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Housing Element Update

2021-2029 HOUSING ELEMENT UPDATE

The Southern California Region that includes Ventura County is currently in the “6th Cycle” Housing Element planning period which covers the eight-years from October 15, 2021 to October 15, 2029.  By State Law, the City of Oxnard must update the current 2013-2021 Mid-Cycle Housing Element by October 15, 2021.  

This web-page serves as the public information and participation “portal” to the 2021-2029 Housing Element update process. Welcome Aboard!

If you have any questions, please contact the Planning Division at (805) 385-7878.

News and Upcoming Events

On July 11, 2022 the State of California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) completed their review and issued a Conditional Certification letter of the City’s Conceptual Amended Housing Element that was submitted to HCD on May 12, 2022 and revised per HCD and public input on July 7, 2022. According to HCD’s letter, the Housing Element will comply when it has been adopted by the City Council (July 2022 version) and submitted to and approved by HCD.

Draft Amended City of Oxnard 6th Cycle 2021-2029 Housing Element (July 2022)

The City’s Draft Amended Housing Element can be downloaded here. Two versions are available:  Draft Clean Version and Draft Track Change/Legislative Version. This document will be reviewed by the Planning Commission on August 18, 2022 and considered by the City Council in early Fall 2022.

You can download the  Clean Draft (July 2022) of the Housing Element here.  

The Legislative Version reflects changes made to the October 2021 Adopted Housing Element in response to input received during the public comment period, follow up meetings with housing advocates, and input from meetings and written correspondence from HCD.  Removed text is shown in strikethrough and new text has been underlined. The text that was revised following the May 2022 published Conceptual Draft Housing Element has additionally been denoted by highlighted text and is summarized in the following table.  

You can download the Legislative Draft (July 2022) of the Housing Element here.

Drop-in Hours

On Monday, August 1, 2022 from 3pm – 5pm, staff will host virtual community drop-in hours for you to discuss any questions you may have regarding the Draft Amended Housing Element (July 2022). If you would like to participate in this virtual meeting, please email planning@oxnard.org. In the subject line please state, “I would like to participate in the virtual Housing Element drop-in hours”. Prior to the meeting, an invite to participate will be sent. If you have any questions on the City’s Housing Element update, please email Kathleen.Mallory@oxnard.org.

Public Hearing

The Oxnard Planning Commission will conduct a Public Hearing on Thursday, August 18, 2022, at 6:00 P.M. in “Meeting Room B” at the Oxnard Public Library located at 251 S. A Street in Oxnard, California to review the Draft 2021-2029 Amended Housing Element. Members of the public will also be able to participate via video conference / telephone. To participate via video conference / telephone call please follow instructions on the following link All City Meetings — City Of Oxnard. The Planning Commission staff report, report materials, and plans will be available the Thursday prior to the Planning Commission hearing by going to: https://www.oxnard.org/city-meetings/

GENERAL BACKGROUND

What is the Housing Element?

The Housing Element is a State-mandated policy document within the Oxnard General Plan that provides direction for the implementation of various programs to meet existing and projected future housing needs for all income levels.  The Housing Element provides policies, programs, and actions that accommodate growth, produce opportunity for the development of new housing units, preserve existing housing stock, and assist the existing population.

To comply with State law, the City’s Housing Element must be updated to ensure the city’s policies and programs can accommodate estimated housing growth needs identified in the Southern California Association of Government’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation for the 2021-2029 planning period. Any future changes to Housing Element policy will require environmental review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The 6th Cycle Housing Element and associated environmental document(s) will be reviewed for compliance with state law by the California State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and adopted by the City Council no later than October 15, 2021.  

City of Oxnard 6th Cycle 2021-2029 Final Housing Element

The City of Oxnard City Council adopted the 2021-2029 6th Cycle Housing Element on October 5, 2021. The Council also approved Zoning Map Amendments to change the zoning designation on 106 parcels (https://arcg.is/HmSS1) to be consistent with Supplement 1 of the Housing Element and five (5) zoning ordinances (first reading) to facilitate construction of housing units as stipulated in the Housing Element.

The City’s Final Housing Element is available here. Two versions are available:  Final Clean Version and Final Track Change/Legislative Version. Download the Final October 2021 Version of the Housing Element here.

The Legislative Version reflects changes made to the March 2021 Draft Housing Element in response to input received during the public comment period, City Council and Committee input, and input from meetings and written correspondence from the State of California Department of Community Development.  You can download the Final October 2021 Legislative Version here.

The Five ordinances amend Chapter 1 of the Oxnard City Code to implement policy approaches in the Final 6th Cycle 2021-2029 Housing Element. The Ordinances were introduced on October 5, 2021, adopted on October 19, 2021, and become effective thirty (30) days after adoption, on November 18, 2021. Summary of Ordinances:

Ordinance No. 2999 – An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Oxnard to Repeal the All-affordable Housing Opportunity Program (AAHOP) and replace these regulations with newly created Affordable Housing, Permitted (-AHP) and Affordable Housing, Discretionary (-AHD) Additive Zone Definitions, Designations and Regulations in OCC Chapter 16, Article VII, Section sections 16-420A through 16-420K. The ordinance provides zoning designations and objective standards for the development of affordable multifamily housing at 30 dwelling units with 20% lower income units per acre on parcels identified as AHP and AHD;

Ordinance No. 3000 – An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Oxnard amending the General Commercial zone permitted and related uses to allow up to 30 dwelling units per acre on parcels identified as AHP or AHD in OCC Chapter 16, Article III, Section 16-135 (Uses Permitted) and 16-136 (Related Uses); and 

Ordinance No. 3001 – An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Oxnard amending the Business and Research Park (BRP) zone permitted and related uses to allow up to 30 dwelling units per acre on parcels identified as AHP or AHD in OCC Chapter 16, Article III, Section 16-162 (Non-Industrial Use) and 16-163 (Industrial Land Uses by Zone: Industrial Land Use Matrix); and 

Ordinance No. 3002 – An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Oxnard amending the Density Bonus ordinance approval authority and appeal provision in OCC Chapter 16, Article IV, Section 16-410B (Definitions), 16-410F (Content of Application), and 16-410R (Determination on Density Bonus and Affordable Housing Incentive Program Requests). The amendment will allow Density Bonus permit approval by the approval authority authorized to approve the associated discretionary or ministerial permit approval for the underlying development permit; and

Ordinance No. 3003 – An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Oxnard creating a ministerial Site Plan Review (SPR) process to implement the 2021-2029 Housing Element. To comply with State law, the proposed ordinance provides a process for conducting a ministerial (non-discretionary) review of by-right development in OCC Chapter 16, Article VII, Section sections 16-523 through 16-523.12. 

Environmental Document for Housing Element Update:
The Final Housing Element is composed of:  the response to comments, comment letters, Draft IS/MND, and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program.  

The City of Oxnard has prepared an Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and is circulating for public comment a Mitigated Negative Declaration (No. 2021-01) for the City of Oxnard 2021 – 2029 Housing Element Update. You can access the full Final IS/MND by clicking here. 

Project Name and Location:
The project area is the entire City of Oxnard in Ventura County, California.

Project Description:
General Plan Amendment to amend the 2030 General Plan to replace the current Chapter 8 (Housing Element) with the 2021-2029 Housing Element. The Housing Element is a State-mandated policy document within the Oxnard General Plan that provides direction for the implementation of various programs to meet existing and projected future housing needs for all income levels.  The Housing Element provides policies, programs, and actions that accommodate growth, produce opportunities for the development of new housing units, preserve existing housing stock, and assist the existing population. Additional actions include: an update to the City’s General Plan Land Use Element by making text changes to this element.  Also included will be associated General Plan Land Use map changes.  Both General Plan Land Use text and map amendments are to ensure consistency with the 2021-2029 Housing Element. The City will also be updating Chapter 16 of the Oxnard City Code (OCC) to implement the Housing Element and by initiating Zoning Map amendments to ensure consistency between the Final Housing Element, the Land Use Element, and the OCC.

 

PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT PERIODS

HOUSING ELEMENT SITES MAP REVIEW AND COMMENTS

Online public site review September 21, 2020 to October 30, 2020
In Fall 2020 the City compiled a preliminary list of sites that may be suitable for addressing the City’s RHNA numbers in the Housing Element. The sites were included on an online mapping tool that was made available to the public for their input from September 21 through October 30, 2020. Twenty-one comments were received, and input was taken into consideration when preparing the list of sites in the Draft Housing Element.

The City held three community workshops on the City’s Draft Housing Element. Video of the presentations from these public workshops can be secured here:

October 22, 2020 meeting info:
October 22, 2020 Housing Element Meeting Presentation (PDF)
Virtual Meeting (Video file mp4 200Mb)

March 24, 2021 meeting info:
March 24, 2021 Housing Element Meeting Presentation
March 24, 2021 Presentation (Video)

REGIONAL HOUSING NEEDS ASSESSMENT (RHNA) 

The Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) is mandated by State Housing Law as part of the periodic process of updating local housing elements of the General Plan. The RHNA quantifies the need for housing within each jurisdiction during specified planning periods. SCAG is in the process of developing the 6th cycle RHNA allocation plan which will cover the planning period October 2021 through October 2029.

HOUSING ELEMENT SCHEDULE AND TEAM

The 2021-2029 Housing Element Update team in composed of:

  • Ashley Golden, Assistant City Manager
  • Vyto Adomaitis, Community Development Director
  • Kathleen Mallory, Planning and Sustainability Manager
  • Emilio Ramirez, Director, Housing Department
  • Placeworks, Inc. 
  • Rincon Consultants, Inc.

The tentative schedule is:  

  • October – City submits adopted Housing Element to HCD for certification and final review and approval.
  • October to December – HCD 90 day review
  • Mid December – HCD issues conditional compliance letter

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS, PRESENTATIONS, AND STAFF REPORTS

 

PREVIOUS PUBLIC MEETINGS

LINKS TO RELATED WEBSITES

CA Department of Housing and Community Development

Southern California Association of Governments

 

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