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Council forwards 2024 general plan annual progress report to state; mayor opposes over HCD conduct claims
Summary
The Calabasas City Council voted 4-1 Sept. 10 to receive and file the 2024 General Plan annual progress report and forward it to the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and HCD. The mayor cast the lone dissent, citing concerns about the housing element program and alleging misconduct at HCD.
The Calabasas City Council on Sept. 10 voted to receive and file the city's 2024 General Plan annual progress report and to authorize staff to forward the report to the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) and the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). The motion passed 4-1, with the mayor voting "no."
Planning staff (Tom Bartlett, Rachel Zadakoff and Jacqueline Rackerby) summarized the annual report required under Government Code section 65400 and related housing-element filings. The packet documented implementation actions across mandatory general-plan elements and the housing-element annual progress report for 2024: the city reported 99 new housing units entitled in 2024, 16 building permits issued in 2024, and 313 remaining units in the 2021–2029 RHNA cycle that must be tracked toward the cycle's end.
"The housing element annual progress report provides detailed spreadsheets to HCD showing entitlements, building permits and certificates of occupancy," staff said, explaining the state's tracking requirements and the city's plan to report annually in March.
The mayor said he would not support forwarding the packet to state agencies, arguing the housing-element enforcement regime lacked legitimacy because of alleged misconduct by a senior HCD official. "Because of ... misappropriation of state funds and criminal conduct by an HCD deputy director," the mayor said, he does not feel bound by the housing element and therefore would vote no. That position was the mayor's stated reason for the dissent; other council members described the action as a routine receive-and-file to satisfy state reporting obligations.
The council then voted to receive, file and forward the reports to LCI and HCD (4 in favor, 1 opposed). The motion instructs staff to transmit the report to the state agencies as required by state law.
What happens next: Staff will submit the APR and the housing-element APR to the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and the Department of Housing and Community Development, and will continue annual tracking and reporting on entitlements, permits and certificates of occupancy.
