Riverbank updates housing-element draft; HCD review asks for revisions on sites, AFFH and programs

David Niskinan of JB Anderson Land Use Planning told the City Council that the city’s draft sixth‑cycle housing element (covering June 30, 2023 through Dec. 31, 2031) has been revised in response to a voluminous first‑round review from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).

Niskinan summarized the update steps: public workshops and outreach, preparation of the housing-needs assessment and sites inventory, Planning Commission and council hearings, the initial 90‑day HCD review and the current subsequent review and revisions. He said the city formally submitted a draft housing element in December and received an HCD letter on Feb. 27 identifying revisions needed to meet statutory requirements. "The housing element is 1 of the required elements of the general plan and covers an 8 year period," Niskinan said, explaining HCD’s statutory review role.

HCD’s requested revisions, Niskinan said, fall into these categories: housing needs and resources (including affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH) analysis), special‑needs housing, the sites inventory (including realistic capacity and rezone commitments), governmental and nongovernmental constraints and the housing programs themselves. He said the team expanded the AFFH analysis to address segregation, racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty, disparities in access to opportunities and disproportionate housing needs, and added program actions to address identified contributing factors.

Niskinan said the sites inventory was updated with a more robust realistic-capacity analysis, described how nonvacant and rezone candidate sites were evaluated, and noted the city’s RHNA allocation includes a high number of lower‑income units, which constrained the inventory and required some creative rezone choices. He said the team expects to publish a second HCD‑review draft under state timelines for a seven‑day public review and to submit that draft for a 60‑day HCD review in June, with Planning Commission and Council adoption anticipated in the fall if outstanding issues are resolved.

Members of the public and online commenters thanked staff and said they expected to be notified when the second draft is published. Niskinan said the city’s revised draft and HCD comment‑response table will be posted to the Riverbank housing webpage and that interested parties will be notified by email.