Commission recommends city pursue California pro housing designation, asks for regular public reporting

The Housing and Community Development Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council direct staff to pursue California's pro housing designation, a state recognition intended to accelerate housing production and increase competitiveness for certain state funding.

Long Range Planning Manager Hector Rojas told the commission the program, administered by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), recognizes jurisdictions that adopt policies beyond baseline state law to streamline housing production and promote affordability. "This program is administered by the California Department of Housing and Community Development or HCD," Rojas said.

Why it matters: jurisdictions with the designation can receive priority processing or additional points when applying for state housing, infrastructure, transportation and climate funding. Rojas said the pro housing incentive programincluded $8,000,000 statewide in its most recent NOFA and estimated Vallejowould have been eligible for a base award of roughly $700,000 in that round, with additional score‑based bonus funding possible.

The presentation and timing: Rojas gave an overview of threshold requirements (a compliant housing element, annual progress reporting, required rezoning, public participation and an authorizing city council resolution), the three‑phase application process (staff compiles qualifying policies and documentation, the city conducts required outreach and posting, and HCD completes its review within 60 days) and the program's scoring framework. He said applications must score at least 30 points to be eligible; staff preliminarily estimated Vallejo would score about 43 of a possible 83 points.

Commissionersasked practical questions about how any incentive funds could be used. Rojas said the program is broad: funding could subsidize affordable development, update permitting systems, streamline accessory dwelling unit (ADU) processes or fund preapproved application packages to lower costs. "It could be for, for example, changing out our permitting system to make it more up to date," he said.

Concerns and safeguards: several commissioners pressed on the city's track record on encampment policies and tenant protections and asked for stronger transparency if the city moves forward. Commissioners debated whether reporting should be monthly or quarterly; staff said they could bring the application draft to the commission before submitting it to HCD and could provide periodic updates afterward. Rojas cautioned that HCD requires demonstration of performance and that the designation could be revoked if commitments are not followed, but said staff would work with other departments to prepare reporting mechanisms.

Vote and next steps: after discussion the commission approved a resolution recommending the City Council direct staff to pursue the designation, with an expectation that staff will report progress and performance to the commission and the public. The commission asked staff to bring the draft application to the commission prior to final submittal to HCD and to include publicly accessible reporting on how any incentive funds are used.

The commission transmitted its recommendation to the City Council; HCD has up to 60 days to review a submitted application and may request clarifications.