Real Estate

Housing Element Update From City Of Saratoga

The City Council will hold a Special Meeting on January 10, 2022 at 6:00 p.m.

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Press release from the City of Saratoga:

December 22, 2021

December 22, 2021 Updates

To comply with the state-required Housing Element Update, the City Council is now deciding
where future housing could be built. Impacts of allowing housing to be built at these locations, including traffic, will be studied in an Environmental Impact Report.

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January 10, 2022 City Council Meeting

The City Council will hold a Special Meeting on January 10, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. to review these tentative opportunity sites and discuss housing policies.

You can join the meeting using Zoom or by calling in:

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Share your input at this special meeting or in writing using the City Council Comment Submission Form to send a message to all Council Members.

Housing Opportunity Sites

You can view a summary of the opportunity sites below, or view more detailed opportunity site information (PDF).

Housing Policies

You can also review and share your feedback on the Planning Commission's recommended policies and programs (PDF) to be included in the Housing Element.

Citywide Postcard

The City sent a postcard (PDF) to all Saratoga residents and businesses inviting them share their
feedback on the tentative opportunity sites and housing policies and programs at the meeting on January 10 or in writing.

Housing Element Overview

The City is in the process of updating the next General Plan Housing Element. Every 8 years, California cities are required to update their Housing Element to plan for projected housing needs. Based on the methodology for distributing projected housing needs in the Bay Area to the different jurisdictions in the region, Saratoga needs to plan for over 1,700 new housing units to be built in Saratoga between 2023 and 2031. Each city and county is assigned a number as part of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment or “RHNA” (pronounced “reena”).

Learn more about the RHNA methodology and allocation, as well as State housing legislation, that shape the Housing Element update process.

Participate

Housing Element Newsletter

Sign up for the Housing Element Newsletter to receive updates and learn how you can be involved in shaping the Housing Element.

Community Meetings

The Planning Commission held a series of 4 Community Meetings on the Housing Element Update seeking ideas and input from community members. Each meeting had a different focus to help the Planning Commission shape their recommendation to the City Council.

Community Meeting Resources:

The City also hosted a number of community meetings in April and June to prepare the community participate in the Housing Element Update. You can view recordings of the presentations given at those meetings:

Sign up for the Housing Element Newsletter to learn about future opportunities to participate.

Small Group Meetings

There are also opportunities to discuss these subjects in smaller settings. Invite the City to join you for a meeting with your neighbors and friends in Saratoga to discuss the Housing Element.

There is no minimum or maximum for small group meetings. They can be held anywhere, from your living room or backyard to a park or hosted by the City on Zoom.

During the meeting, City staff will give share a brief presentation on the Housing Element and then open it up for questions. Meetings typically last an hour depending on the number of
questions. Staff is available to attend meetings on weekdays, nights, and weekends.

Need guidance on how to organize a small group meeting or invite your neighbors and friends to attend? Let us know when you fill out the small group meeting request form.

Video Series

The City created a series of videos to share information about the Housing Element Update process. Please watch the videos in this series to learn about the following topics:

Housing Element Values Survey

From June through July 2021, the City invited the public to participate in the Housing Element Values Survey. The City received 743 responses. The goal of this survey was to gain a better understanding of community values and priorities.

View the Housing Element Values Survey results.

Housing Element

The Housing Element is one of the seven General Plan elements each City must have. The Housing Element serves as a blueprint for future housing development and includes the following components:

  • Housing Needs Assessment that provides demographic and housing need information for the City.
  • Constraints Analysis of existing and potential constraints on housing development and how those will be addressed.
  • Evaluation of Past Performance that assesses the City’s progress in implementing the policies and programs in the previous Housing Element.
  • Housing Sites Inventory and Analysis that identifies sites available for development or redevelopment and that are appropriately zoned to support housing development.
  • Policies and Programs that are designed to address housing needs in the City.
  • Community Outreach efforts conducted as part of the Housing Element update.

General Plan

A General Plan is a long-term policy document that provides guidance for managing a City’s physical, social, and economic resources. It provides a basis for decisions that affect future growth and development. It also identifies the community’s shared vision for the future and addresses the unique characteristics and needs. Elements of the General Plan are different chapters that focus on specific topics.

Update Process

The City of Saratoga’s current Housing Element became effective in 2015 and must be updated by 2023. Following public review and consideration by the Planning Commission and City Council, the City must submit a draft of the Housing Element to California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for its review. The City must adopt the final Housing Element and submit it to HCD by January 2023.

Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA)

The table below shows the RHNA allocation for the City of Saratoga, as well as the City’s RHNA allocation for the current 2015-2023 Housing Element and the 2007-2014 Housing Element.

The Saratoga City Council appealed its RHNA allocation on July 7, 2021, requesting a 50% reduction in its RHNA from 1,712 to 856 housing units.

ABAG received 28 appeals from Bay Area jurisdictions, which included 6 appeals from Santa Clara County. These were submitted by Saratoga, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno, Palo Alto, and Unincorporated Santa Clara County. The appeal hearing for Saratoga's draft RHNA was held on October 22, 2021. ABAG denied all appeals submitted by local jurisdictions, with the exception of the appeal submitted by the County of Contra Costa due to an error.

Housing Elements must include plans to accommodate the housing units for each income level identified in the final RHNA allocation. The income levels are based on the Area Median Income (AMI) determined annually for each county by HCD. The 2020 AMI for Santa Clara County is
$151,300 for a four-person household. The thresholds for the different income levels for a four-person household are listed below:

  • Very Low Income: Less than $82,850
  • Low Income: $82,850 to $117,750
  • Moderate Income: $117,750 to $181,550
  • Above Moderate Income: More than $181,550

Learn more about the RHNA methodology and allocation, as well as State housing legislation, that shape the Housing Element update process.

Housing Sites Inventory

The Housing Sites Inventory is a key part of the Housing Element. The inventory must show the specific sites in the City that have zoning adequate to ensure that the number and types of units in the City’s allocation can be built. Recent changes in State law require more detail on these sites than was required for the past Housing Element.

Specifically, new state laws require that the siting inventory include:

  • Adequacy of infrastructure to support the site;
  • Adequacy of the site size to accommodate housing for lower-income households as such projects typically require 50-150 units.
  • The RHNA income category the site is expected to serve (if the site is later developed for a different income category the City must then identify a new site or sites for a similar amount of the targeted development type);
  • A discussion of whether the site was included in previous inventories and, if so, why it has not yet been developed;
  • A description of how the sites affirmatively further fair housing (defined as taking meaningful actions that, collectively, address significant disparities in housing needs and in access to opportunity, replacing segregated living patterns with truly integrated and balanced living patterns, transforming racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty into areas of opportunity, and fostering and maintaining compliance with civil rights and fair housing laws.
  • For sites that are not vacant, an explanation of why it is reasonable to expect that the site will be redeveloped with housing before 2031.

Resources

This press release was produced by the City of Saratoga. The views expressed here are the author’s own.

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