CALABASAS 2021-2029 HOUSING ELEMENT UPDATE
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. What is the General Plan Housing Element and why must it be regularly updated?

The Housing Element of the General Plan is a State-mandated policy document that identifies Calabasas’ existing and future housing needs and establishes clear goals to inform future housing decisions. The City’s Housing Element provides goals, policies and programs that address:

• Conserving and improving existing housing
• Providing adequate housing site
• Assisting in the provision of affordable housing
• Removing governmental constraints to housing development
• Promoting fair housing opportunities

Unlike other elements of the General Plan, State law requires the Housing Element to be updated every eight years. The City’s current Housing Element (5th Cycle) was adopted by the City Council in August 2013 and covers the period 2014-2021. The next housing cycle (6th Cycle) will cover the eight-year planning period from October 2021 to October 2029.

2. Is the Housing Element a separate stand-alone plan?

The Housing Element is one of seven State-mandated elements of the City’s General Plan, and is required to be internally consistent with other parts of the General Plan. To function as a useful statement of local policy, the various components of the General Plan need to "comprise an integrated, internally consistent and compatible statement of policies for the adopting agency" (California Government Code section 65300.5). Because the Housing Element identifies additional areas for housing, the Land Use Element needs to be amended for internal consistency; other State mandates trigger corresponding revisions to the Safety Element and Circulation Element as well.

3. What is Included in the Housing Element?

The Housing Element is comprised of the following major components:

• Review of effectiveness of existing Housing Element
• Assessment of existing and projected housing needs
• Identification of resources – financial, land, administrative
• Evaluation of constraints to housing
• Housing Plan – goals, policies and programs

The framework graphic below illustrates how these Housing Element components fit together. Results from each of the four key components of the analysis -- review & revise, housing needs, resources, and constraints -- are reflected in the goals, policies and programs in the implementation plan. The entire process must reflect public participation from the draft stage to final adoption.

4. Why does Calabasas have to plan for more housing?

California law requires each city and county to plan for their “fair share” of the State’s housing growth needs. Based on economic and demographic forecasts, the State has determined that the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) region needs to accommodate 1,341,827 housing units between 2021 and 2029 to meet housing demand. SCAG is the agency responsible for distributing the fair share allocation among its six counties (Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura) and 191 cities in the Southern California region.

5. How much new housing does Calabasas have to allow?

SCAG has allocated the region’s 1,341,827 housing unit growth needs to each city and county through a process called the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA). Calabasas’ draft RHNA for the 2021-2029 planning period (6th RHNA cycle) is 354 units, distributed among the following income categories:

The RHNA represents the minimum number of housing units Calabasas must plan for in its Housing Element by providing “adequate sites” through General Plan land use designations and corresponding zoning. As described in the response to question #8 below, the State further requires that local jurisdictions create a buffer in the Housing Element sites inventory, which is a future housing development capacity substantially above the minimums established by the RHNA.  The buffer ensures maintenance of an adequate sites capacity throughout the planning period.

6. What is the City’s obligation to accommodate its Regional Housing Need Assessment, and what happens if at the end of the Housing Element cycle if the City falls short of its RHNA goals?

The City’s RHNA represents a planning target and is not a building quota.  However, the City must provide sufficient sites, which are realistic and probable for housing development within the prescribed timeframe, and the City cannot impose constraints to development. Otherwise, if the City falls short of its RHNA goals, the City can be penalized.  For example, in jurisdictions that fail to permit enough housing consistent with RHNA goals for the applicable RHNA planning period, residential projects meeting certain conditions and thresholds must be reviewed and approved under a streamlined approval process with no public hearings.

7. What was Calabasas’ RHNA for the 2014-2021 (5th Cycle) planning period, and how did the City accommodate this need?

The City’s 2014-2021 RHNA was for 330 total new housing units, including 199 affordable units (very low, low and moderate income). The City was able to demonstrate the availability of adequate sites using a combination of the following methods:

• Already approved residential development projects (having zoning entitlements)
• Vacant residentially zoned sites (including undeveloped residentially zoned lots within existing residential subdivisions)
• Underutilized residential and mixed-use sites
• Accessory Dwelling Units (previously known as second residential units, and sometimes colloquially referred to as “granny flats”)

Calabasas’ residential sites inventory from the above sources provided capacity for up to 747 future housing units, including sites suitable for development of 331 lower income units, 171 moderate-income units, and 245 above moderate-income units.  During the 2014 – 2021 Housing Element time period, the City issued building permits for a total of approximately 215 new housing units, including 32 units affordable to lower and moderate-income households.

8. Can sites that remain undeveloped from the previous Housing Element be reused in the sites inventory for the 2021-2029 Housing Element?

Yes, but the new State laws make this more difficult. Although this was allowable in the previous Housing Element Update (5th RHNA Cycle), it is only partially allowable for the 2021 – 2029 planning period. Recent changes in Housing Element law have tightened the parameters for including sites in the Element, requiring substantial additional analysis to justify sites as suitable and available for housing development within the planning period. For example:

• Vacant sites included in the prior two Housing Elements to accommodate lower income households, or non- vacant sites included in the prior Element, cannot be used in future Housing Elements unless: a) the site is zoned to the minimum lower income density thresholds (20 units/acre); and b) zoning allows for housing development by-right for projects with at least 20% of units affordable to lower income households.
• Non-vacant sites, small sites (<0.5 acres), and large sites (>10 acres) are presumed to be inappropriate for development of housing for lower income households unless the jurisdiction can provide evidence why the sites would be appropriate, such as statements from developers and submitted development plans.
• Unless a jurisdiction has established minimum allowable densities, site capacity calculations must be adjusted downwards based on the following factors: a) land use controls and site improvements; b) realistic capacity of site; c) typical densities; and, d) environmental and infrastructure constraints.
• Sites identified in the Housing Element that had either lower income units or a lower income occupant within the past five years must replace that housing at the same or lower income level as a condition of approval, in addition to the planned new affordable housing.

Layering these new requirements on a jurisdiction’s sites inventory both reduce the number of suitable sites, and reduce the presumed unit capacity on sites deemed appropriate and available for development.  Lastly, the “No Net Loss” Law (Government Code section 65863) requires enough sites be maintained to meet the RHNA for all income levels throughout the planning period¹. Therefore, State HCD will require jurisdictions create a sufficient buffer in the inventory to ensure adequate sites capacity exists throughout the planning period (as explained in the response to question #5, above).

9. How is affordable housing defined?

State and Federal definitions of housing affordability are generally based on the standard of spending no greater than 30% of household income on housing costs, including utility payments, taxes, insurance, homeowner association fees, etc. Affordable housing is relative to the amount households of different income levels and sizes can afford to pay for housing. For example, the 2020 maximum affordable rent for a very-low income, 3-person household (2-bedroom unit) in Los Angeles County is approximately $1,268, whereas affordable rent for a 3- person, low-income household is approximately $2,028.

10. In addition to providing sufficient sites to address the total RHNA, how does the City’s zoning translate to providing adequate sites for each RHNA income category?

State Housing Element law provides for the use of “default densities” to assess affordability when evaluating the adequacy of sites to address the RHNA affordability targets. Based on the City’s population and that the City is located within Los Angeles County, Calabasas falls within the default density of 20 units per acre for providing sites suitable for housing development for very low- and low-income households, and 12 units/acre for housing sites suitable for moderate income households. This default density approach applied when the City adopted its 2014 – 2021 Housing Element in 2013; however, for the new 6th RHNA cycle the City’s housing sites had to be designated and zoned with a minimum allowable density at these levels to count toward the associated lower-income and moderate-income categories.

11. What do communities do when they run out of vacant and buildable land?

Communities with little or no remaining vacant land cannot escape RHNA -- they must still update their Housing Element to accommodate the RHNA. In these cases, the Housing Element may evaluate existing developed properties as “underutilized sites”. Such properties may be available for intensification, or they may be non- residential sites with potential for re-designation and redevelopment for housing or mixed-use development. Examples of land with potential for recycling may include fragmented sites suitable for assembly, publicly owned surplus land, areas with mixed-use potential, properties facing substantial functional obsolescence, and blighted areas with abandoned or vacant buildings. Second units (aka “accessory dwelling units”) also provide a means of accommodating additional housing in built-out communities. Under limited circumstances, a portion of the City’s RHNA may be met through conversion of existing market rate apartments to affordable levels; preservation of affordable units at-risk of conversion to market rate; and substantial rehabilitation of substandard apartment units combined with long term affordability covenants.  For the 2021 – 2029 Housing Element all twelve identified future housing sites are infill locations (meaning they are surrounded either entirely or at least partially by existing urban development), and most of the sites also are already developed (thereby necessitating future redevelopment to accomplish the planned future housing).

12. What happens if Calabasas does not have its Housing Element certified by the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD)?

There are a number of potentially significant consequences:

• Risk of litigation from housing advocacy groups, an aggrieved housing developer, or other entity or person based on the City having a legally inadequate General Plan. If they rule the Housing Element invalid, courts can impose a range of sanctions including placing State HCD into the role of reviewing and approving housing development projects in the City, or having such matters decided ministerially (no hearings) via a court-appointed official; and placing a moratorium on non-residential development and other local land use authorities until the Housing Element is brought into compliance. Furthermore, the jurisdiction is responsible for paying the litigant’s attorney fees. Settlement agreements between the parties often include stipulations for mandatory rezoning and affordable housing production requirements.
• State housing and related parks and infrastructure grant and loan funds typically require verification of Housing Element compliance for eligibility, so failure to secure an HCD certification can result in a loss of funding.
• And where a jurisdiction’s prior Housing Element failed to identify adequate sites to address the RHNA, the unmet RHNA carries over to the next Housing Element and is added to the new RHNA, rendering HCD compliance in future housing element cycles tremendously challenging.

Lastly, AB 72 now expands HCDs enforcement authority to refer non-compliant jurisdictions to the State Attorney General’s Office for litigation, as evidenced by the recent lawsuit the State brought against the City of Huntington Beach².

On April 25, 2022 the City of Calabasas’ adopted 2021 – 2029 Housing Element was approved and certified by HCD as being compliant with State law.

13. How was the public involved in the Housing Element process?

The 2021 – 2029 Housing Element update was accomplished via a community-based process that included the following means of public engagement:

• On-line housing needs and sites survey
• A survey of Calabasas seniors
• Public study sessions before the Planning Commission and City Council
• Community-wide workshops
• Environmental scoping meeting
• Public hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council

To join the mailing list for email notification, please use the “Sign Up” link below.
Meeting notices will also be posted on the Housing Element webpage.

NOTES:

¹ For example, if a city used the default density to count a site towards its lower income RHNA need in its Housing Element but approved a market rate development, they would need to make a finding they still have sufficient site capacity to meet their lower income RHNA or make a new site available within 180 days.

² The City of Huntington Beach subsequently amended its Housing Element to accommodate over 400 new affordable units, and the State dismissed the lawsuit.