State housing law (Government Code section 65580 et seq.), requires, among other actions, that Shasta County: (a) facilitate the improvement and development of housing adequate to meet the needs of all economic segments of the community, (b) designate and maintain a supply of land that is suitable, feasible and available for the development of housing to meet the housing need for all income levels, (c) prepare and implement a local Housing Element as part of its General Plan, (d) determine what is needed to contribute to the attainment of the state's housing goal in a manner compatible with the state's housing goal and the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) assigned to the County by the state.
In accordance with Government Code 65583.2(c)(3)(B)(iii) and the United States Census, Shasta County is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) with a population under 2 million and is thereby designated a "suburban jurisdiction" by the state with an assigned "default density" of twenty residential dwelling units per acre (du/ac). The default density is the residential density presumed to feasibly accommodate lower income families.
Program 8 of the County's 2009-2014 Housing Element committed the County to rezone enough land at the default density within the unincorporated area of the County to fully accommodate the County's RHNA obligation for lower income households (approximately 800 units from the 2009-2014 planning cycle and approximately 306 for the 2014-2019 planning cycle).
The current General Plan and Zoning Plan accommodate a maximum residential density of 16 du/ac. Therefore, to fulfill its obligations it is necessary for the County to amend the General Plan and Zoning Plan to allow residential development in appropriate areas of the County where water, sewer and other urban services are available, at a density of at least 20 du/ac.
Other revisions to the state's housing related laws including, among others, density bonus, accessory dwelling units and reasonable accommodation require additional updates and revisions to the County's General Plan and Zoning Plan to achieve and maintain compliance with state law and are included in this proposed General Plan Amendment.
The proposed General Plan amendments consist of narrative updates and amendments to objectives and policies that apply County-wide. The amendments do not change the land use designation on any real property within the County.
The Planning Commission held two duly noticed public workshops on February 8, 2018, and May 10, 2018, to consider General Plan Amendment GPA18-001, and received a presentation from planning staff and testimony from agencies, housing advocates and the public; and held two duly noticed public hearings to consider GPA18-001 at a Regular Meeting held on June 14, 2018, and at a Special Meeting held on June 21, 2018, at which the Commission received a report from staff and considered all written comments and all testimony from agencies, housing advocates and the public. Following the public workshops and public hearings, the Planning Commission adopted Resolution 2018-015, by unanimous vote, recommending that the Board of Supervisors approve General Plan Amendment GPA18-001.