Housing Element
2023-2031 Housing Element Update

In accordance with state law enacted in 1969, the Town of Danville - along with all California cities and counties - must update its Housing Element every eight years. As a policy document, the Housing Element identifies where and how Danville will accommodate the housing needs for people of all income groups. For the upcoming 2023-2031 planning period, the Town is expected to accommodate a minimum of 2,241 new homes, regardless of available land capacity. The Town's role is not to construct housing but to identify the most appropriate sites for potential construction.
How did this come to pass? The Housing Element Update is the final step of a lengthy three-step process, involving three levels of government (state, regional and local). Learn more from the Housing Element Fact Sheet and Housing Element FAQs.
Your ideas matter. For now, local communities still have the authority to determine where it would be most appropriate to accommodate the assigned housing units. Register for an upcoming workshop to learn how to use a Housing Plan Simulation Tool to help inform the decision-making process of identifying where future growth should occur.
2023-2031 Housing Element Update

In accordance with state law enacted in 1969, the Town of Danville - along with all California cities and counties - must update its Housing Element every eight years. As a policy document, the Housing Element identifies where and how Danville will accommodate the housing needs for people of all income groups. For the upcoming 2023-2031 planning period, the Town is expected to accommodate a minimum of 2,241 new homes, regardless of available land capacity. The Town's role is not to construct housing but to identify the most appropriate sites for potential construction.
How did this come to pass? The Housing Element Update is the final step of a lengthy three-step process, involving three levels of government (state, regional and local). Learn more from the Housing Element Fact Sheet and Housing Element FAQs.
Your ideas matter. For now, local communities still have the authority to determine where it would be most appropriate to accommodate the assigned housing units. Register for an upcoming workshop to learn how to use a Housing Plan Simulation Tool to help inform the decision-making process of identifying where future growth should occur.
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Housing 301 Workshop - July 13, 2022
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Housing 301 Workshop - July 7, 2022
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Town Launches Housing Plan Simulation Tool
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkYou are invited to help shape Danville’s future by creating your version of a housing element that achieves the minimum 2,241-unit target mandated by the State of California. Use the Housing Plan Simulation Tool to ‘add’ what you believe is the appropriate number of housing units to qualified housing sites.
The potential housing sites shown on this tool were identified through the Housing Site Suggestion Map public input process and staff analysis. Using this tool, the objective is to create a “balanced housing plan” that can accommodate Danville’s assignment of 2,241 housing units (plus a buffer). Cities are not required to build housing, but they are required to identify the lands on which housing could be built by the private market. All sites selected must meet criteria established by the State of California and are subject to its review and approval.
Identifying enough land to accommodate Danville’s housing assignment is a requirement of state housing law, enacted in 1969. This ‘site inventory’ analysis is part of the Draft Danville 2023-2031 Housing Element (“Draft Housing Element”), which is now available for a public review period that will conclude on August 1, 2022.
The release of this draft marks the beginning of many public review opportunities on the Draft Housing Element, leading to public hearings before the Planning Commission in December 2022 and final by the Town Council in January 2023.
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Recently Asked Questions Regarding The Housing Site Suggestion Map
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkWe’ve received several great questions about the community suggested sites and wanted to address those.
Does a suggested site automatically become a future housing site? The answer is: No. Only sites that meet State established criteria could be considered a potential Housing Element site. One of the criteria is development viability, such as (but not limited to) the willingness of the property owner to potentially develop future housing on it. For example, a suggestion to develop HOA-owned open space may not be viable if the HOA does not support it.
Can the list of the sites be downloaded? The answer is two-fold. In a few months, a list of all suggested sites and a determination of whether they meet State criteria will be made available. In the meantime, all sites suggested by the public can be viewed by clicking on the Housing Site Suggestion Map located at https://danvilletowntalks.org/housingelement?tool=map#tool_tab
What’s next? Town staff is currently evaluating all suggested sites against the State criteria. All qualified sites suggested by the public and those carried over from prior housing elements will be featured on an online Housing Plan Simulation tool. Through this tool, community members can create and recommend their own ‘housing plan’ with assigned units and densities on various sites. Look for this tool - and workshops on how to use it - in June 2022.
Please feel free to ask questions by either posting in the Question & Comments section of the project page or by emailing talkhousing@danville.ca.gov.
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Community Suggests Housing Sites to Consider
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkAt the close of the Housing Site Suggestion Map engagement process in April 2022, community members had dropped 281 ‘pins’ or suggestions on 99 separate sites to consider for housing development. As illustrated by the map, the most recommended sites are located along the I-680 corridor as well as major roadways such as San Ramon Valley Boulevard and Camino Tassajara.
A staff analysis is currently underway to evaluate all suggested sites against criteria published by the State Department of Housing and Community Development (State HCD). Sites that meet State HCD criteria will be featured on the next online Housing Plan Simulation tool. Through this tool, community members can create and recommend their own ‘housing plan’ with assigned units and densities on various sites. Look for this tool - and workshops on how to use it - in late June 2022.
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Staff Discuss Housing Element Update on Town Talks with the Mayor
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkIn this month's Town Talks installment, Danville Mayor Newell Arnerich hosted Chief of Planning David Crompton, Deputy Development Services Director Diane Friedmann, and Administrative Analyst Cat Bravo to discuss the latest on Danville's Housing Element Update and the current phase of community outreach. Mayor Arnerich and Town staff answered questions from residents as Danville confronts the task of planning for at least 2,241 new homes in the next eight-year Housing Element cycle (2023-2031).
Town Talks with the Mayor is held on the first Friday of each month via Zoom. For details of upcoming events and previous videos, please visit www.DanvilleTownTalks.org/town-talks-with-the-mayor.
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Housing Element 201 Workshop - March 28, 2022
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Housing Element 201 Workshop - March 17, 2022
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Penalties for Non-Compliance
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkFrequently, after delivering a presentation about the Housing Element, we will field a question that is akin to: “What happens if Danville chooses not to comply with State-imposed standards and adopt a Housing Element that charts our own vision for the future?”
It’s a fair question. The answer, unfortunately, is rather ominous.
Penalties for non-compliance include court-imposed fines of up to $600,000/month and potential lawsuits. Beyond the cost of fines and legal defense, the courts are now authorized to mandate compliance. What does that mean? It means that the courts can approve certain housing development on the Town’s behalf. In addition, the courts can suspend the Town’s ability to issue building permits.
For those who are interested in the details, we’ve attached a memo prepared for the Encinitas City Council by one of California’s top legal experts on housing issues. A housing ‘enforcement’ flow chart, acquired from the State HCD website, is also included.
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Housing Element 201 Workshop - March 9, 2022
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Housing Element Update Timeline
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Launch (Winter 2021)
Housing Element has finished this stage -
Inform (Spring - Summer 2021)
Housing Element has finished this stage- Housing 101 Workshop: June 12, 2021
- Housing 101 Workshop: June 29, 2021
- Housing 101 Workshop: July 8, 2021
- Housing 101 Workshop: August 19, 2021
- Housing 101 Workshop: September 18, 2021
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Engage (Winter 2021 - Summer 2022)
Housing Element has finished this stage- Release of Housing Site Suggestion Map: March 7, 2022
- Housing 201 Workshop: March 9
- Housing 201 Workshop: March 17
- Housing 201 Workshop: March 26
- Housing 201 Workshop: March 28
- Release of Housing Plan Simulation Tool: July 1, 2022
- Housing 301 Workshop: July 7 @ 6:00 PM
- Housing 301 Workshop: July 13 @ 10:00 AM
- Housing 301 Workshop: July 20 @ 6:00 PM
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Draft (Summer - Late Fall 2022)
Housing Element is currently at this stage- Draft Housing Element for Public Review: July 1, 2022
- State HCD Review of Draft Housing Element (90 days): Begins August 2022
- Housing Element Environmental Review: September 2022
- Draft Housing Element input from HCD: Expected November 2022
- Revise Housing Element in Response to HCD Comments: November 2022
- Planning Commission (makes recommendation): December 2022
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Adopt (Winter 2023)
this is an upcoming stage for Housing Element- Town Council: By January 2023
Project Documents
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Housing Element FACT SHEET (Updated 071321).pdf (3.86 MB) (pdf)
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Housing Element FACT SHEET - CHINESE.pdf (4.15 MB) (pdf)
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Housing Element FACT SHEET - SPANISH.pdf (3.78 MB) (pdf)
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Housing Element FAQ.pdf (150 KB) (pdf)
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Housing Element FAQ - CHINESE.pdf (514 KB) (pdf)
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Housing Element FAQ - SPANISH.pdf (85 KB) (pdf)
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Appeal Process
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Reference Materials
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How to Quick Resource Guide Mobile Mapping Tool.pdf (1.78 MB) (pdf)
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How To Quick Resource Guide Desktop Mapping Tool.pdf (2.32 MB) (pdf)
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Town of Danville Boundary Map (419 KB) (pdf)
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HCD Housing Element Inventory Guidebook (522 KB) (pdf)
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Mail-in Priorities Surveys as of 08/27/21 PDF (102 MB) (pdf)
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HCD Enforcement Flow Chart.pdf (260 KB) (pdf)
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Goldfarb Encinitas memo re housing element penalties.pdf (708 KB) (pdf)
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Quick Polls
Learn More about Requirements
Who's Listening
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Town of Danville
Phone (925) 314-3388 Email talkhousing@danville.ca.gov -
Chief of Planning
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Deputy Director, Development Services