Grass Valley receives $160,000 in SB 2 Planning Grants from California Department of Housing and Community Development

SACRAMENTO September 19, 2019 – The California Department of Housing and Community Development has announced that more than $3 million in SB 2 planning grant money and nearly $22 million in Community Development Block Grant money has been awarded recently. In addition, two cities have come into compliance with state Housing Element law and one city is at risk of losing compliance.

Fourteen California cities have received a total of $3.15 million in SB 2 planning grants.

SB 2, the Building Homes and Jobs Act (2017) established a $75 recording fee on certain real estate documents to be used for planning grants in its first year, and for affordable homes in subsequent years. The planning grants can be used for updating local planning documents, updating zoning ordinances, conducting environmental analyses or for local improvements to expedite local planning and permitting.

Some $21.7 million from the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program has been awarded to 18 of California’s smaller cities and counties. (See attached list.)

The money will be used for a variety of activities, such as providing single- or multi-family home rehabilitation, homeownership assistance, public water improvements, fire stations, senior and children’s services, flood draining improvements and more.

HCD administers the Community Development Block Grant program for those cities with populations under 50,000 and counties with populations under 200,000 in unincorporated areas that do not directly receive funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The cities of Holtville and the City of Imperial have become the eighth and ninth cities to come into compliance with state Housing Element law since Governor Gavin Newsom met with mayors earlier this year to address the housing affordability crisis in California.

Holtville adopted an ordinance to allow for a variety of housing types that address the housing needs for low-income families and special needs populations, including farmworkers. The City of Imperial has committed to addressing the housing needs for lower-income families through increasing densities to provide opportunities to support mixed-use development.

HCD continues to hold local jurisdictions accountable for complying with Housing Element law, and today sent a letter notifying the city of Pico Rivera they are in violation of California’s Housing Element Law. The city has failed to zone to accommodate enough units to meet is Regional Housing Needs Allocation targets. Pico Rivera has 30 days to respond to HCD’s findings before HCD will take actions to pull the city’s Housing Element compliance.

In addition, HCD is working with a handful of California jurisdictions that are at risk of falling out of compliance with state housing law, including Housing Element law, the Housing Accountability Act, Density Bonus law, no net loss requirements and potential fair housing issues.

The California Department of Housing and Community Development is dedicated to the preservation and expansion of safe and affordable housing, so more Californians have a place to call home. Our team works to ensure an adequate supply of housing for Californians and promotes the growth of strong communities through its leadership, policy and program development. For more information, please visit www.hcd.ca.gov and follow us on Twitter, @California_HCD and Facebook, @CaliforniaHCD.