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The Danville Town Council is set to discuss the next steps for adjusting the town’s Housing Element for the next cycle following the latest comments and requests from the state housing authority at a study session Tuesday morning.
Town staff have been working over the past six months on revisions to the Housing Element for the 2023 to 2031 cycle that was approved by the Town Council in January, following comments from the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
Following a series of adjustments, HCD’s latest comments request that Danville’s Housing Element be adjusted to align with state law by including a “more comprehensive suite of programs to promote housing mobility or housing choices,” according to a staff report from development services director Diane Friedmann.
The latest comments came to town officials in a letter from HCD senior program manager Paul McDougall to Danville chief of planning David Crompton on Dec. 5.
While a majority of state requirements have been accounted for in the revisions to the Housing Element so far, McDougall said that further revisions were required to make it compliant with state Housing Element law.
In particular, McDougall pointed to a section requiring that housing elements “promote and affirmatively further fair housing opportunities and promote housing throughout the community or communities for all persons regardless of race, religion, sex, marital status, ancestry, national origin, color, familial status, or disability, and other characteristics.”
McDougall wrote that while the Housing Element seeks to satisfy the range of moderate to low-income housing required by Danville’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) quotas, further programming and initiatives aimed at housing equity would be needed to make it compliant with state law.
“To promote housing choices and affordability throughout the Town, the element must include a significant suite of programs to promote housing mobility or housing choices and affordability throughout the Town,” McDougall wrote.
“These programs should not be limited to the RHNA and, instead, target significant and meaningful change,” he continued. “While the element includes a few actions such as amending zoning to allow higher density in a single-family area, it should include additional actions that promote housing choices and affordability throughout the Town.”
He pointed to efforts in neighboring communities such as San Ramon, Pleasanton, and Walnut Creek for examples of programming that seeks to significantly expand affordable housing opportunities.
McDougall also noted that more than 50% of the sites identified for lower-income housing were non-vacant, requiring that the town provide substantial evidence that the existing uses are likely to discontinue and won’t present an obstacle to housing development during the current housing cycle.
The Danville Town Council is set to meet at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday (Dec. 12) in the Town Meeting Hall at 201 Front St. The agenda is available here.
In other business
* Councilmembers will discuss options to support and expand the farmers’ market.
* The council will consider next steps for upgrading the audio and visual equipment used in town meetings.
* Councilmembers will discuss potential updates to aspects of the town’s noise ordinance.
