October 18, 2024 Update
The Town has at last received a response from the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) regarding the recertification of the Housing Element. HCD sent a Letter of Technical Assistance the afternoon of October 16th. The letter is attached. The letter indicates that the State requires two changes in our previously approved Rezoning Implementation. The State requires:
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That there be explicit statement in our Mixed-Use zoning designation that the developments could be as much at 100% housing and at least 50% housing. This regulation is consistent with the adopted Housing Element and addressing it would be a simple amendment to the zoning text for the mixed-use district. The change would need to be considered by the Planning Commission and Town Council.
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That zoning regulations be changed to make development at the Dorothy Ford Housing Element site “by right”. This would mean that development of the 2.48 acre portion of the site with 50 very low income housing units site could be accomplished without any further land use entitlement. (However, since the site is owned by the Town, no actual development of the site could occur unless the Town Council took proactive action to sell or lease the site.)
The Town Council will be considering this issue.
The Town submitted the Draft Housing Element to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on August 11, 2022. The Draft Housing Element is the culmination of eleven months of work by the community, Ad Hoc Housing Element Committee, Planning Commission and Town Council to develop a Housing Element that complies with State law and preserves local values.
As part of this process, the Ad Hoc Housing Element Committee was tasked with working through complex issues, many of which had significant community opposition. Many of their meetings were long (five or six hours) and participation was extremely high (up to 165 residents via zoom), and in total the Town has held over 50 hours of public meetings on the Housing Element. The Ad Hoc Housing Element Committee responded with a continuing commitment to find solutions. Thank you to the resident volunteers that are serving on the Ad Hoc Housing Element Committee and to all the residents that participated so far in the process.
This version of the Housing Element is titled “Initial HCD Draft” to differentiate it from the “Public Review Draft” that was published in June 2022. A summary of the changes between the two drafts is available here. HCD staff will conduct their review over the next 90 days. The Town expects comments from HCD that will need to be addressed through a public process including the Ad Hoc Housing Element Committee, Planning Commission and Town Council.
