The State of California requires all cities and counties to adopt a General Plan containing at least seven chapters, or elements, including one on housing. Because housing availability is a critical issue of statewide concern, the law requires that the Housing Element be updated every five years. According to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) , “local governments must adopt land-use plans and regulatory schemes that provide opportunities for, and do not unduly constrain, housing development.” While State housing policy acknowledges that most critical housing decisions occur at the local level, Housing Elements must comply with specific content requirements and must be sent to HCD for their review.
To meet the housing needs in our communities and to address this requirement, the 12 jurisdictions in Marin County are collaborating to develop a combination of templates, methodologies, baseline data, comparative information, key findings, sample practices and processes. The effort helps the Marin communities address our housing needs and more ably meet State requirements. More importantly, this collaboration will result in higher quality Housing Elements and ultimately well designed affordable homes throughout Marin.
There are different resources contained in the Workbook and a number of different audiences. Some sections of the Housing Workbook provide sample language that can be edited and tailored by local jurisdictions and then used in their Housing Element. Other sections, such as the available sites inventory material, provide methodologies or templates for use by each local government in collecting their own data. The Sample Practices and Special Topics section provides a menu of sample policies for Marin communities to consider.
Thank you for visiting this website and thanks for your interest in housing in Marin County.
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