Housing Element on Monday’s Council Agenda

The City Council will review the Pasadena General Plan’s draft housing element at Monday’s meeting.

The state-mandated element of the city’s General Plan must be updated every four to eight years to address the current and projected housing needs of all economic segments of the community.

The update includes the assessment of the city’s share of housing needs, identification of constraints and housing resources, an inventory and analysis of sites, and a housing plan with goals, policies, and programs,” according to a city staff report. 

The City Council is required to adopt the updated 2021-2029 housing element by Oct. 15.

The city conducted an outreach program that included two community workshops, three Planning Commission meetings, four Housing Task Force Meetings, a community survey, a dedicated website, social media posts, and email updates. 

The plan covers five sections:

• Housing Needs. This includes an analysis of demographic, economic, social, and housing characteristics of Pasadena residents and an assessment of current and future housing needs in the community arising due to population and employment growth and change.
• Housing Constraints. This includes an analysis of potential governmental constraints that affect the development, maintenance, and improvement of housing for all income groups and people with disabilities, commensurate with the city’s identified housing needs.
• Housing Resources. This includes an inventory of resources available to address the city’s housing needs, including available land to accommodate new housing, financial resources to support program efforts, and administrative capacity to manage housing programs.
• Program Accomplishments/Evaluation. This includes an evaluation of current housing programs and accomplishments in addressing the housing needs identified in the 2014-2021 Housing Element. 
• Housing Plan. This includes a series of goals, policies, and scheduled programs to further the development, improvement, and preservation of housing. 

A handful of local residents held an event last week to announce a rally before Monday’s meeting. At that rally, they are expected to demand 25 items be added to the housing element. 

“A number of these recommendations are consistent with the comments received by both the Planning Commission and the Housing Task Force,” according to a city staff report. “However, several other recommendations are public policy matters or initiatives that may be suitable for consideration, but do not belong in the housing element as they have little or no connection to actually creating new housing units.”

After a Planning Commission study session on the housing element, the commission expressed the need to strengthen the language of housing programs to demonstrate more commitment from the city to address housing challenges. 

The commission also highlighted the importance of shortening timelines and prioritizing programs in order to efficiently use available resources. The commissioners agreed with the opening statements but wanted more direct policy and program direction. The housing program also needs to clearly state and highlight specific initiatives regarding affordable housing.

For the upcoming planning period, the city’s total Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) is 9,429 new housing units, which includes 2,747 very low-income, 1,662 low-income, 1,565 moderate-income, and 3,455 above moderate-income units.