Politics & Government

Public Workshop on Long-Delayed Albany Housing Strategy Tonight

A public workshop will be held tonight, Oct. 1, on the City of Albany's tardy Housing Element. Faced with a serious threat of being sued, Albany is working to move forward in winning state approval of the required housing plan for the city.

Facing possible litigation, the City of Albany will hold a public workshop on its long-delayed "Housing Element" tonight, Tuesday, at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

The city has been wrestling with its tardy Housing Element for several years. State law requires a city's Housing Element be updated every seven to eight years, according to a consultant's report presented to the city's Planning & Zoning Commission meeting last Wednesday.

Albany's current Housing Element was approved in 1992. The Housing Element is the only part of city's General Plan that needs state approval, from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and a key requirement of the Housing Element is the city's strategy for meeting its allocated share of regional affordable housing.

The City Council at its most recent meeting, on Sept. 16, met in closed session to discuss what the council agenda described as "significant exposure to litigation against the City regarding the Albany Housing Element."

The city has posted the current draft of the Housing Element on the city website.

Tonight's public workshop is intended in large part to gather public feedback, according to the report by consultant Barry Miller for last week's planning commission meeting. 

The next step is to bring the document back to the planning commission's meeting on Oct. 9, with the expectation that the revised document will go to the City Council in late October, according to Miller's report.

Following council review and approval, a draft will be sent to the state.

"During December 2013 or January 2014, it is expected that the Element will be revised again (based on State comments) and brought back to the Planning and Zoning Commission for formal action by resolution," Miller's report said. "Following a Commission recommendation, the Element would be forwarded to the Council for adoption. Additional changes may be made during this process."
 


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