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 | 5.I Support Volunteer Efforts | Maintenance of existing housing | The City and the County of Marin are party to a cooperative agreement to jointly undertake community development and housing assistance activities through CDBG, HOME and PLHA funds. The City designates its portion of the annual funding allocation, as well as participates in decision making for County-wide monies for funding of various non-profit/volunteer organizations which provide services in support of lower income households. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 6.A Identify Existing Employee Housing Opportunities | Increase housing opportunities for local employees | The City of Novato and Novato Unified School District executed an MOU in June 2018 to formally investigate development of affordable teacher housing on surplus school property. That project stalled due to lack of staff availability at the school district. The City continues to regularly check in with the District to try and advance the work. The Buck Institute, a local biomedical research facility, plans on constructing a 130-unit housing development plan to be available to Institute employees. That development has been unable to secure funding. The City is prepared to work with existing and new employers to identify opportunities to secure housing for their employees. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 13.A Assist in the Effective Use of Available Rental Assistance Programs | Promote and support rental assistance programs | Ongoing - See Program 5.F. Additionally, the City helps provide financial assistance to North Marin Community Services (NMCS) through CDBG funding. NMCS assists lower income people (over 4,000 people annually) and households move towards self-sufficiency through a multitude of programs. NMCS maintains a Housing Advocacy Committee to assist residents with issues specific to finding and maintaining adequate housing. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 13.B Maintain Programs to Address Homeless Needs | Support programs to address homelessness | The City continues to support the 80-bed New Beginnings Center and Next Key vocational training center with 32 SROs. The City has consistently granted funds, annually, to North Marin Community Services, formerly Novato Human Needs Center and Novato Youth Center, in support of their services. City suppport for the Marin Mobile Shower Program continued through 2022 to address homeless needs. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 14.B Seek Funding Resources | Development of affordable housing | Recent requests for assistance included Homeward Bound, a 50-unit, 100% affordable development serving formerly homeless veterans and the general public, and an 80-unit Habitat for Humanity 100% affordable, for sale project. The City granted $750,000 to Homeward Bound and $1.5 million worth of grants and fee waivers to Habitat. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 9.C Seek Increased Multi-Family Housing Opportunities | Facilitate affordable housing development | In 2020 the City granted entitlements, including a general plan land use amendment, to support a 75-unit townhome project, which is deed restricted to reserve 20% of the units therein at affordable levels. This project is nearing completion of construction. On January 11, 2022, the City approved an 80-unit, 100% affordable project proposed by Habitat for Humanity. Later, in March 2023, the City approved $1.5 million worth of grants and waivers to assist the Habitat project. The City continues to work on expanding objective design standards for residential developments of varying types, including multi-family units and mixed-use projects. General Plan 2035 was adopted in 2020 with policies and programs directed at creating specific zoning standards for the Northwest Quadrant neighborhood. These objective standards support the development of a variety of “missing middle” housing types. City staff continues to offer assistance to prospective applicants seeking guidance on land use amendments and permitting procedures to develop housing. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 5.C Implement Rehabilitation and Energy Loan Programs | Coordinate and support financing for rehabilitation and energy efficiency. | Novato's Sustainability Division implements a Property Assessed Clean energy (PACE) financing program with linkes to California Hero, Ygrene, Figtree and CDSA's Open Market PACE funding sources. PACE programs enable property owners to finance energy and water efficiency and renewable energy projects as an assessment on their property tax bills. In addition to private funding options, the City has routinely designated a portion of its CDBG funding for residential rehabilitation/upgrading of homes belonging to low income individuals. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 7.A Encourage Co-Housing, Cooperatives, and Similar Collaborative | Development of co-housing opportunities | In 2019, the Planning Division received an application for a co-housing development at 970 C Street. The project remains in process, pending site remediation activities. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 12.A Assure Good Neighborhood Relations Involving Emergency Shelters and Residential Care Facilities | Facilitate good neighborhood relations and encourage public outreach | The City continues to closely monitor the relationships between EAH Housing (a non-profit affordable housing developer) and Meadow Park homeowners and City staff occupy a position on the Meadow Park HOA Board of Directors. The service provider of the City's homeless shelters, Homeward Bound of Marin, has done an excellent job in the management of its facilities. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 4.A Promote Solar Design | Opportunities for new solar installations | Pursuant to Section 19.20.110 of the Zoning Ordinance and the City's Climate Action Plan, all projects requiring discretionary approval are reviewed for opportunities to incorporate passive and/or active solar solutions e.g., street and lot layout, building sighting, setbacks, building design, etc. Also see program 5C. In addition, the City has adopted CalGreen Mandatory plus Tier 1 into the building code which has additional solar requirements and/or options. The City will be evaluating adoption of a reach code in 2023. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 5.G Preserve At-Risk Units | Annually monitor assisted units at risk of conversion to market rate. | There were 12 units reported at-risk by ABAG in 2022. All units are located in the same development which was funded with tax credits that are expiring. The City is investigating the details of those units to determine whether there are ways to maintain the affordability. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 5.K Regulate Displacement of Residential Units | Regulate removal or displacement of units | The City administers applicable State laws to the removal or displacement of residential units on an as-needed basis. The City reports, annually, to the Department of Finance on the removal, if any, of existing residential units. No residences were displaced in 2021. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 6.C Transit-Oriented Development Incentives | Provide incentives for transit-oriented development | Pursuant to Program 6.C the City, upon request, will evaluate and consider incentives such as parking reductions and off-site parking for housing projects near transit. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 7.B Facilitate Homesharing and Tenant Matching Opportunities | Create homesharing opportunities | The City designates a portion of its CDBG funding to support COVIA Foundation which operates a home match program. City staff refers inquires about homesharing to COVIA, as well as Episcopal Senior Communities and Homeward Bound of Marin which can be additional resources, depending upon specific needs of the client. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 7.E Implement Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) | Facilitate affordable housing development | As proposed, the Community Development Department will evaluate projects including a transfer of development rights on a case-by-case basis for action by the appropriate decision-making body(ies). These would typically be the City Council following a recommendation by Planning Commission. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 2.A. Require Non-discrimination Clauses | Implementation of fair housing laws | Non-discrimination clauses are a standard component of the City's affordable housing agreements which currently apply to over 500 below market rates units in the City and is added to with each new development as inclusionary units come into our BMR program. The City contracts with Rise Housing to monitor compliance with the terms of our affordable housing agreements, local and state regulations. In addition, Rise oversees the sale of new untis to ensure fair and equitable marketing. The City works closely with Fair Housing Marin to ensure non-discrimination in rental practices and annually funds Fair Housing and Legal Aid to ensure those services are available to residents of the City. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 6.B Promote Zoning for Live/Work Opportunities | Increase housing opportunites for local employees | A six-unit live/work development was approved in March 2022. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 8.A Apply Mixed-Use Development Standards and Incentives | Development of mixed-use housing | The Community Development Department evaluates and applies/recommends, as appropriate pursuant to existing zoning, exceptions to development standards e.g. increased floor area ratio (FAR) from 1.2 to 2.0 for mixed use developments that include housing within the Downtown Core Retail and/or Business Districts, and up to a 30% increase in the maximum building height pursuant to 19.20.070 (C) for mixed use developments that incorporate housing. Additionally, City code allows a parking waiver for commercial uses in order to increase the availability of residential parking spaces in an effort to support housing opportunities. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 9.H Long-Term Housing Affordability Controls | Preservation of affordable housing units | The City requires affordable housing agreements to secure long-term affordability of inclusionary units. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | 15.B Update the Housing Element Regularly | Timely update of the housing element | The next Housing Element was updated in 2022 and adopted on January 9, 2023. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |