Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Rhna topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Arcata council backs 50/50 RHNA methodology and asks HCOG to demonstrate fair‑housing compliance
Summary
The Arcata City Council adopted a resolution supporting a 50% jobs / 50% population RHNA allocation for Humboldt County while asking the regional body and state to confirm the method meets statutory goals, after staff warned a state mapping tool produced misleading results for the rural county.
Arcata — The Arcata City Council on Nov. 19 voted to support the Humboldt County Association of Governments’ (HCOG) draft regional housing needs allocation (RHNA) methodology that splits responsibility 50% by projected population growth and 50% by existing employment, while urging HCOG and state staff to work together to show the approach meets statutory objectives including affirmatively furthering fair housing.
Council members took the measure after staff briefed the council on an unexpected response from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), which flagged the state’s mapping tool for Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) as a concern. Staff and HCOG consultants told the council that the AFFH tool aggregates data at census‑tract scale in ways that may not reflect local jurisdiction boundaries in Humboldt County and could incorrectly push housing allocations to more rural tracts.
"The city council supports the proposed RHNA methodology that allocates housing responsibility based on 50% projected population growth and 50% on existing employment," staff said, and recommended adding a second clause asking HCOG to work with affected jurisdictions to demonstrate how the 50/50 approach satisfies the five statutory objectives in state housing law, including affirmatively furthering fair housing.
Why it matters: RHNA numbers determine how many housing units jurisdictions must plan for in their housing elements and shape zoning and infill priorities. Arcata and other more urbanized Humboldt communities argued that relying solely on the state’s AFFH mapping could over‑allocate units to dispersed, rural tracts where adding housing would increase vehicle miles traveled and wildfire risk.
What was said: Staff presented side‑by‑side maps to illustrate the problem: in some parts of the county the AFFH mapping unit (census tract) lines cross multiple jurisdictions, producing misleading 'high resource' or 'low resource' designations that do not reflect local conditions. Council members called for immediate staff coordination with HCOG and HCD; staff said they would press for a collaborative review before HCOG takes final action in December.
Public comment: A resident urged the council to resist cookie‑cutter statewide formulas and be an advocate for local conditions; staff said they plan to ask HCOG to delay taking final action until jurisdictions can make a joint presentation to HCD.
Outcome and next steps: The council adopted the resolution with staff‑recommended amendments directing city staff to forward the resolution to HCOG and to work with other jurisdictions to demonstrate that the 50/50 methodology meets statutory objectives. Staff said if HCD rejects the methodology, the process could add 60–90 days for a revised submittal, so officials emphasized getting the method right the first time.
