WHAT:
On October 15th, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) released the region's final Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) number. The SCAG region will be responsible for the zoning of 1,341,827 new housing units between October 2021 and October 2029, in what is the sixth RHNA Cycle.
The counties within the SCAG region accountable for the production of these housing units include our jurisdiction, Los Angeles and Ventura, and the counties of Imperial, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino.
BACKGROUND:
This final number was determined and released after the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) reviewed SCAG’s objection letter of it's originally estimated RHNA number. SCAG was concerned that the allocation from HCD was inaccurate based on the methodology used to determine the region's housing number. Ultimately, HCD rejected SCAG's objection letter and only slightly adjusted the final number.
The RHNA allocation process is statewide and is carried out by other metropolitan planning organizations (MPO), similar to SCAG, for the rest of the 58 counties. These numbers are projected in conjunction with HCD, the State government entity that oversees the RHNA process. Each city, within these jurisdictions, is allocated a specified amount of units to contribute to this overall number based on the city's forecasted housing needs, which will then be planned for in their individual Housing Elements.
NEXT STEPS:
Now that the RHNA determinations have been finalized, SCAG will be allocating individual RHNA numbers to each of the 197 jurisdictions in their region. They are hosting an online webinar from their Technical Working Group meeting this
Thursday, Oct. 17 at 10:00 AM
. This is an opportunity to learn more about this critical housing allocation, hear next steps, and field any questions you may have.
The Southern California Building Industry Association (BIASC) sits on the SCAG Technical Working Group committee and has been an engaged participant and stakeholder representing the housing and building industries through this process. As the RHNA allocation moves forward, and is eventually adopted by the State and cities, BIA will be providing our members up to date information on implementation, zoning, and challenges and opportunities for our BIA members.
