Housing 101 and FAQ’s
Housing Element FAQ’s
The Housing Element establishes goals for a local government to accommodate the housing needs of its community and is one of seven required chapters (“elements”) in the General Plan. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) requires cities to update their Housing Elements every eight years. The document will define the City of Napa’s strategy for serving existing housing needs while also accounting for future growth, and outline housing programs and policies to meet these goals.
A successful Housing Element will outline the strategies the City will take in the next eight years to:
> Encourage new housing for households at all income levels and for households with a range of diverse housing needs
> Protect existing housing
> Identify specific sites that could accommodate required housing units, known as Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA). See question below “What is the Regional Housing Needs Assessment”
> Remove undue constraints on new housing development, including for affordable housing development.
With those components as the major pillars of the document, the community input component becomes both the foundation and the architectural detailing of the City’s Housing Element. While the Housing Element must address specific state requirements, it is ultimately a local plan and should reflect the priority of the community. Through the outreach process, the community will provide background knowledge and share their thoughts on the current housing environment and on the future vision for housing that will make the Housing Element unique to the City of Napa.
The final Housing Element Update will include:
> Analysis of the City’s existing and projected housing needs and available resources to address those needs, including for special-needs populations such as farmworkers, large families, single-parent and/or female-headed households, seniors, people with physical or developmental disabilities
> Site inventory of land suitable for housing development
> Identification and analysis of governmental constraints to maintaining, improving, or developing housing for all income types and special needs populations, which includes zoning and land use controls, fees and permitting procedures
> Policies and goals that include specific steps to achieving the goals, such as strategies to preserve affordable units from conversion to market rate units, provide equal housing opportunities, etc.
The City planned for an 18-month process to allow for adequate time for community input, data collection, draft reviews, and required public hearings. The City is required to submit its Housing Element to HCD for approval by January 31, 2023 (before the expiration of the current Housing Element). Ultimately, a complete review and revision of the existing City of Napa Housing Element will be developed and adopted by the City Council by the end of 2022 to reflect the current housing conditions and new needs allocation.
The housing element specifically does not:
> Modify land use, height, or density
> Implement specific controls for individual neighborhoods
> Amend the Zoning Map or Planning Code
> Direct funding for housing development
Community Outreach
Community participation is vital to the success of a Housing Element update. It is important to us that we understand the community’s needs, priorities, and ideas about housing. Your input will guide the development of key ideas, policies, and programs to ensure the future of affordable and accessible housing in Napa.
We encourage you to sign up for notifications at the bottom of this page! You can also provide your comments or questions HERE and our team will get back to you.
Materials from workshops and other events will be posted to this page. You can also submit comments anytime HERE.
Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA)
The Regional Housing Needs Allocation is the total number of housing units that each city and county must plan to accommodate within the eight-year Housing Element period, across all income levels, to address existing needs and projected growth. Each jurisdiction in the state is allocated a set number of housing units as part of the Housing Element update process, and the Housing Element will include the City’s plan to accommodate its share of the RHNA. The current planning period (5th Cycle) is January 31, 2015 – January 31, 2023 and the upcoming planning period (6th Cycle) if January 31, 2023 – January 31, 2031.
HCD identifies the number of homes needed to meet the housing needs of people at all income levels for each California region. The region’s Council of Governments (COGs) then develops a methodology to assign a number of required units for each local government. The COG for the nine counties of the Bay Area is the Association of Bay Area Governments’ (ABAG). ABAG then assigns each jurisdiction within the region with its “fair share” of the RHNA for the Housing Element planning period, based on an allocation methodology developed as part of the process. The assigned need is broken down by the same income categories: very low, low, moderate, and above moderate. ABAG’s final distribution of the entire region’s total housing needs numbers must account for the region’s total RHNA. Once ABAG determines the final distribution, it must be reviewed by HCD. The RHNA is used by jurisdictions to work with their communities to plan for future housing development, typically through a General Plan Housing Element Update process.
For more information, please visit ABAG (RHNA – Regional Housing Needs Allocation | Association of Bay Area Governments)
RHNA does not require the City to build housing, but it does require the City to ensure there are no undue governmental constraints or other barriers that would prevent a private developer from building such units.
Other Housing Questions
Housing is defined as affordable if a family spends no more than 30% of income to live there and is a measure of housing costs relative to income. Income levels for affordability is determined based on those families in the middle of the income scale in an area, called “area median income” (AMI). AMI is not the average income; it is the income level in the middle of the distribution. These standards are established by county and adjusted by household size. As of April 2021, the AMI for a four-person household in Napa County is $109,200.
The 2021 income ranges for a four-person household at various income levels in Napa County are as follows:
> Extremely Low Income: Less than 30% of AMI (Makes less than $34,100 annually)
> Very Low Income: Between 30% and 50% of AMI (Makes between $34,100 and $56,850 annually)
> Low Income: Between 50% and 80% of AMI (Makes between $56,850 and $90,050 annually)
> Moderate Income: Between 80% and 120% of AMI (Makes between $90,050 and $109,200 annually)