2015–2023 Regional Housing Need Allocation

2015–2023 Regional Housing Need Allocation

ABAG sought to engage local jurisdictions, stakeholders, and members of the public throughout the process of developing the RHNA. In January 2011, ABAG convened the SCS Housing Methodology Committee (HMC), comprised of local elected officials, staff and stakeholders from throughout the region, to advise staff on developing the RHNA methodology. Between January 2011 and April 2012, the committee met almost every month to deliberate about how best to allocate the region's housing need to jurisdictions and ensure consistency between RHNA and the SCS. In addition, public participation is encouraged throughout the process of developing the RHNA, especially at public meetings and during official public comment periods following the release of discussion documents and board decisions.

For the Bay Area the "projection period" or the time period for which the Regional Housing Need is calculated is January 1, 2014 – October 31, 2022. The "planning period" for the Bay Area, or the time frame between the due date for one housing element and the due date for the next housing element, is January 31, 2015 – January 31, 2023. For more information on the projection or planning periods please refer to the update schedule.

The major milestones of the RHNA process are outlined below.

Key Milestones

On February 24, 2012, HCD provided ABAG with its determination of total regional housing need. HCD indicated that Bay Area jurisdictions must plan for 187,990 units between 2015–2023.

On March 17, 2011, the ABAG Executive Board approved the formation of RHNA subregions in Napa, San Mateo, and Solano counties.

On May 17, 2012, the ABAG Executive Board approved the draft RHNA methodology and a draft share of the region's total housing need for each of the subregions. Release of the draft methodology initiated a 60-day comment period, including a public hearing on June 6, 2012, for ABAG to receive comments about the methodology and subregional shares.

On July 19, 2012, the ABAG Executive Board adopted the final RHNA methodology and approved release of the draft allocations.  A detailed explanation of how each jurisdiction's allocation was derived is available in the Step-by-Step Description of the RHNA Methodology and Spreadsheet.

Release of the draft allocations on July 20, 2012 initiated a 60-day period in which a local jurisdiction could request a revision to its RHNA. By the September 18, 2012 deadline, ABAG received revision requests from 14 jurisdictions. None of the revision requests were granted.

Local jurisdictions that requested a revision had until February 18, 2013 to appeal ABAG's decision on their revision requests. Eight jurisdictions submitted appeals. ABAG's Executive Board formed an ad hoc Appeal Committee to hear the appeals and provide its recommended actions to the Executive Board. The Appeals Committee held a public hearing to hear the appeals on April 1, 2013.

On May 16, 2013, the Executive Board adopted the Appeal Committee's recommendations to support the appeals brought by Hayward, Lafayette, and Sunnyvale and deny the other five appeals. The Executive Board also approved the agreement between the City of Palo Alto and the County of Santa Clara to transfer 200 moderate-income units from the City to the County.

On June 3, 2013, ABAG issued the final RHNA, which incorporates the changes resulting from the appeal process and transfer agreement that were adopted by the ABAG Executive Board.

On July 18, 2013, the ABAG Executive Board adopted the Final Regional Housing Need Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area: 2015–2023, including the final housing unit allocations, by income, to local jurisdictions in the region.

Learn more details about RHNA on the Additional Resources page.