Yorba Linda City Council weights in during early stages of state's housing needs mandate--RHNA

Yorba Linda's city officials are wisely weighing in during the early stages of a forthcoming determination of the city's responsibilities to provide opportunities to meet housing needs under a state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Assessment, known as RHNA (ree-na).

State law requires cities to plan for existing and future housing needs, with the Southern California Association of Governments, or SCAG, responsible for developing the actual numbers for 197 jurisdictions, including Yorba Linda, in six southern California counties.

A new RHNA planning period began last October and should conclude by October 2020 for the years 2021-2029, according to a recent report to the City Council from Nate Farnsworth, the city's principal planner.

A previous RHNA numbers assignment roiled local politics from 2008 until 2012, when city voters approved two measures to permit density increases on 11 properties, so that, along with existing zoning, the city would meet the RHNA mandate through 2021.

The matter was a key issue in three council elections, with several council members warning of a state take-over of the city's planning processes if RHNA requirements were not satisfied.

RNHA housing numbers assigned to Yorba Linda for 2008-2013 totaled 2,039 units, including 230 for extremely low income, 230 for very low income, 371 for low income, 412 for moderate income and 796 for above moderate income households.

The numbers for 2014-2021 totaled 669 units: 80 for extremely low income, 80 for very low income, 113 for low income, 126 for moderate income and 270 for above moderate income.

These numbers were considered a target for housing growth and not a building quota, so, if the city provided sufficient sites and did not impose constraints to development, the city was not penalized for falling short of the RHNA allocation.

Distribution of a draft of new RHNA numbers is expected by February 2020, with an appeals process running through July 2020 and a final proposal RHNA allocation ready August 2020.

However, right now, SCAG officials are developing a methodology for coming up with the actual numbers to be assigned to southern California cities. They've floated three options allowing for public comment.

These options have drawn concerns, since each option would mean a different set of future housing numbers for Yorba Linda. The city has responded with a nine-page letter, including four pages of attachments, outlining problems with each option.

The letter cites the need “to preserve the integrity of the local input process in establishing any RHNA methodology,” noting, “Ignoring local input would be disastrous to many jurisdictions,” since many cities might not meet state housing certification requirements.

Interestingly, the city's letter was addressed to Councilwoman Peggy Huang in her role as chair of SCAG's RHNA subcommittee. Each of the six SCAG counties have two members and one vote.