Planning commission recommends 2025 general plan status report to city council, flags larger RHNA allocation ahead

The El Paso de Robles City Planning Commission on May 12 voted 7–0 to recommend that the City Council accept the 2025 annual status report on the city’s general plan and forward it to the state.

Associate Planner Darcy Delgado presented the report, telling commissioners the annual submission fulfills a state requirement to track progress on the general plan and the housing element. “Ninety-seven percent of our general plan policy action items are either complete, ongoing, or in process,” Delgado said, and she highlighted several large projects driving recent housing production: Olson (including Olson Courtyard), River Oaks 2, North and South Chandler Ranch, and the Beachwood specific plan.

Delgado provided the work-stage counts the city will submit to the state: 284 units received certificates of occupancy in 2025, 168 units were under construction, 167 units were in plan check and a number of entitlements were pending. She said roughly 73% of the city’s RHNA allocation for the current cycle had been permitted and about 65% had been completed. “A lot of this comes down to the development community actually executing and building housing,” she said.

Commissioners pressed staff about an unfinished project adjacent to the former JCPenney site. Commissioner Roden asked whether incomplete or abandoned units still count toward the city’s RHNA totals. Delgado and Community Development Director Warren Frase said units that have received permits or certificates of occupancy are counted. Frase said about 25 units plus 25 accessory dwelling units had received certificates of occupancy before work stopped, that the developer had rented a small number of units late last year, and that roughly 75 other units remain in various stages of construction; none of the unfinished units had current certificates of occupancy.

Frase framed the greater policy challenge facing the city: preliminary reallocation figures from the state Department of Housing and Community Development show an approximately 30% countywide increase in next-cycle RHNA numbers. “We’ve received our preliminary reallocation numbers already from HCD last week and you’re right they go up,” Frase said, adding that the city will need to identify additional sites or increase allowable densities—North Chandler Ranch was cited as a likely location for added capacity. He also told commissioners the state is adding a new “acutely low” category for households at 0–15% of area median income and that the county may be allocated roughly 200–300 units in that category; San Luis Obispo County will be among the first jurisdictions to implement that change.

After the presentation and discussion, a commissioner moved to recommend approval of the 2025 general plan annual report and to forward it to the City Council; Commissioner Christiansen seconded. The commission took a roll call and the motion passed 7–0. The chair said the report is expected to be on the City Council agenda in early June for the council’s consideration and transmittal to the state.

Why it matters: The annual status report documents the city’s zoning and permitting progress against the state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Allocation. The staff presentation indicated solid progress in permitting and completions but warned that a substantially larger allocation in the next cycle will require the city to identify more housing capacity or raise allowable densities on candidate sites.