Planning Commission reviews 2024 General Plan and Housing Element annual progress reports; recommends council receive and file

Planning staff and consultant Harrison & Associates presented the City of Victorville’s 2024 General Plan Annual Progress Report and 2024 Housing Element Annual Progress Report to the Planning Commission on March 12 and asked the commission to recommend the reports be received and filed by City Council.

Mr. Hradek introduced the item and said state law requires an annual progress report on the general plan and a separate housing element report. Alexis Bueno of Harris and Associates summarized the city’s 2024 progress, discussed goals and implementation measures by element, and reviewed development activity and capital improvement projects for the year.

Key points from the presentation included: the reports must be submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) by April 1, 2025; the city adopted Ordinance 24‑48 to update zoning to align with the General Plan land‑use update; the Victorville Wellness Center opened in December 2024 and assisted more than 110 individuals during the reporting year; and the city obtained various grants (the presentation cited about $4,000,000 for roadway projects, roughly $230,000 for public safety activities, and over $528,000 for environmental programs). Harris also reported the city’s sixth‑cycle Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) assignment was about 6,165 units; in 2024 the units permitted were reported as all in the above‑moderate category, leaving an outstanding RHNA shortfall reported in the presentation as about 7,402 units.

Bueno described housing activity and permitting numbers: the city processed over 1,000 applications in 2024 (283 approved, 0 denied, 725 pending), 78 units were entitled, 284 building permits were issued, and 444 certificates of occupancy were recorded. The presentation also summarized implementation measures such as zoning changes to promote infill and higher density, CDBG and HOME funding notices of availability, senior home repair programs, and outreach to affordable housing developers for Old Town sites.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about “placemaking” (which the consultant described as streetscape and pedestrian improvements, public art and other efforts that encourage people to visit and linger), the capacity number for an arena (the presenter corrected an earlier misstatement, saying the correct number is 8,000), and what “collaboration” means for improving public‑facility access (the presenter cited public workshops, hearings and outreach as examples). A commissioner asked why few low‑ and moderate‑income units were permitted in 2024; the consultant and staff said developers told them projects for lower income tiers “don’t pencil” in the local market and that the city has used zoning and policy changes to remove discretionary barriers and encourage such development.

Staff’s formal recommendation — that the Planning Commission receive the 2024 General Plan Annual Progress Report and the 2024 Housing Element Annual Progress Report, provide feedback and recommend the City Council receive and file the reports — was accepted by the commission by consensus. No formal roll‑call vote was recorded; staff will forward the reports to City Council for receipt and filing.

The presentation included numerous program details and funding figures contained in the reports; the staff report and the APRs themselves should be consulted for full tables, the statutory format required by the state for housing element reporting, and the complete RHNA accounting.