Carmel-by-the-Sea planning commissioners review housing element amendment, outline ADU, hotel, downtown and church strategies

The Carmel-by-the-Sea Planning Commission held a special workshop on the city's housing element amendment where staff and volunteer group members reviewed four proposed programs to deliver affordable rental housing and discussed next steps for drafting amendment language to submit to the state.

Planning Director Anna Jeannette said the meeting's goal was to "have an informative discussion at a more intimate level so that we can work through potential amendments" and to collect community input before drafting formal language for the commission and council.

The draft amendment responds to a 2004 housing element that identified two city-owned sites and 149 affordable units; staff and volunteers are proposing a multi-pronged approach that relies on accessory dwelling units (ADUs), conversion and transfer of underperforming hotels, downtown mixed-income and live-work conversions, and partnerships with faith-based property owners. Jeannette told the audience the city will prepare draft ordinance language and proceed with the standard public hearing process before the Planning Commission and City Council.

Why it matters: Carmel must produce a housing element that the state will certify. The city's adopted RHNA allocation and related obligations — and the practical constraints of Carmel's small lots, water limits, coastal regulation and village-scale character — mean staff and volunteers told the meeting they are pursuing a "Carmel-custom" solution built from several smaller strategies rather than a single large-site approach.

Summary of the four program tracks presented

- ADUs: Nancy (volunteer working-group member) said the earlier housing element undercounted ADU production. Based on permit counts from 2019'023, staff updated the five-year baseline from 4.5 ADUs per year to 8.4 units per year and raised the inventory contribution from 34 to 60…