Soledad council approves 2024 general plan and housing annual reports for state review

The Soledad City Council on March 19 approved a resolution directing city staff to submit the city’s 2024 general plan annual progress report and the 2024 housing element annual progress report to the California Department of Housing and Community Development and the state Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, city planning staff said.

City staff said the reports summarize implementation steps taken in 2024, current housing production and projects now in the pipeline. The reports will be filed with state agencies that monitor local progress on housing and land-use planning.

Russell, a city planning staff member, told the council that Soledad recorded 94 housing units in 2024: four low-income units, 10 moderate-income units and 80 above-moderate units. “For 2024, we were able to produce four low-income units, 10 moderate-income units and 80 above-moderate units,” Russell said during the presentation.

Staff and council highlighted several items cited in the reports as supporting policy goals: the city purchased a 4.56-acre parcel intended for affordable housing development; staff said the city obtained an $85,000 grant identified in the report as “Route 2” to accelerate housing work downtown; and the city received a $50,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant for a proposed shipping-container housing concept. Staff also pointed to a pipeline of roughly 10 projects the city expects to process this year, naming Parcel E, 540 Gatland and Almond Acres as among the more development-ready proposals.

Beatrice, a city staff member, told council the city has pursued changes to encourage affordable projects, including a 2023 amendment allowing private developers to partner with nonprofit housing providers. Staff noted two affordable projects emerging from that change: Eden Housing proposing about 40 units on Parcel E and a CHISPA partnership planned as part of Almond Acres. Beatrice said the city is pursuing a pro-housing designation from the state that could unlock additional incentives but that the designation process remains in progress.

The report also listed local programs and activity: the city’s ADU outreach and pre‑approved plans program, which produced 41 ADU building permits and 25 certificates of occupancy in 2024; continuing downtown revitalization efforts and a farmworker-era Front Street rehabilitation project; and efforts to add circulation and Safe Routes-to-School projects.

Council members pressed staff on timing and next steps. Staff said the new general plan update work remains underway and that the city expects adoption of the updated general plan in January 2026; staff noted they are extending the consultant contract to accommodate added outreach and timeline shifts. Council also discussed using city-acquired sites to target very-low- and low-income housing.

Councilmember San Buenaventes moved to approve the resolution; Councilmember Munoz seconded. The council voted in favor with no recorded opposing votes or abstentions.

Staff will transmit the adopted transmittal documents to state agencies and return to the council with subsequent environmental review and discrete entitlements for pipeline projects as they come forward.