---

---

Previously:

• Del Norte, Crescent City Need Enough Land to Accommodate 575 Housing Units Through 2030

###

The day before Del Norte County took its annual census of the homeless community, the Board of Supervisors learned that requiring a conditional use permit for emergency homeless shelters was a constraint the county needs to undo.

Ryan Lester, a project manager with the Sacramento consulting firm Mintier Harnish, told supervisors Tuesday that the California Department of Housing and Community Development wants jurisdictions to work with local nonprofits to remove obstacles to affordable housing development.

Though Del Norte isn’t required to build the units necessary to meet the needs identified in its 6th Cycle Housing Element, HCD will ask if the actions the county takes after it’s adopted goes far enough to streamline the building process for developers, Lester said.

“Each year the county will have to report the number of permits they’re permitting against the (Regional Housing Needs Assessment),” Lester said. “What HCD may say is, ‘You’re not keeping up. You need to add more incentives.’ Because the county doesn’t develop property. You’re not building housing units. The goal is (going) far enough with our incentives to make building those more feasible.”

According to Lester, who was speaking to District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard, state law requires every jurisdiction to have a streamlined review process for building affordable housing. But if that jurisdiction has issued enough permits to meet its Regional Housing Needs Allocation, or RHNA, then that process doesn’t have to be in place.

Lester informed supervisors that Del Norte County will need to accommodate a projected 386 housing units outside Crescent City limits between 2022 and 2030. Of that total, more than 40 percent — roughly 154 units — will need to accommodate residents whose income is low and very low, he said.

This is an increase from the 5th Cycle Housing Element, which covered 2014-2020 and determined that the county would need to find enough land available for 283 housing units. Every jurisdiction saw their Regional Housing Needs Allocation increase in their updated Housing Element, Lester said. Some have had a 300 to 400 percent increase in their RHNA, he said.

“It’s just the state pushing for more housing and every jurisdiction is responsible, so it’s not particular to Del Norte County,” he said. “The state still wants to see an emphasis on lower income housing.”

Del Norte County has been working with Mintier Harnish to update its Housing Element since April 2021. The Housing Element is part of the county's general plan and is the only component of the general plan that's on a state-mandated schedule to be updated.

Following a public review of the draft in April 2022, the county submitted the Housing Element draft to HCD for review.

The goal was for the Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission to review the changes HCD required, but due to staffing changes at the state level that was delayed.

According to Lester, the county will make final revisions and submit the Housing Element to the state by Feb. 13.

The Housing Element will come back to the Board of Supervisors for adoption on Feb. 28.

According to Lester, the updated Housing Element identified two sites, one called Northcrest II and the other near the Del Norte Wellness Center, that could be conducive to multi-unit housing development.

Two sites in the coastal zone were removed from being considered for low-income housing development. According to Lester, their  location in the coastal zone was a constraint, though they could still be developed.

“We’re just not assuming they’re going to be developed as low-income housing,” he said.

As for potential sites for low-income housing identified in the 5th Cycle Housing Element, if the county still considered them contenders for potential development, affordable housing would have to be allowed without discretionary review, Lester said.

Though he acknowledged the need to adopt the Housing Element to encourage developers of low-income housing to build in Del Norte County, District 5 Supervisor Dean Wilson grumbled about the process. He said he saw the Housing Element as “bureaucracies in Sacramento dictating to us what they think our county needs,” calling the process expensive and onerous.

Wilson argued that needing to adopt a Housing Element drives development away from Del Norte County rather than encourages it.

“I’m going to vote for it because without it we cannot go for additional funds that are necessary,” he said. “You feel like you’re thanking someone for beating you and I’m sorry that it’s the process. I wish they would leave us alone and allow us to do what we need to do in our communities and develop it appropriately as we see fit to meet the needs of our community.”

Dave Powell, president-elect for the Del Norte Association of Realtors, agreed with Wilson, calling the Housing Element “a classic example of us being attached to Southern California.” But, he said he wondered if there was an opportunity for development near Mary Peacock Elementary School. The lots there were platted and, while there’s legal access, there isn’t a road nor a lot of infrastructure such as utilities, he said.

“I’m wondering if there’s a way the county can assist in the process of making those roads available and putting utilities in there,” he said, adding that the Association of Realtors would be willing to help. “To put that all on the developer is difficult because there’s a lot of work to be done in there. I’ve tried to sell those lots before, but you can’t even get to them.”

Crescent City also updated its Housing Element. The city will need to provide developable space for 189 housing units through 2030, more than double from its 5th Cycle Housing Element.

At its Dec. 5 meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Blake Inscore said the city’s Housing Element fell short of addressing space for emergency shelters. The Housing Element identified the Del Norte County Fairgrounds, Crescent City Police Department, Crescent City Fire Hall and Crescent City Hall as potential places that could provide emergency housing. However, none really lend themselves to any kind of meaningful use for emergency shelters, Inscore said.

---

SHARE →