City Council Approves Housing Element

The City Council on Monday approved a resolution adopting the 2021-2029 Housing Element.

The Housing Element is one of the required Elements of a city’s General Plan and must be updated every eight years according to state law. 

The current update spans the 2021-2029 planning period.

Under the Housing Element, the city is required to plan for a near impossible 9,429 units of new housing by October 2029, including 2,747 very low income units, 1,662 units of low income housing, 1,565 units of moderate income housing and 3,455 units of above moderate income housing units.

The large number of housing units Pasadena was allocated came in response by the State to California’s overwhelming housing crisis. 

Elected officials say it is impossible for that many new units to be built in the timeframe. Advocates are calling on the city to hit the marks. 

“We need to make sure there is funding for affordable housing and it is on the agenda late 2022,” said housing advocate Jill Shook. “It’s urgent.”

The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) determines the share of the state’s housing need for each region based on population projections, and other factors identified in recent housing legislation, to create the number of housing units to be built by each California city.

The Housing Element will be submitted to the HCD for certification. The Housing Element was due in October.

The Housing Element identifies policies and programs to address existing and projected future housing needs, including analysis on the city’s housing needs, housing constraints, housing resources, program accomplishments/evaluation, goals policies and scheduled program on the city’s housing plan and a new section, affirmatively furthering fair housing. 

“The section is new to this housing element cycle; it includes an analysis of barriers that restrict access to opportunity and a commitment to specific meaningful actions to affirmatively further fair housing,” according to a city staff report.

The Planning Commision and Mayor Gordo’s Housing Task Force also made recommendations regarding the housing element.

The recommendations included local rent stabilization ordinance by the end of 2022; a local Just Cause Eviction Ordinance by the end of 2022; and a comprehensive study of ways to increase affordable housing funding. The task force also recommended a a safe parking ordinance by the end of 2023.

For homeless people who live in their cars, finding a safe place to park is a major obstacle. With many cities having overnight parking prohibitions, homeless people are forced to park in unsafe areas.

“Vehicle residency is one of the fastest-growing forms of homelessness,”  Sara Rankin, associate professor of law and director of the Homeless Rights Advocacy Project at Seattle University told USA Today in 2021.