In Government Code statute 65302, the General Plan is presented as a collection of a minimum of seven subject categories referred to as “elements”. California Housing Element Law, established in 1969, mandates that local governments develop plans to supply housing to current and future residents. That “plan” is the Housing Element and is the only one of the seven General Plan Elements required to be reviewed for adequacy by the State. The Housing Element is a comprehensive assessment of current and projected housing needs for all economic segments of the community. In addition, it embodies the County’s housing goals, policies, objectives and action programs and must include an inventory of available land that is appropriately zoned and suitable for housing development to accommodate the County’s regional housing need allocation (RHNA). By statute, the Housing Element must be updated every five years.

What is the status of Napa County’s Housing Element?

The 2009 Napa County Housing Element was challenged in court as legally insufficient and inconsistent with State Housing Law. Both the Napa Superior Court and the First District Court of Appeal rejected all claims of insufficiency and housing discrimination and affirmed in 2013 that the County’s 2009 adopted Housing Element complied with the requirements of State Housing Law. Hence, in early 2014, the County began preparing a Draft Housing Element for the planning period of January 31, 2015 through January 31, 2023. Since the 2009 Housing Element had just been through the court process and just been certified, very little content was changed during the update process for the new planning period. The December 16, 2014 Housing Element has since been certified by the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) as the Final Housing Element.

What role does Angwin play in the County’s Housing Element?

The County’s greatest challenge is to identify sites that can accommodate housing affordable to very-low-income and low-income households. The County sites and programs are focused on “urban” designated areas of the unincorporated County. In Angwin, Pacific Union College offered (long ago) two locations on PUC owned lands for “as-of-right” Affordable Housing designation to accommodate a total of 191 housing units with specific affordability requirements. Go to the current (2015-2023) Housing Element adopted December 16, 2014 (pages H-33 and H 36-38) for the Angwin Sites A and B descriptions and locations. http://www.countyofnapa.org/PBES/HousingElement/