7 Day Comment Period – Second Comment Letter for HEAB 9-28-23 Meeting

Dear Mr. Paulson,

At last night’s HEAB meeting, Staff made the statement that it was appropriate to credit the 6^th cycle RHNA with units that are made available during the RHNA projection period (June 30, 2022, through January 31, 2031). The Staff referenced page 5 of the HCD Site Selection Guidebook as the authority for doing this. In reviewing page 5 , the referenced language appears under the heading “Pending, approved, or permitted development”.

On Table 10-3 there is a line item which is labeled “pipeline projects” which is described as “residential development applications that have either been approved or are currently under review and are expected to be built during the 2023-2031 planning period”.  This totals 191 housing units. Comparing this language to the HCD Site Selection Guidebook, it appears the line item fits with the Guidebook’s description for “pending, approved, or permitted development”.

There is another line item in Table 10-3 which is labeled “entitled/permitted/under construction/final since June 30, 2022, to January 31, 2023”. This totals 227 units, which included 49 very low-income units. All these units appear to have been permitted before the current RHNA production period, which commenced on June 30, 2022. This is substantiated by the 2022 Annual Element Progress Report  which shows in addition to the 49 low-income units recorded in 2020, 75 above moderate units were recorded in 2021, 185 above moderate units were recorded in 2021 and 145 above moderate units were recorded in 2022. Many of these units are attributed to parcel APN 424-07-100 which is the North 40 Phase 1 (refer to Table D-7 and the 20220, 2021 and 2022 Annual Element Progress Reports). The date of production is triggered by the permitting date, not the completion date.

As such, it does not appear that any of these 227 units qualify as a credit toward the 6^th cycle RHNA because they were permitted prior to the June 30, 2022, commencement date. Additionally, all these units have been recorded against the 5^th cycle RHNA, and are being double counted.

In closing I have attached a memorandum from HCD to ABAG dated January 12, 2022  which substantiates the above statement. This memo makes it clear that RHNA credits toward the 6^th cycle only apply for “new units approved, permitted and/or built beginning from the start date of the RHNA projection period June 30, 2022”.

We would recommend that Table 10-3 be amended by eliminating all 227 units identified as “entitled/permitted/under construction/final” and thus avoid doubling counting these units in both the 5^th and 6^th cycles

Thank you,

Phil Koen