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 | Housing Program 4.2. Facilitate projects that provide units meeting federal, State and local requirements. Population groups in the City with special needs include the physically handicapped. Currently, the City enforces State-mandated requirements for rental housing units (Title 24). The City will continue to encourage ownership housing that can be equipped with handicapped facilities. The City has adopted a Reasonable Accommodation Ordinance and will provide fast-track processing and other incentives to facilitate the production of housing targeted to persons with disabilities. | N/A | The City has approved and continues to facilitate projects that meet federal, state and local requirements specifically related to reasonable accommodation requests to allow for housing for persons with disabilities. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 6.4. Require resale and rental controls on below market rate units provided through the inclusionary housing provisions or through public assistance. The City’s inclusionary ordinance is a requirement that has been imposed on all residential development since 1996. | N/A | The City has resale and rental controls on all assisted units. The City also updated duration for rental units to 55 years, consistent with ownership unit provisions. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 6.7. Regularly evaluate the proportion of rental apartments in the city to ensure appropriate implementation of the condominium conversion ordinance. | N/A | Rental units account for approximately 31% of the City’s dwelling units. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 7.1. Continue to refer all reports of housing discrimination to the local fair housing-related non-profit that is funded by the County CDBG program. | N/A | The City falls under the County’s CDBG “umbrella”. As such, residents with discrimination complaints are referred to those housing counseling services. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 8.4. Encourage use of sustainable and innovative building practices and materials. Provide public information concerning accepted and available sustainable building practices in partnership with groups promoting those practices. Amend the City’s Building Code as needed to be consistent with further revisions to the State of California Green Building Standards Code. | N/A | The City continues to encourage incorporating sustainable and innovative building practices and materials through the design review process. In addition, the City Building Code requires compliance with the State of California Green Building Standards Code. The City adopted provisions that requires incorporating electric vehicle chargers for certain development projects. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 1.4. Continue to utilize Planned Unit Development zoning. PUD (Zoning Ordinance Chapter 18.30) allows for flexible development of large and/or contiguous parcels that may include housing along with other uses. | N/A | The City continues to approve new Planned Unit Development zoning districts and various projects within the Planned Unit Development zoning designation. This includes various projects within PUD districts throughout the City. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 2.5. Planning staff shall evaluate existing development review regulations and procedures to further streamline and give priority to projects that provide affordable housing. Building and Engineering staff shall study ways to mitigate the cost of construction, for example by revising engineering standards and working with the local Fire District to allow for narrower street widths, rolled curbs and parking bays, and considering allowing use of less expensive building materials, such as plastic for storm drainage pipes, provided applicable code requirements are satisfied. | N/A | Projects that include affordable housing are processed in an efficient manner. The City would give priority for projects that exceed the minimum affordable housing requirement. The City works with developers to look for ways to reduce the cost of construction, including not requiring sidewalks and allowing narrower streets. The City has considered and approved alternative materials that may be more cost effective than traditional methods and materials. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 5.4. Periodically evaluate the need for residential rehabilitation. The City maintains information about the neighborhood surveys it has conducted to determine housing condition and the need for rehabilitation. The City will continue to monitor housing conditions as part of code enforcement and building inspection activities. When housing units in need of repair are identified, staff will advise property owners of rehabilitation assistance that may be available. | N/A | City Staff has not surveyed older neighborhoods during this reporting period. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 5.5. Monitor the city’s residential districts for housing suitable for rehabilitation or code enforcement. | N/A | City staff works in conjunction with code enforcement when necessary to assist homeowners comply with housing code violations. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 7.3. Promptly address complaints of discrimination in the sale, rent, and development of housing in Pleasant Hill. The City’s procedure is to refer these types of complaints to the County funded non-profit fair-housing agency, such as SHELTER Inc., or Pacific Community Services. The City will distribute literature annually in City offices and on the City website. | N/A | All complaints of housing discrimination are promptly addressed. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 2.4. Continue to provide appropriate flexible parking requirements that allow shared use in locations being considered for higher-density housing development. | N/A | Shared use and reduced parking can be granted through a use permit pursuant to Section 18.55 of the Zoning Ordinance. The City has reviewed and approved various parking reductions in locations throughout the City. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 3.9. Use monies in the Housing Trust Fund to assist in the development of affordable housing. Revenue for the trust fund comes from “in-lieu” fees provided from the inclusionary unit ordinance. The potential uses of these funds include: land acquisition for below market rate housing, buy-downs on mortgages for purchasers of below market rate units, capital improvements to below market rate housing, etc. | Annual outreach to developers and other nonprofit housing agencies. | The City collects inclusionary housing in lieu fees in an affordable housing fund, which it considers a Housing Trust Fund. In October 2019, the City committed $400,000 in Housing Trust Fund monies to Habitat for Humanity to develop 6 to 7 affordable units at 250 Cleaveland Road. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 4.1. Continue to provide a density bonus for senior housing. Incentives must be created to encourage developers to build senior housing. The current density bonus ordinance provides a density bonus of up to 20 percent if any development includes at least 35 units. | N/A | The City’s adopted density bonus ordinance notes that a density bonus is granted for any senior housing project. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 4.5. Monitor statistics from police, county agencies or private organizations regarding homeless shelter needs. A Point-in-Time survey of the homeless in Contra Costa County conducted in January 2017 found 25 unsheltered homeless persons in Pleasant Hill. The City will continue to coordinate with the County and other agencies to address homeless needs on a regional basis. | N/A | The results of the point in time survey from 2020, showed results that there were 90 unsheltered homeless in the City at the time of the count. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 5.1. Retain existing residential zoning and discourage non-residential uses in residential zones. | N/A | The City has not approved any rezoning of property from residential to non-residential. Most non-residential uses are not allowed in residential zonings districts. Those allowed are residential serving and requires substantial analysis (through a conditional use permit) before the use is granted. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 6.8. Require all assisted housing units to submit reports on a timely basis demonstrating compliance with the recorded affordability agreements. | N/A | All assisted affordable housing complexes and single-family units submit annual reports demonstrating compliance. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 3.7. Invite non-profit housing developers to work with the City in promoting and encouraging affordable housing. The City has worked with non-profit housing developers on past projects and will continue cooperative efforts in the future with these or other interested nonprofit developers. | N/A | The City is currently working with SAHA on development of a new 82-unit project. The City also listed former Redevelopment Agency properties for sale in 2018, inviting proposals from developers to develop affordable housing on two sites. The City has agreed to sell two of these properties at 250 Cleaveland and 85 Woodsworth to Habitat for Humanity and provide forgivable loans to develop 11 new affordable housing units at these locations. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 3.12. Maintain appropriate standards for use by the Architectural Review Commission in the processing of affordable housing developments. The Architectural Review Commission reviews all new residential proposals. It typically reviews development plans for landscaping, design of buildings, and provisions for accessibility for the disabled. | N/A | Design Guidelines have been adopted and were recently updated and completed adoption of an ordinance to establish residential objective design standards that apply to streamlined, qualified residential projects. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 3.13. Continue to provide fast-track permit processing for affordable housing developments. | N/A | Policies have been established to expedite affordable housing projects through the City’s various processes. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Program 5.6. Preserve neighborhood appearance through the enforcement of City ordinances. | N/A | The City Code Enforcement Officer regularly enforces the City Community Beautification Ordinance to ensure that the City maintains an attractive appearance. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |