Housing Element

The Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (DPEIR) related to the Town’s draft 2023-2031 Housing Element is now available for public review. The DPEIR studies potential environmental impacts related to the implementation of the Housing Element, which includes potential General Plan land use amendment to provide for the Town’s assigned Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RNNA) as required under State Law. The public review period for the DPEIR runs from September 13, 2022 ,through October 28, 2022. A public hearing will be held by the Planning Commission on September 27, 2022, to allow for oral comments on the adequacy of the DPEIR. Any comments you may have may be forwarded to David Crompton, Chief of Planning at dcrompton@danville.ca.gov . All comments received will be responded to in writing as part of the Final EIR which will be prepared at the end of the public review period.

You 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.

We’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.

At 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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In 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.

Frequently, 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.