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1. When and why does the Housing Element need to be updated?

State law requires regular updates to the Housing Element to ensure relevancy and accuracy. These updates are currently required every eight years. The time from one update to the next is called a housing cycle. Marina is currently in the 5^th housing cycle that began in 2015 and will end in 2023. The upcoming 6^th Housing Element cycle will cover the next eight-year planning period (2023-2031).

Having an approved housing plan helps make Marina eligible for grants to help fund infrastructure to support housing development and more.

2. What is the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA)?

The RHNA decides the number of residential units the city must plan for in the Housing Element. The RHNA identifies the number of residential units required for each economic income segment, which includes very-low, low, moderate, and above-moderate incomes. The calculation of income levels is based on Area Median Income (AMI), which for Marina is $73,115 per year for a household of four.

3. Must cities and counties build the housing required by RHNA?

While cities and counties do not generally build housing – that is the function of private developers – they do adopt plans, regulations and programs that provide opportunities for how and where housing development occurs. Although the Housing Element identifies sites that are available in the city to plan for future housing, it does not mean the property owner is required to build the housing within the next eight years or any time in the future. Rather, the City is required to identify sites that are suitable for development and may implement programs to support housing development.

4. What makes a house affordable to an income group?

In a word, density. The foundation of State’s Housing Element Law is based on the premise that density is a proxy for affordability. The idea being, the more housing units on a site (density) translates to lower construction costs per unit, which translates to lower rental/sale prices of those units (affordability). Based on this, California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) assigns minimum density figures to each income category. In Marina, HCD identified a zoning density of least 20 dwelling units per acre to be appropriate for the development of housing that can accommodate low-income households.

5. How will housing locations be selected?

The updated housing plan must show the exact locations where future housing can be built and identify the potential number of homes that can be built at those locations. The City’s Housing Element will include an inventory of the sites that are compliant with current legislation and shows where housing units can be accommodated. The sites must be vacant or underutilized and have potential for development during the eight-year planning period. Some of the sites identified may be already zoned for housing that can accommodate a certain percentage of the RHNA income categories.

The City may establish criteria and eliminate sites based on the following:

• Topography is not conducive to building
• Sites are not safe because they are in a flood zone or high-fire area

Criteria to support housing on sites may include:

• Vacant lots
• Underutilized sites, such as lots with uses or structures that are no longer needed or need rehabilitation
• Locations where housing could be become denser than it is today
• Locations near public transit and essential services like neighborhood serving retail centers
• Sites where infrastructure, such as water and sewer service, can support more housing

Per the HCD Site Inventory Guidebook, sites best suited to accommodate the RHNA for lower income households should include factors such as:

• Proximity to transit
• Access to high performing schools and jobs
• Access to amenities, such as parks and services
• Access to health care facilities and grocery stores
• Locational criteria that meet Low-income Housing Tax Credit Program funding
• Proximity to available infrastructure and utilities
• Sites that do not require environmental mitigation