 7, 2024.

Owen told the commission the city originally proposed zoning text amendments in December 2024 that would have raised minimum allowable densities on four sites, prompting public concern. Council did not adopt the density increases on those four parcels on Dec. 4, 2024; staff then worked with HCD and the city’s housing element consultants, Wyatt Jasinski and Sarah Allender, to craft alternatives that would satisfy state requirements while addressing community concerns.

Consultant Wyatt Jasinski described the location of the 13 newly added parcels as primarily in a highway-commercial area on the city’s west side and in community-commercial or form-based code areas closer to downtown. "The 13 parcels that got added to the site's inventory are primarily located within a highway commercial area to the west of the western part of the city," Jasinski said.

The city submitted the amended housing element to HCD for review on June 26, 2025; HCD issued a determination letter on Aug. 19, 2025, finding the amendment compliant with state housing element law. Because the proposed general plan amendment is consistent with the Kingsburg General Plan Environmental Impact Report and its addendum, staff advised the commission it would be exempt from further environmental analysis pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15183.

During the public comment period there were no speakers. After brief commission questions and discussion, the commission opened and then closed the public hearing and took action on staff’s recommendation. A motion to adopt Resolution No. 2025-03 — recommending the City Council adopt General Plan Amendment No. 2025-01 and find it consistent with the general plan EIR and addendum — was moved and seconded and carried by the commission.

Owen said staff will continue tracking the housing element’s programs and policies over the eight-year cycle and proposed beginning a workshop at the next meeting to develop objective standards for multifamily housing and accessory dwelling units. She said the standards would be drafted with input from city legal counsel and tailored to comply with new state legislation allowing objective standards for certain housing approvals.

The commission also was told the general plan update — the first in about 30 years — is scheduled to return to the commission in November for review.

Votes at a glance: the commission adopted Resolution No. 2025-03 (motion moved and seconded; vote recorded as carried; no roll-call vote or named votes provided in the transcript).