Salinas staff report RHNA increase to 6,674 and outline housing projects, funding; committee approves submittal

City planning staff presented the City of Salinas 2024 Housing Element annual progress report, told the Housing and Land Use Committee the region’s housing need allocation has grown substantially, and outlined project pipelines, funding and street-outreach outcomes. The committee voted to recommend council approval and submittal of the report to state agencies.

Vincent Montgomery, planning manager, opened the presentation and said the sixth-cycle regional housing needs allocation (RHNA) for Salinas now totals 6,674 housing units for the 2023–2031 planning period. "The sixth cycle ... is now 6,674 total housing units that need to be developed in the city of Salinas," Montgomery said. He summarized the city’s progress toward those targets and noted the city must submit its report to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) by the April 1 deadline.

Staff provided production and pipeline figures for calendar year 2024. A staff presenter said the department issued 221 building permits and finalized 221 permits in 2024 (many were accessory dwelling units) and issued 115 certificates of occupancy. Staff also described pre-applications and entitlements in the pipeline, including tentative maps and conditional-use permits for future growth areas.

Monica Flores, community development analyst with the housing division, described three projects furthest along in staff support: 98 Kipp Drive (land acquisition funding of $645,000 to support development of a 100% affordable senior housing project), a CHISPA ADU program supporting three ADUs and a Homekey-style conversion on Fairview Avenue — a former motel the city and county expect to convert to permanent supportive housing at 30% area median income for about 45 units. Staff said the city acquired 443 West Market Street (the El Rey motel) in 2024; that property has 26 units and staff are coordinating with county behavioral-health and homeless-services partners to determine operation and use.

Staff listed funding sources and program allocations described during the presentation: approximately $2.1 million from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) annual allocation, "just over $700,000" in HOME funds, roughly $1.6 million tied to the local housing trust fund (application under appeal) and $1.65 million received through the Prohousing Incentive Program (PIP) round 1. Staff said the city applied for additional rounds of PIP and other competitive funding; some grant applications were denied and others remain pending.

On homelessness outreach, Keisha Lopez, homeless services manager, said the Salinas Outreach and Response Team (SORT) served 291 unique individuals in 2024, referred 36 individuals from encampments to emergency shelters and housed 45 individuals. Lopez summarized broader SORT outputs: the team provided 2,321 instances of services or case-management support.

Committee members asked about the ADU fee-waiver program; staff said the five-year waiver program has sunset and is no longer offered, but the city maintains five sets of preapproved ADU plans to reduce cost and streamline permitting. Staff also said the city lacks many large contiguous development sites inside the existing city limits and that larger-scale growth is expected primarily in designated future-growth areas.

The committee voted to recommend city council approve submittal of the 2024 housing element annual progress report to HCD and LCI. Council member Sandoval and Council member Barajas recorded aye votes on the motion; the motion passed.

Provenance: the housing element presentation and discussion began in the transcript at about 1150.795 seconds; committee approval occurred in the transcript around 2690.25–2696.11 seconds.

Speakers quoted or cited in this article are those who spoke on the topic during the meeting and are included in the article’s speaker list.