Housing policies and programs are the strategies and laws that cities and counties legally have at their disposal to produce more and preserve existing affordable housing, as well as protect existing residents from getting displaced from their homes and communities.
Local housing policies and programs, as part of a housing element, have significant impacts on a city or county reaching its affordable housing goals. Each additional housing policy has a significant impact on the residents who are most in need of affordable housing. However, the number of policies or programs that a jurisdiction includes in their housing element is not meant to imply how well a city or county is addressing local housing needs since the quality and impact of each will need to be determined as well. Policies and programs listed here from jurisdictions’ Housing Elements are intended to allow readers to review the text themselves and see if a city or county is doing all they can to reach their affordable housing goals.
To further policy innovation and local action, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) contacted all of the region's jurisdictions to track the adoption of key housing policies throughout the nine county Bay Area in four major categories Protect, Preserve, Produce, and Prevent. This data is from ABAG’s Policies and Program list and was last updated in 2018/2019.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development tracks all of the ongoing and completed programs from 2018 onward and can be seen in the table below.
YEAR | PROGRAM NAME | PROGRAM OBJECTIVE | STATUS | ACCOMPLISHED DATE | HOUSING CYCLE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Program 4.1.5: Neighborhood Preservation Program | Encourage low-income homeowners who need financial assistance to correct code violations to utilize the Housing Rehabilitation programs. | Ongoing. Neighborhood Preservation continues to refer homeowners to the local and County programs that provide assistance for needed home rehabilitation and repairs. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 4.1.5: Neighborhood Preservation Program | Continue the Housing Quality Inspections for multi-family complexes that have received CDBG and HOME funding. | Ongoing | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 4.1.5: Neighborhood Preservation Program | Use volunteer assistance clean-up teams specifically to assist frail elderly and disabled homeowners that have received code complaints for property upkeep. | Ongoing. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 7.1.2: Climate Action Plan | Implement Climate Action Plan to reduce energy use and emissions associated with residential development. | Ongoing. The City adopted an update to the CAP in 2022. It also adopted reach codes for all-electric buildings and EV charging in new construction. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 1.2.3: Mobile and Manufactured Homes | Continue to allow mobile and manufactured homes that meet State and City codes, as well as the City’s design review requirements, in all residential districts. | Ongoing. The City issues permits for several manufactured units each year, typically for Accessory Dwelling Units. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 1.2.4: Secondary Dwelling Units | Continue to encourage the development of secondary dwelling units by exempting them from certain development impact fees. | Ongoing. The City waives certain development fees for ADUs consistent with State ADU law. The City issued permits for 61 ADUs in 2022. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 1.3.1: Licensed Community Residential Care Facilities | Consistent with State law, continue to allow licensed community residential care facilities serving 6 or fewer persons in all residential districts as a means of providing housing for these special needs groups. | Ongoing. The Livermore Development Code continues to allow licensed community residential care facilities in the residential zoning districts. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 2.1.1: Housing Implementation Program (HIP) | Continue to use emphasized categories during competitive years as a mechanism to encourage infill development, mixed-use (commercial/residential) projects, and lot consolidation for larger projects. | The City discontinued the HIP program. Accomodation of housing units will instead be based on the City's capacity to provide infrastructure and services for new housing. The City will continue to encourage infill development, mixed-use projects, and lot consolitation for larger projects. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 2.1.1: Housing Implementation Program (HIP) | Provide information on the HIP on the Community and Economic Development website and conduct outreach to local developers. Conduct 2-3 developer workshops during the 2015-2022 period. Conduct outreach at the yearly Real Estate Roundup. | Ongoing. The City discontinued the HIP program. City planning staff is still available to meet and answer questions one-on-one with potential applicants. The City also conducts notification and outreach to local developers. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 3.1.1: Inclusionary Housing Ordinance | Continue to require developers to identify the location of inclusionary units. | Ongoing, as part of the entitlement process for development projects. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 4.1.4: Neighborhood Improvement | Continue to upgrade the quality of the living environment of older neighborhoods through improvements to infrastructure and public facilities. | Ongoing. The City’s CIP includes ongoing/annual improvements for street resurfacing, sidewalk repair, and ADA access ramps. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 4.2.1: Preservation of Subsidized Housing at-risk of Conversion to Market Rate | Work to preserve at-risk housing units by providing financial incentives to landlords who in turn agree to continue to provide affordable units. | Ongoing | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 3.1.2: Density Bonuses and Incentives | Continue to encourage the use of both the State Density Bonus Program and the City’s density incentives for senior and very-low income housing. | Ongoing. The affordable Pacific Avenue Senior Apartments and Downtown Livermore Apartment projects used incentives from the Density Bonus Program to provide affordable rental units. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 3.3.1: First-Time Homebuyer Down Payment Assistance Program | Continue to promote and provide information about the program on the City’s website, newsletter, through e-mail distribution, local advertising, and with brochures and handouts at the City’s permit center counter. | In 2022, Staff maintained webpages with up-to-date content and user-friendly, easy to access information. Staff partnered with community partners, to help promote the City's First-Time Homebuyer programs and tabled at the local Farmer's Market and several community events. Program opportunities were featured on the City's social media platforms and emailed to 7000+ subscribers of the City's Affordable Housing Interest List. Staff also translated marketing materials to Spanish. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 5.1.1: Support Non-Profit Organizations Specializing in Fair Housing Services | Continue to refer complaints and requests for housing for the disabled to partner organizations. | Ongoing. During the planning period, CRIL provided services to 518 disabled persons. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 5.1.2: Reasonable Accommodation | Consistent with state and federal laws, continue to provide individuals with disabilities reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices, and procedures through the building permit and development review processes. | Ongoing. The Livermore Development Code outlines procedures to address reasonable accommodation (Chapter 9.06). | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 4.1.1: Minor Home Repair Program | Continue to advertise the program through the City’s website, newsletter, targeted mailings, and brochures distributed at public counters and to local agencies. | Ongoing. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 6.1.2: Emergency, Transitional, and Supportive Housing Services | Assist in implementing the County-wide Homeless and Special Needs Housing Plan “EveryOne Home”. | Ongoing. The City represents the Tri-Valley and is a part of the Everyone Home. The City provides input on implementing the Everyone Home Coordinated Entry System (CES). The City works closely with the Tri-Valley Housing Resource Center (HRC) and Abode Services. The HRC offices are located in the City's Multi Service Center. In addition, the City provides funding for outreach and case management to support the CES. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 7.1.11: Green Building | Continue to enforce State Energy Code when reviewing construction plans submitted in order to obtain building permits. | The Building division continues to implement State Energy Code requirements as part of the plan check process to obtain building permits. This includes Part 11 - the California Green Building Standards Code ("CALGreen"), which was last updated in January 2023. The City adopted reach codes for all-electric buildings and EV charging in new construction. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Program 2.1.1: Housing Implementation Program (HIP) | Continue to allow exemptions from the HIP in conjunction with the TDC Program to encourage infill development. | The City discontinued the HIP program. Accomodation of housing units will instead be based on the City's capacity to provide infrastructure and services for new housing. The City will continue to encourage infill development. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |