Taft council adopts sixth-cycle housing element, finds update CEQA-exempt

The Taft City Council voted 5–0 on Aug. 19 to adopt a general plan amendment approving the city’s sixth-cycle housing element for the 2023–2031 planning period and to find the update exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under Guideline 15061(b)(3).

Senior planner Jenna Jalengarian, representing Precision Civil Engineering, told the council the updated element identifies capacity to meet the regional housing needs allocation (RHNA) of 538 housing units across income categories and that the city’s adequate sites inventory exceeds that requirement. She summarized outreach for the update — a public project webpage, a community survey with 235 responses, three workshops at the Taft Transit Center and one at Taft Union High School, and multiple stakeholder meetings — and said the draft received a substantial compliance notice from the state Housing and Community Development Department in late June.

The housing element incorporates new state requirements to affirmatively further fair housing, added after the passage of AB 686 (2018), and lists 52 programs across 10 areas, including site inventory, ADU strategies, tenant protections, homelessness prevention and neighborhood revitalization. The presentation noted that identified sites provide capacity for roughly 336 lower-income units, about 1,100 moderate-income units and more than 2,600 above-moderate units, meaning the city’s inventory significantly exceeds its RHNA number.

Councilmembers asked staff to clarify whether the capacity figures represented existing developed units or zoning capacity; staff said the housing-element inventory shows capacity under current zoning rather than existing built units. Mayor North and other members discussed funding constraints and noted that implementation will depend on funding, market conditions and state programs; the council discussed ADUs and other state tools as potential local contributors to housing supply.

With a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Bryant and a second by Councilmember Kreier, the council approved the resolution by roll call (Kreier, Bryant, Waldrop, Chavira, North — all yes). Following adoption, staff will submit the adopted housing element and resolution to HCD for final certification and then proceed with implementation and progress reporting through the next cycle.

The council’s action was procedural adoption of the planning document; no rezoning of land-use designations was proposed as part of the adoption, and staff said proposed zoning changes would be limited to state-law conformance and would not increase development potential beyond what is already reflected in the sites inventory.