REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) Subregion Participation
Report
BACKGROUND
The Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) is the process by which the State of California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), in coordination with the jurisdiction's Council of Governments (COG), determines a city's share of the regional housing need. Pursuant to State law, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) is the COG assigned the task to allocate and distribute the RHNA for the counties and cities in the entire nine county Bay Area region. The regional housing need is determined by estimating both the existing need and the projected need for housing. The City's Housing Element must contain enough capacity to meet the determined housing allocation during each eight-year planning cycle. State law enables the formation of subregions where a portion of ABAG's role in the RHNA process is delegated.
In March 2016, a subcommittee was formed by the Cities Association of Santa Clara County (Cities Association) to develop a framework and processes necessary to form and implement a subregion within Santa Clara County for the next RHNA cycle (2023-2031), and to review potential options for further regional response to housing related issues. On October 11, 2018, the Cities Association Board of Directors adopted the framework and voted to begin formation of the RHNA subregion; in order to participate, the county and any interested cities must adopt a resolution indicating interest and commitment to the subregion. As of December 10, 2018 seven cities (Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Mountain View, Morgan Hill, Palo Alto, and Santa Clara) have adopted resolutions of intent to support the formation of a subregion.
EXISTING POLICY
Goal HE-1: Adequate Housing. Assist in the provision of adequate housing to meet the diverse needs of Sunnyvale's households of all income levels.
Policy HE-1.1: Encourage diversity...
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